Metal Gear: Dragon, Crow, and Rabbit
by DarkFusion
Summary: A companion story to ShardclawKusanagi's Children of Evangelion. The story of three FOXHOUND recruits and their role in the fight against the Patriots. Multicrossover. Currently being revised: chapters 1-3 completed.
1. Chapter 1: The Step Towards a Journey

AN: Well, as you all know this companion story too is receiving a revision now so as to make a better overall story introduction, particularly concerning Flame of Recca. The revision is also to connect things to MGS4's storyline better, so naturally, there are going to be many changes which I hope that you all will enjoy

Some of the many anime and video games that will cross over into this fic (so far) (note: Please have a look at ShardclawKusanagi's "Metal Gear: Soldier X" for a full cast list):

Metal Gear Solid series (will include AU versions of characters from the Metal Gear Acid games)

Flame of Recca (manga with some anime elements)

Weiss Kreuz (TV series 1 and OVA)

Ayashi no Ceres (manga)

Real Bout High School (manga with some anime references)

Burn Up eXcess (anime and manga)

Ranma ½

Noir

Madlax

Neon Genesis Evangelion

King of Fighters/Fatal Fury

Detective Conan

Full Metal Panic

Rozen Maiden series

Black Cat (manga)

Elfen Lied (anime with a lot of manga elements)

Basilisk: Koga Ninpuchou

Alice 19th

Witchblade

Witchblade Takeru

Phantom of Inferno

Shadow Hearts series

Yume Miru Kusuri: A Drug That Makes You Dream

Tsukushite Agechau 4/I'm Gonna Serve You 4

Love Potion

EVE: Burst Error

EVE: The Fatal Attraction

MinDead Blood (both the main game and expansion disc)

Gore Screaming Show

Mushitsukai

Gun Katana

Before Dawn Daybreak

Virgin Roster

Disclaimer: I own none of the above anime/games and their respective characters.

* * *

Prologue:

2012… three years after the occurrence of the Big Shell incident.

Many events occurred soon after the said incident; most notably the reformation of the special operations unit known as FOXHOUND. A feat accomplished through the actions and efforts of former commanding officer of the old FOXHOUND, as well as a former comrade of Big Boss, Roy Campbell, and many others. This new unit was officially formed to act purely as an anti-terrorist unit, making it different from the FOXHOUND of old, so as to ensure that stability endured in the world. Stability enough, at least, for the war economy to endure.

This new FOXHOUND had one secret purpose though, to support the legendary soldier Solid Snake in his hunt for Liquid Ocelot.

This reformed FOXHOUND would soon gain several new recruits into its ranks. These recruits were all men and women from various countries throughout the world, ranging from kids to adults. Some were experienced combat veterans, some among whom had been soldiers since they could remember, while others among them were new soldiers fresh out of the academy, and some others were civilian volunteers. All of these recruits were unique in their own way. And all of them had their own stories, separate from those that involved Solid Snake.

This is one of those stories, yet it focuses on not just one recruit, but three. For it is a tale of the formation of a partnership between three very unlikely people, and the bonds they would create with those around them. Through these bonds, more stories will become unveiled, stories that seem apart from that of FOXHOUND's, yet they will all lead to the same path. Though whether that path will lead to triumph or ruin for those following it has yet to be determined.

Chapter 1: The Step Towards a Journey

April 7, 2012: Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean:

On a small island located several hundred miles to the south east of Japan, there stood a large mansion. It was three stories tall and looked as if it could comfortably house a large number of people, which was what it was designed for. The mansion was located not too far away from the beach where a large dock had been built, in which ten yachts were docked there. On the surface, the island seemed to be the typical privately owned tropical island that the owner would use to entertain his guests. But the island held a horrifying secret within its dense forest, which was completely surrounded by an electrified fence, which was routinely patrolled by armed men.

Two guards sat on the docks, both of them had an assault rifle strapped onto their shoulders and they were both talking to each other.

"Can you believe that we get assigned to guard the boats as our job?" The first guard asked his companion sitting next to him. "I mean who's going to steal 'em? This has by far got to be the most boring and useless job on the planet, and the pay sucks. I'd like to meet the guy who said that working for a rich guy is a guarantee to quick and easy cash."

"Well it's better than the job that a friend of a cousin of a friend of a buddy of mine has got." The second guard replied. "From what I hear, the guy was actually on the Big Shell all those years ago and barely escaped alive, and before that he was actually there during the Shadow Moses incident. But he didn't get to see much of the action though. From what I heard from him, some female soldier snuck up behind him, knocked him out, stripped him naked, and then just left him on the floor. The guy had a nasty cold for weeks. Who knows where that poor bastard could be now?"

The first guard laughed at that story and said. "I guess you're right, there are worse jobs than ours. Still, once our contract expires, I think I'll try getting work with one of the PMCs. I hear that with all the wars that have been cropping over in the Middle East and such, there's plenty of profit to be made what with the war economy being how it is."

"Heh, that's as long as you don't mind dodging the enemy bullets and even worse stuff that the other side could throw at you." The second smirked.

"I'm sure I can work something out, besides I hear that the nanos from the SOP helps to fix that. The only remaining thing is which of the big four PMCs should I send an application to. Anyway, I lost my pack of cigs, could you give me one of yours?"

"Certainly." The second guard answered and then he reached into his pocket and took out his pack. "Alright here, take one."

The first guard reached over to take a cigarette, but then suddenly groaned and fell over.

"Hey, what's the matter?" The second guard asked his fallen companion. "You sick or something?" Then he noticed a dart sticking out of the man's shoulder, he suddenly felt a sharp sting coming from his neck. As he lapsed into unconsciousness, the guard saw a figure dressed in a green and black sneaking suit and wearing a strange skull-like mask pull itself out of the water and onto the dock. He also noticed that the masked figure was also carrying a pistol with a silencer attached to it. The guard was about to call out for help before darkness overtook him.

The masked man looked down at the two sleeping guards and then searched their bodies, finding only ammo for his M9 pistol, and a loaded UPS Socom. The rest was simply ammo for their assault rifles, which were locked from anyone other than their registered owners to use making them essentially useless to him, and a set of keys that he found on the second guard.

"Well thanks for all that, even if it wasn't very much," He said to the unconscious guards as he took the equipment he could use. "Have a good snooze."

The man then reached up and pulled off the mask that he was wearing, revealing that he was in fact a young Japanese boy with long shoulder length black hair and blue eyes, who had recently turned seventeen that month. He put his two weapons away after checking to make sure that they were fully loaded and then activated the codec on his left ear.

"This is Drakken," The boy reported. "I have begun infiltration of the island and I am awaiting instructions."

"Good work, Drakken." Colonel Roy Campbell answered as his face appeared on the codec screen. "Now, enter the building through whichever entrance that you believe is the most convenient. As soon as a free member of our support team is available to save your mission data for you and provide assistance, I'll call you. Until then, make finding the prisoners your top priority."

"No problem," Drakken answered. "The sooner I get this mission done, the sooner I can enjoy some free time and get some well deserved rest. Drakken out." With that, he ended the transmission.

The boy called Drakken paused to check that the two guards were safely asleep before proceeding to drag them over to a storage shed. He was able to find the key to the shed, unlocked it and dragged the unconscious guards inside. Before he locked them inside, he made sure to take off their radios and turned them off before tossing them away into the distance in case they did wake up.

Drakken then turned and began to do an observation of the mansion not too far ahead of him.

(The most convenient location, huh?) He thought. (Well, I guess I should get a closer look...)

* * *

Several minutes later, Drakken watched from inside a locker as three guards walked by. When they passed, he quickly shoved the door open and dashed out of the locker, firing his M9 at the surprised guards. They fell down unconscious before they could even turn around to see who had shot them.

Drakken carefully inspected the bodies of the fallen guards, this time getting a set of keys from one of them. He then gave a sigh as he thought a bit on the mission objective. It wasn't that he didn't want to be doing this, but the circumstances which had started this whole thing simply made him uncomfortable, even though he had seen some pretty nasty things on battlefields or the end results of them, some of which were even worse than this.

(Buying a number of young people through who knows how many human trafficking groups just to force them to kill each other…I can't understand how anyone could get their kicks that way.) He thought to himself as he thought on the mission.

A few weeks before a large human trafficking cartel had been brought down and an analysis of their records, which had thankfully been recovered intact, had revealed that a number of their sales could be tracked to the owner of this island and tracing the shipments to the island was not too far behind.

Normally, a strike team of some sort would have been sent in to the island and that would have been the end of that. However, something odd was found in the records regarding the sales, the buyer had only seemed to care about buying young people, male or female, without any other factor in mind aside from the age. Even the health of these people didn't even seem to be taken into consideration. An interrogation of some of the traffickers would end up revealing the reason for this.

The people being bought from these traffickers were to be used in a game in which they were each given a weapon, sent out into the island's forest and forced to kill each other. The buyer and his friends, meanwhile, bet money on who would survive. The victims did not have much choice in the matter as they each had an explosive collar around their neck that would explode if they did not obey or tried escaping or removing the collar.

As a result, it was deemed safer to send in a trained operative to infiltrate the island, locate the prisoners, and inspect the collars they were wearing to see how they were assembled and it would be determined how things would proceed from there. The FOXHOUND support team would have an expert at bomb disposal on the other line who would listen to Drakken's description of the collar; Drakken was also to photograph the collars with his cell phone and send it to a specific e-mail address which the expert would analyze so as to determine how this explosive worked. If this explosive could be disabled or removed without too much trouble, then Drakken was to do that, carefully following the expert's instructions, and Drakken afterwards was to get the prisoners to one of the boats and get them off the island where a waiting chopper would see them and the proper authorities would take care of them. On the other hand, if the explosive was too complex for any but an expert to even attempt to disable, Drakken's assignment would become a bit more complicated in that he would have to locate who it was that had the trigger for these explosives, take him out, and then protect the prisoners until help arrived. In either case, though, the operation would be finished by a strike team.

"Well, there's no use dwelling on the mission any more than I should." Drakken reminded himself, and then remembered the guards at his feet and mentally kicked himself for just leaving them there for so long. "In any case, I'd better get these guys out of site and find wherever they're holding those kids…"

* * *

Several hours later, Drakken watched as each of the kidnapped teens got into the yacht that he had hotwired and had also set the autopilot to the coordinates where the chopper would find them. Luck had been on their side this time, as the explosive collars' design was basic enough that removing them safely was something that Drakken could do as long as he was careful and followed the explosive expert's instructions to the letter as, basic design or not, these were still live explosives and very dangerous to whoever happened to get caught in the blast. Thankfully, Drakken was able to pull this off without making any mistakes.

As soon as all the collars had been removed, Drakken had helped to get the kids to the dock and onto the yacht, without the group being discovered mainly due to the fact that a few of the kids could either speak or understand Japanese, English, or Chinese, all three of which he could speak, and so he was able to direct them to the docks.

After a quick inspection of the boat, Drakken gave instructions to the oldest one about what to do as soon as the boat reached its destination before starting the engine, which roared to life, and then proceeded to get off the boat and untie it. The yacht then sped out of the docks towards its destination.

Drakken then heard the sound of a group of people coming his way and quickly got into one of the other yachts and ducked under the deck railing so as to conceal himself. A few seconds later, the approaching people had arrived in the form of four guards who had apparently heard the sound of the departing boat. From the looks of it, the guards had not entered alert mode yet; probably because they had just assumed one of the guests had left their engine on and that was the reason for the noise. The guards, however, soon saw that this was not the case when they saw the boat leaving the island.

As one of the guards reached for his radio to alert everyone else on the premises of this, Drakken reacted quickly, firing his M9, having taken aim at the man's head. The guard collapsed to the ground on his back, dropping the radio in the process.

This definitely caught the attention of the said guard's companions, but they did not react quick enough as Drakken was able to get in another head shot on another guard, who proceeded to join the first one for a nap on the ground.

The remaining two guards then made a run for it, but not before Drakken was able to get in a third shot, this one striking one of the fleeing guards in the back as he, unlike the other one, had not been as quick to duck while running. That guard quickly began to stagger before collapsing face first into the ground.

Drakken, however, was not wasting any time as he quickly got up and leaped out from the yacht. He knew that he had to stop the one remaining guard before he made it to the mansion to alert his bosses and fellow guards.

Now technically, that would not be a problem now considering that the kids had been as good as rescued, but being discovered right now would still have complicated the mission quite a bit. Drakken, for one, had not contacted FOXHOUND headquarters yet to report the escape and in doing so give the go ahead for the strike team to move in, and he would rather have made the call under calm circumstances. Also he was not very enthusiastic about the idea of being chased by a bunch of armed men until help arrived.

Drakken briefly closed his eyes and began to focus, channeling the chakra, energy produced within the body that was mix of physical and spiritual energies, inside of him into his feet. This move served to enhance his speed and at the same time ensure that his target would not hear his approach.

Drakken then dashed after the fleeing guard, and soon came up behind him within a few of seconds. He then reached out and grabbed the fleeing guard by the back of his neck and sharply pulled him back and out of site of anyone from the mansion being able to see him.

The guard stumbled back a bit, but did not fall down. This sudden appearance and attack by an unanticipated enemy had caught him off guard, but he was not going to go down without a fight as he made to aim his assault rifle at Drakken, confident that even if he missed the gunshots would alert the other guards nearby.

Unfortunately for him, as he was about to aim, there was suddenly nothing there for him to fire at, his enemy had vanished. The shock at this was brief though, as the guard suddenly felt a presence suddenly seem to appear behind him and he did not need to look to know who it was.

"Wyvern's Sting!" Drakken said from behind the guard, as he swiftly drew out a pair of long thin needles called senbon needles and jabbed them into the side of the guard's neck, aiming for specific pressure points so as to cause unconsciousness rather than death. The guard stiffened up for a moment, as if paralyzed, but slackened out as he lost consciousness. Satisfied, Drakken let the guard fall to the ground.

"Well, that certainly was cutting it close." He said with a sigh of relief and then proceeded to hide the bodies of the unconscious guards. When he was finished, he activated his codec and selected Colonel Campbell's frequency.

"This is Drakken, mission accomplished," Drakken reported as soon as the call connected and Roy 's face appeared on the codec screen. "I got those kids into a boat and they're headed towards where the chopper is waiting. I would have reported in sooner, but I had to take care of a few curious guards first…don't worry, they're not dead."

"Good job Drakken," Roy said with a nod of approval. "The rescue team will be on its way and waiting for the people that you rescued. In any case, what's your situation over there?"

"Everything's normal for now, sir; so far none of the people on this island know that I'm here nor do they seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary." Drakken answered, and then gave a light smile. "Anyway, though I should probably grab one of these pretty boats for myself to make my getaway, would it be alright if I just waited for the strike team and they could give me a lift back to Japan? I found something that I could do to make things easier for those guys using my 'secret weapon' and I promise I'll make my report on this on the way."

Roy was silent for a moment as he considered what Drakken said, and also because he knew just what the boy's 'secret weapon' was.

"Alright, I'll give you permission; just be sure to do this quickly as the strike team will be arriving within twenty minutes or so." Roy said with an exasperated sigh. "Just please don't overdo it like you did the last time."

"Hey, I didn't overdo it," Drakken objected. "No one died right?"

"That may be true…" Roy answered. "However, it was hard to get the authorities to believe that was caused by an accident, especially 'you know who'."

"I understand, you have my word then." Drakken said with a nod, knowing full well who Roy was referring to. "I'll try to keep it down, Drakken out." And the transmission ended.

With that, Drakken quickly went up one of the nearby hills so as to get a good look at the mansion and find the specific part that he was looking for. When he did, he gave a light smirk.

"Time to demonstrate the reason for this codename of mine." He said as he held out his right hand towards the part of the mansion he had in mind.

* * *

FOXHOUND Headquarters, Washington, D.C.:

"Excuse me, sir." One of the support team members said to Roy as he stood up. He had only joined FOXHOUND a couple of weeks ago and was just starting to learn his way around the group. "About this operative we sent in…Drakken, or Riku Hanabishi...was he really able to get all those kids out of the mansion without the enemy noticing him?"

"Yes, fortunately." Roy nodded. "But then again compared to a lot of the other operations that our people handle, this one wasn't too difficult, plus Hanabishi-san is skilled enough in the ninja arts that we were confident enough to send him in alone."

"Wait, 'ninja arts'!" The man's eyes widened in surprise. "Do you mean…is that kid, really…?"

"Yeah, he's the genuine article." Another FOXHOUND support team member, this one more experienced than the newcomer as he had been working at FOXHOUND ever since Roy reestablished it, spoke. "I know it's surprising at first the kind of people we have here, but trust me you'll get used to it. For one Hanabishi isn't the only ninja we've got working here; not to mention our roster of members include a psychic, a guy immune to any form of poison, a berserker, and a lady who can communicate with the dead."

"Well, at least I can't complain about this job being boring…" The new guy said with a nervous smile. "Anyway, Colonel, could you tell me why Drakken is still on the island? Shouldn't he be using one of the boats to get away by now?"

"Drakken said that he could do something to help the strike team out, and I trust his judgment enough to approve it." Roy replied. "Though I have to admit, that willingness of his to be helpful can get him to overdo things sometimes…"

"Overdo things?"

"You'll understand, soon enough." Roy said simply.

"And when you do, trust me, you'll be glad for that alliance we have with his clan, Hokage, and the other ninja clans allied to FOXHOUND." The other support team member added. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Yeah, about the codename…it's German for 'dragon' right?...Anyway, could you explain the reason why he has that as his codename? I mean it isn't part of any of the rankings as far as I know…"

"There are other FOXHOUND members whose codenames are not from the rankings like Demon, Eden, and Venom, you know."

"But aren't they special cases? Then does that mean…?"

"If you can promise that what I tell you will not leave this room…" Roy paused and the man gave his solemn promise that it wouldn't before he continued. "Alright then, as you guessed, Drakken is a special case like Demon, Eden, and Venom. The reason for his codename is because he has the ability to control fire. From my understanding, it's an ability that has been passed down through his bloodline for generations. Combining that with the ninjutsu that he knows, it makes Drakken a rather formidable operative."

"I see…" The support member gave a nervous smile. "Think I can understand what you mean about being worried that Drakken might overdo things, even if his intentions were good ones."

"Let's just hope it doesn't turn out that way." Roy said before lapsing into his own thoughts.

(It's been two years since the alliance between the new FOXHOUND and the ninjas of Japan was established, and it seems to be holding fine for now so long as Reese doesn't do anything to strain it any more than he already has.) Roy thought to himself. (This wouldn't have been possible though, if it hadn't been for that 'him'…Speaking of which, I can only hope that when he returns he can find some peace…)

* * *

"I think I may have overdid it a little…" Riku Hanabishi said with a sweatdrop and a sheepish grin as he had a look at the damage that his flame had done.

Beforehand, when he had been looking for the prisoners, Riku had found where the guards' weaponry was stored, which was in a large storage shed near the parking garage. After having gotten the kids out and on the boat to safety, Riku had decided that getting rid of the weapons cache would make things easier for the strike team in case any of the guards tried resisting. Unfortunately, things kind of went wrong from there.

As soon as the fireball he threw hit the shed, it caught fire and proceeded to explode within a few seconds, something Riku was expecting. Unexpectedly though, the explosion had torn open the garage's door and as could be expected, a good deal of the ammunition that went off as a result of the fire and much of it emptied into the garage. These bullets probably ended up hitting either the gas tanks of the vehicles inside, or some containers with gasoline in them, or both, as this caused a second explosion, which sent the flaming wreckage of one of the vehicles flying out and into the nearby forest. Presently, the guards were trying to put out both the fire in the garage and remains of the shed and a forest fire.

"I wonder if these guys are even going to notice the strike team's arrival." Riku commented to no one in particular as he turned and headed back to the dock to wait for the strike tam, and also to prevent anyone from leaving the island.

Unbeknownst to Riku, a series of events would occur that would send him and others down a path that would change their lives forever.

Another new door has opened and long and great journey is about to begin…

* * *

AN: Alright, with this I have completed the revision of the first chapter of Dragon, Crow, and Rabbit. I'll admit that this took longer than I thought since I had to write out Mei Ling and also try to make this intro work better storywise.

Now this is only a taste of the changes to come as like I said, I'm going to be making changes so as to give the Flame of Recca characters some more story significance so FoR fans be prepared to see some appearances of more of your favorite characters soon. It won't be the next chapter though as I'm going to need that one to focus on Nagi, but the next one will definitely have what you're looking for.

I can also say that this revision will of course include new scenes to go along with some that have been slightly rewritten, you can also expect to have two original new story arcs occurring just before the Ceres arc.

Well, that's all I have to say for now.


	2. Chapter 2: Separation and Meeting

AN: Well, here we are with the second chapter of the revision, which I'm pretty sure you'll be glad to see will be quite different from the original version in how this chapter turns out.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime and games that feature in this fic.

Chapter 2: Separation and Meeting

Nagi Naoe, a thin Japanese youth with short black hair and wearing a white suit, who was also the youngest member of the assassin group Schwarz, followed his leader as well as his teacher Brad Crawford, a black haired man of American descent who was also wearing a white suit and tinted glasses, down a staircase that led to the island's docks, where a boat was waiting for them. They could both see the oncoming devastation behind them and increased their speed, not wanting to get caught in it.

Schwarz had completed their objective of eliminating their former employers Eszet, a large and powerful occult organization that was lead by three old, but powerful psychics. Those three had been trying to use their powers to resurrect some sort of entity and incarnate it into the comatose body of a girl named Aya Fujimiya because despite her coma, she had not aged a day since the coma had started, which made her the perfect candidate for the body of the one they were summoning. Unfortunately for them, Schwarz had other plans and had switched that girl with another girl named Sakura Tomoe, who bore a striking resemblance with the former, and was also someone they had been manipulating against Aya Fujimiya's older brother, who she was close to. By the time the only surviving member of Eszet had seen the truth, it was too late and he too soon met his end, at the hands of Farfarello.

Things started to go wrong soon after though, as Weiss, an assassin group that Schwarz seemed to frequently end up in conflict with due to the fact that these assassins targeted the sort of people that Schwarz usually worked with or for such as corrupt officials, rich psychopaths, murderers, and other sorts. The main reason for this particular conflict was because the leader of Weiss was none other than Ran Fujimiya, Aya Fujimiya's older brother, and he and the rest of his team were prepared to fight them to get her back.

The battle was actually going their way until Sakura managed to get to Aya and was able to get her away with the help of one of Weiss' supporters, a woman known only as Manx. Soon after the whole entire building and the island it had been built on began to collapse and both groups got scattered; Nagi managed to locate Crawford and the two of them were making their escape together, their other two companions, Schuldig and Farfarello were likely doing the same.

"Do you think that those four from Weiss will survive?" Nagi asked Crawford as they continued to their flight down some stairs.

"I doubt it," Crawford answered. "But then again, they may have a planned way of escape like we do, so they might survive."

"Either way is fine with me," Nagi said grimly. "If they do survive, I'll kill them the next time I see them. If not…well, I'm not complaining. That bunch all deserve to die for killing her."

The American assassin smirked back at Nagi in reply, which the young psychic took to be one of approval. What Nagi did not know was that it was a smirk of self- satisfaction.

(I was afraid that Schuldig's manipulative powers wouldn't have any effect on Nagi, but it seems they have a lasting effect so far.) Crawford thought to himself. (So it appears that I worried for nothing. Nagi still doesn't know that it was our Farfarello that killed the girl, and not Weiss, and hopefully he never will. Regretful that we had to deceive Nagi, but he is a member of Schwarz that is too valuable for us to lose.)

Crawford's thoughts were interrupted as a series of images flashed through his mind as a result of his precognitive abilities. If he had had more time, Crawford would have felt surprise at the suddenness in which this vision had come to him as they usually came to him several minutes in advance. However, he knew he did not have the time and quickly turned his head to the side to his student.

"Nagi!" He shouted in warning. "Look out! Move to your-!"

But the warning came too late.

Nagi screamed in pain as a large chunk of debris struck his left shoulder. Looking up, he briefly stopped where he was and quickly used his telekinetic powers to shield himself from anymore falling debris. Unfortunately, this action proved to be a mistake as the floor suddenly collapsed under him. Crawford quickly extended his hand towards Nagi to try and pull the boy to safety, but his hand missed and only grasped air. Nagi fell and landed on the floor below on his back, the sounds of the collapsing building drowning out the sound of his landing.

He lay there spread eagled for a few minutes before regaining consciousness, and when he did his body was afire with pain as he tried unsuccessfully to get up. Nagi looked up and saw Crawford was looking down at him through the hole that he had just fallen through and was making a move to get down to him. He could see that Crawford was calling out to him, but the man's voice was drowned out by the crumbling of the building. Wanting to save Crawford the time of helping him up as Nagi realized they could not afford to waste any more time, the young psychic closed his eyes and focused on his telekinetic powers to lift himself up. As he did this, the floor that he had landed on suddenly collapsed underneath him and Nagi fell again, but this time open water awaited him several feet below.

(So this is it.) Nagi thought resignedly as he fell, knowing full well that he could not use his powers to keep himself afloat in mid air due to his injuries, and he was already feeling tired from the battle with Weiss just moments ago. (So this is how it ends for me...Well, it's not so bad now…at least I'll finally be reunited with you, Tot.)

The last thing Nagi felt was his body hitting the water before darkness overtook him and he lost consciousness.

* * *

"No…damn it!" Crawford cursed angrily as he looked down the hole that Nagi had fallen through.

(I can't believe this is happening…) Crawford thought to himself as he forced himself to calm down. He could not believe that he had just lost his student so suddenly and so easily. (Of all times for a vision to occur at the last minute…Still, it doesn't look like Nagi is dead; that telepathic link Schuldig has shared amongst the four of us so we can know whether one of us has died has not ended. Still, I'd best talk with Schuldig just to be sure…)

The precognitive assassin turned and ran down the rest of the staircase towards the docks, where he hoped his other two teammates were.

When Crawford got to the docks, he found his two teammates waiting for him as expected. The first one was a German man with long orange hair wearing a white bandana and sunglasses over his forehead and a black suit shirt and white pants, and the other was a an Irish man with short white hair and pale skin that was covered with multiple scars on his face and body, wearing a tight blue vest and dark jeans, an eyepatch over his left eye, and earings.

The German looked over at Crawford with a laid back look on his face.

"Well, you're a little late, boss." He commented and then noticed that his leader was alone. "Where's Nagi? Wasn't he with you?"

"I'm afraid we got separated…" Crawford replied.

"He isn't dead is he?" The Irish man asked.

"No, I can tell from our link that the kid is still alive, Farfarello." The German answered. "He's alive, but conscious is a different story so unfortunately I can't tell where exactly he is."

"I see…" Crawford paused to think for a moment before turning back to his German partner. "How long should the link last so you can locate him, Schuldig?"

"It should last for a few days, more than enough time for us to find him." Schuldig paused and looked back at the crumbling remains of the building they had just left. "Still boss, are you sure things will work out with Nagi? I mean, that's quite a bit to swim through…"

"I've trained Nagi well enough that he should be able to make it through something like this." Crawford replied with a confident smile. "While there can be no question that he was injured, I'm sure Nagi knows to use those safe houses that used to belong to the Takatori family just in case. Those places should have the necessary medical supplies that he can use for self treatment until we locate him or he contacts us. Now let's get going, the sooner we get this mission wrapped up, the sooner we can begin our search."

"Hmph, so after this our next course of action is to go around looking for a lost member." Farfarello grumbled. "There's no fun to be had in that…"

"Hey, why not look on the bright side, my friend?" Schuldig suggested casually. "Maybe Nagi will be picked up by someone and you'll have to take out a witness."

"Heh, we can only hope." Farfarello smirked a bit at that idea.

With that, the three assassins got into their docked boat and it sped off into the night.

* * *

Riku Hanabishi, now dressed in a light dark blue jacket over a white T-shirt and dark jeans, was taking a walk along a beach outside the American base at Okinawa. He'd completed the report for the mission that he had just done during the flight back to FOXHOUND headquarters and shortly after submitting the report, took the next flight back to Japan as none of his friends in FOXHOUND were there at the moment. As a result, he got the nice long sleep that he was hoping for on the flight back home. In fact he'd slept through most of the flight.

When he had arrived at the Okinawa base, by which time it was the late evening in Japan, Riku was told that he'd have to wait a few hours as the plane that was to take him to the mainland was being refueled and was also having a maintenance inspection done on it. The young ninja was alright with waiting, and had called home to say that he would be a little late.

After grabbing some dinner at a nearby ramen stand that the soldiers at the base had recommended, Riku had decided to kill some more time by taking a walk and the beach seemed like it would be a pleasant enough place for that. It was a rather cool night with a nice breeze and the moon's reflection on the seawater made for a rather pleasant view.

After a few minutes of walking, Riku finally found a nice spot to stop and sit down for a while and admire the view.

(You know this would make a pretty good meditation.) Riku thought to himself as he looked out at the scenery. (It's too bad there isn't enough time to see how that would go…it wouldn't be good if I ended up falling asleep while the plane is waiting for me.)

Riku was about to lie back and relax for a little bit, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Far down to his right, there was someone lying on the shore and from the looks of it, this person had somehow been washed ashore. Riku might not have seen whoever this was if it hadn't been for the fact that this person was wearing at least a white shirt and pants.

The ninja decided to investigate just in case as this person may have been in an accident and if hurt, might need to get to a hospital.

A close inspection soon revealed that the person was a young skinny boy with short black hair who looked to be only two years younger than he was and he was wearing a white suit that did look sort of fancy. The boy looked like he had been in the water for a while, but hadn't drowned as he was breathing, though the breathing seemed to be a little strained.

"I guess he was in an accident of some kind since he looks hurt." Riku commented as he gave the boy a light nudge to try to wake him and was rewarded with a light groan. A few minutes later, the boy's eyes started to open.

"Alright, you're awake, now…" Riku began, but was interrupted as the boy's eyes suddenly seemed to snap open and he suddenly leaped to his feet, giving the ninja quite the surprise.

"Whoa there, kid, take it easy now I'm here to help." Riku said, figuring he must have startled the kid when he woke him. "I'm not sure how you got in the water, but it looks like you ended up hurt quite a bit when that happened."

Nagi Naoe did not need to be told that as he had already felt pain enough lance through his body when he had gotten up like that. At the moment he could feel it throughout most of his body, but his left shoulder was what was hurting the most.

Riku blinked and then noticed the kid reach for his left shoulder and then noticed that some blood was starting to leak into the white cloth of his left sleeve.

"Sheesh you really are hurt there…" Riku commented. "Well, don't worry, I'll get you to a doctor right away…"

"Who are you?" Nagi asked, carefully studying this guy who might be his rescuer to see if he was actually being genuine in wanting to help him.

"Oh me?" Riku replied as he took out his cell phone. "I'm Riku, and I just happened to be passing through before going home."

"You live here in Okinawa?" Nagi asked.

"Oh no, I'm just waiting for my ride that's all and figured a walk would help kill time." Riku then gave a reassuring smile. "Good thing that I did that."

"Yeah…" Nagi relaxed a bit now. This boy, Riku, wasn't coming off as an enemy or someone who would try to rob or harm him. Nagi could sense there was something behind what he had just said, but it didn't seem to be anything that significant enough to make him suspicious.

(Maybe he was meeting a girl or something…) Nagi thought. (Well, I'd better get going before he starts asking too many questions. I wouldn't want to have to kill someone who actually decided to help me. Good Samaritans are rare enough these days…)

"Excuse me, Riku-san, was it?" Nagi spoke, interrupting Riku before he could dial a number into his phone. "Sorry, but I can take care of this myself."

"Here now, with that in jury of yours…" Riku began but never finished as suddenly Nagi made gesture at him and that was followed by a sudden and powerful blow to his head that knocked him down onto the ground, unconscious.

"Sorry about that." Nagi said, meaning it and then quickly took off Riku's jacket. He then tore off the right sleeve of it before taking off his shirt so as to use the sleeve as a bandage for his wounded shoulder. The young psychic winced a bit as he had to use his powers to tie the bandage since his whole body ached to the point that standing was painful, but even doing this stung a bit, especially with the seawater getting into his wound.

After he finished bandaging himself and getting his shirt back on, Nagi used his powers to fold Riku's jacket and lay it beside him. He then took out his wallet and then took out a 10,000 yen bill and put it in the unconscious ninja's hand. A little much for a jacket, but it was a good enough way of saying 'thank you'.

Carrying his currently soaked white jacket as he wouldn't dare leave it behind as possible evidence, Nagi Naoe walked off into the night.

* * *

"Sir, sir, wake up!" A male voice, followed by some rough shaking, called, causing Riku's eyes to open. Standing over him was one of the soldiers from the American base as the ninja recognized the uniform.

"Uuuhhnnn…" Riku groaned as he sat up, his head hurting like he had bumped it against something. He then noticed hr was holding some paper in his hand and that his jacket was lying neatly folded on the ground next to him, except it was missing its right sleeve. Only then did he realize what had happened just before he was out.

"I remember now!" Riku leaped to his feet, surprising the soldier and looked around. "How did he do that? That kid, that invisible hammer…how?"

"Um, sir, is everything alright?" The soldier asked, not entirely sure what to make of what Riku was saying, causing the young ninja to pause as he noticed the soldier's presence.

"Oh, sorry about that." Riku said, rubbing his head with a bit of embarrassment. "Anyway…uh, how long have I been out?"

"I believe it was for a few hours, sir." The soldier answered. "When you didn't come back we went out looking for you and I found you here."

"Well, thank you for that, and I suppose I should tell the pilot I'm sorry for keeping him waiting like that." Riku said with a nod of thanks.

"Just curious, but could you tell me what exactly happened to you, sir?" The soldier asked.

"Oh…well, I had a bit of an accident and ended up getting this hit to my head and a torn jacket." Riku answered. Which was basically true; one of Riku's faults, if it could be called that, was that he was not a particularly good liar so he had to make up for it by saying one thing and meaning something else. The only reason he was keeping what happened with that boy he met a secret was mainly because he didn't want to trouble anyone with looking around for a kid who hadn't really done anything wrong, it wasn't like that invisible strike had really done anything to hurt Riku seriously, it had just knocked him out and gave him a headache upon waking up, and he had been generous, actually very generous, enough to pay for the torn jacket as Riku had noticed the paper in hand was a 10,000 yen bill. "Anyway, we should probably get going…"

Still, Riku could not help but think back on what had knocked him out as he and the soldier headed back to the base. He knew what that invisible strike had been.

(I've sparred with Greg enough to know psychokinesis when I see it.) Riku thought to himself. (I wonder…will that kid and I ever cross paths again?)

* * *

After a couple of hours, Riku had gotten back to the mainland and was now taking a bus back home. He had the seat back and was about to get some more sleep when he noticed something outside the window.

As the bus passed by, Riku saw a red haired woman and two girls, who looked so alike they could be twins, standing off on a cliff near the water and appeared to be watching the coming dawn.

(Well, at least I'm not the only one up at this hour.) Riku thought as the bus went on. (Though I could have sworn there was a small island over in the direction those three are looking…Oh well, I'm probably just mixing things up…)

With that the young ninja drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"So this is the place…" Nagi said as he emerged from the trail that he had been following.

It was already early morning by now, and in the hours that had passed since he had left that boy, Riku, on the beach, Nagi had wasted no time in getting to the nearest Takatori safe house. He had managed to sneak aboard a ferry that took him to the mainland, during which he was able to rest for a while. After that, he had been able to get a taxi driver who was willing to not ask any questions if he was paid enough to drop him off near where the safe house was located. Nagi could have contacted Crawford from a payphone, but he wasn't taking any chances in case he was being followed. As a result he had taken the long way to the safe house so as to shake off any potential pursuers.

On the one hand, he was relieved that the place was deserted, but on the other hand he was not happy about where he had to stay to rest before contacting his comrades from Schwarz. It was only a couple of miles where Schriendt's base had been; where they had kept Masafumi Takatori's body. Too close to where he had lost her…

Gritting his teeth in frustration Nagi pushed aside the painful memories. This was another thing he would have to somehow get through over time, like the painful memories of his childhood, though to be honest with himself, having to deal with the memory of the only person he had truly cared for dying in his arms was many times more painful than even the worst ones of his past.

These thoughts, plus the fact that he'd covered so much distance on foot despite his injuries, were starting to take their toll on the young psychic and make him weary. Walking a few more steps, the young psychic finally ended up stumbling and leaning against a tree near the entrance. Slumping back against it, Nagi could feel sleep overtaking him as his head turned so he could face a large field of flowers.

"Nagi-kun?" A familiar voice called out to him, and Nagi thought he could see a very familiar and much missed figure in the field coming towards him as he drifted off into slumber.

* * *

AN: Alright, chapter 2 is ready now let's move on to chapter 3. Keep your fingers crossed that this doesn't take too long to finish folks.


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting Again

AN: Here's the third chapter of the revision, this one containing entirely new content, and of course what you've all been waiting for…the Flame of Recca cast appearance. A couple of things I should mention though. First, not every FoR character is going to feature in this chapter, they'll all appear over time so please be patient, and second, (note: this is something I'm going to say so as to avoid reviews saying there's a canon error in this story) expect to see some things involving FoR that might seem inconsistent with the manga plot at first but trust me, these will be explained eventually in a later flashback arc. That's all I can say for now without spoiling things. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!

Disclaimer: Same as always. Also, as a heads up, I don't own Mushitsukai, that belongs to Black Cyc. If any readers are wondering just what the heck I'm talking about, don't worry, it will be explained at the end author's note. Don't own Witchblade either.

Chapter 3: Meeting Again

At that precise moment, even with his eyes closed, Riku Hanabishi could sense the intruder's approach. This intruder had been able to open and close the door without so much as making a sound to alert the young ninja of his presence. Riku however, had taken steps with that by attaching a thread of chakra to the door connected to himself, so the moment that the door was even touched, he would be alerted. The moment that had happened, Riku sprang into action.

Riku had locked the door in anticipation of the intruder's arrival, and he knew that given the man's level of skills, that lock would only hold him for a minute at the very best, but it was just the right amount of time needed. Riku quickly slipped into his hiding place while preparing the decoy into its rightful place. He had just finished and settled into his hiding spot, closing his eyes and getting comfortable.

(This time, I'll succeed, I know it…) Riku thought to himself.

Just then, the door opened, almost soundlessly before being quickly closed without the intruder making a sound in the process. Riku couldn't hear him, but he opened one of his eyes and could see the intruder's feet approach.

(He'll get the decoy and while he's distracted, I can make my next move…) Riku thought as he got prepared. It looked like he was going to make it this time. (Finally, after so many tries…)

Riku's hopes were dashed, however, when a hand suddenly reached under the bed that he was hiding under and yanked the young ninja right out from under it. A pajama clad Riku was now staring up at the grinning face of a man in his thirties with spiky black hair along the right side of his head and blue eyes, wearing a bandage on his left cheek, and a black shirt and blue jeans.

"Morning, Dad." Riku Hanabishi greeted his father, Recca Hanabishi, with sigh of defeat. The decoy he had put in his bed so as to distract or fool his father when he came to wake him had backfired…again.

"Morning, Riku." Recca replied. "Looks like I win again."

* * *

"Okay, I can understand how you were able to see through my decoy trick, Dad, but how did you know I would have a backup plan and figure the plan out just like that?" Riku asked Recca.

Riku was now sitting at the table having breakfast with Recca and a woman also in her thirties with long brown hair and green eyes, wearing a light green dress over a short sleeved white shirt. This woman was Recca's wife and Riku's mother, Yanagi Hanabishi, formerly Yanagi Sakoshita.

"It's quite simple, son, you gave up way too easily after I uncovered that first trick of yours." Recca replied with a smile. "That made it obvious that something was coming up next. Now as for your next trick…I have to say that it might have worked on me under different circumstances. Unfortunately, I know your habit of trying out newly learned jutsus, and considering you only just recently mastered Kurei's 'Genjutsu Wakemi'…"

"I see…" Riku's head drooped a bit as he realized his mistake. Just after Recca had uncovered him, Riku had tried fooling his father by pretending to get dressed and sending a copy of himself out of his room. The failure of this plan was revealed almost as soon as it had happened as the Recca that the copy had gone out to meet was a copy as well and the real Recca had slipped into the room as the copy of Riku had walked out the door.

"Hey, don't feel so down there, Riku, at least you almost got me with the first trick with the decoy." Recca pointed out. "For one, you used a way better made decoy than I used when I was your age."

"Hold on, you mean you used the same trick before?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, the trick I used on your grandfather back then had the same idea." Recca nodded in reply.

"Except yours worked right?"

"Nope, actually it didn't work, but it was still a good idea."

"What exactly did you do?"

"Well, the decoy I used was a broom we had which I dyed black and then cut a little to make it look like my hair." Recca started and then paused for a moment as he considered something. "Even now, I'm sure that I cut the thing so it would match me…I even asked Yanagi, Domon, Kaoru, Ganko, and Fuuko if it matched…"

Yanagi, meanwhile smiled a bit, as she had heard from her mother in law Kagero about the constant morning battle between Recca and his adopted father Shigeo Hanabishi that occurred every time the latter woke up the former. It seemed that a similar case was repeating with the next generation.

"In other words, Riku, you have a long way to go before you beat the master." Yanagi said after Recca finished explaining how his plan against Shigeo had failed.

"And good luck with that, son, because your dear old Dad wasn't able to beat the 'master' he had to face." Recca admitted proudly.

"Uh…are you sure that's something to be proud of, Dad?" Riku asked with a sweatdrop.

"I may have failed in that part, yes." Recca conceded with a nod. "However, in my failure I was able to learn the tricks so as to become just as unbeatable as he was."

"So basically…because you were never able to defeat Grandpa and sleep in, I never will?" Riku asked, getting a bad feeling as to the answer.

"That's exactly right." Recca nodded matter of factly, causing Riku to almost fall out of his chair.

"But that's not fair…" Riku muttered gloomily.

"Cheer up though, Riku, in twenty years or so, you'll probably be doing the same thing with your son." Recca then grinned. "Trust me, it's one of the best forms of father and son bonding."

"I'm still not sure if that makes it something to look forward to." Riku then turned to Yanagi. "Mom, can you help me out here?"

"Oh, I don't know, Riku, I think it sounds like a pretty fun family tradition to me." Yanagi spoke.

"Uh, Mom, to tell you the truth…." Riku then paused as he noticed something on the recently delivered newspaper that was lying on the table. He quickly picked it up and looked at the front page. "I see…so I was right…"

"What is it, Riku?" Recca asked.

"It's…well, after I got back from that mission and was heading home, a small island that I remember that was out on the water a ways just wasn't there." Riku explained and took a closer look at the article to read it some more. "It says that the island collapsed and sank into the ocean because of a small earthquake and some construction problems with the buildings that the owners built on it."

"Can I have a look at that?" Recca asked and Riku handed the paper to him. "Sheesh, that's a lot of buildings to put on such a small island. I guess that's what happens when you overbuild…" Recca was about to put the paper back on the table when he noticed something and his eyes narrowed a little as he took another look.

"Is something wrong, Dad?" Riku asked.

"No, probably not, but…" Recca paused as he wasn't sure how to explain.

"Could you tell us anyway, Recca-kun?" Yanagi asked; she knew her husband well enough to know that look meant that he noticed something that could mean trouble later on. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

"You've got a point there, Yanagi." Recca agreed. "Well, the thing is, when I had a look at the picture that they had of how the island originally looked…there was something about the main building that kind of bothered me. Something about it…reminds me of the buildings at the Urabutosatsujin tournament and SODOM."

"You mean…it looks like something that Koran Mori would have had built?" Riku asked. "I'm not so sure about that, Dad. I mean it looks like this island was going to be made into a place open to the public by the owners. It even says here that they had just completed an art museum and a concert hall…"

"But it also says that a scheduled opening date had yet to be established even though these owners had sped up construction." Recca added. "Also, something seems fishy about the three owners…"

"Yes, there's barely anything about them aside from their names and a note that they were wealthy people who donated money to charity." Yanagi agreed. "I'd like to think they were just your typical humanitarians, but…"

"That was Koran Mori's cover." Recca finished. "Not to mention Tatsuoki Furumizu's…"

"And the fact that these three guys have apparently disappeared doesn't help them much." Riku said and looked at his parents. "So what do you think? Should we do anything to look into this?"

"I'm not sure…even if it sounds fishy, it could just be nothing. And even if it is something…" Recca paused and then shrugged. "Well, I guess I'll run this by Kurei and Mom and see what they think first."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Riku agreed. "If you like, I could bring this up with some of my friends at FOXHOUND and see if they can find anything."

"Good idea, especially if this does turn out to be something nasty." Recca then remembered something. "Oh yeah, maybe you should also ask your friends from Jinmu Corporations and maybe those two Mushitsukai friends of yours too. They might know something."

"I'll be sure to mention this to Miyaka-san and Madoka-san the next time I go to train with the Guard, and to Ren and Shio too if I can contact them." Riku then paused as he considered something. "Though the second part may take a while…"

"Yeah, those two are pretty busy even compared to you and your friends at FOXHOUND." Yanagi agreed.

"Well, that's just how their line of work is." Riku shrugged.

"Maybe you could try meeting Ren when he's meeting with Miyaka." Recca suggested.

"I'm afraid he keeps those meetings pretty secret, and besides you know how private a person he is." Riku then blushed a bit and lowered his gaze. "Also…there's kind of a reason why those meetings are private…"

"What do…oh, I see…" Recca flushed a bit as, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I can see how that would make a meeting then next to impossible."

"Why would…oh…" Yanagi blushed a bit as she realized what that meant.

"Anyway, what are we going to be doing today, Dad?" Riku asked, deciding to change the subject, especially since he did not want to dwell on the private lives of two, technically three, of his friends. "Since it's Sunday and there's no school, I guess we're going to go down to the shop and help out Grandpa and Ane-ue."

"Oh, yeah that's the plan." Recca then paused as he remembered something. "Oh by the way Riku, didn't you say there was something you wanted to tell us about what happened after your mission with FOXHOUND."

"Yeah, but I'll help you and Mom with the dishes before since this could be something important."

* * *

As soon as Nagi Naoe opened his eyes, he knew that he had been captured. By whom, he had yet to establish, but that person, or persons, had obviously done a good job in restraining him.

From what the young psychic could tell, something had been strongly and tightly wrapped around his whole body, restraining him in a manner similar to that of a straight jacket. His captors had apparently lain him on what was probably the bed inside his cell, and had covered him in some sort of heavy sheet. Probably to restrict his movements further, and also to momentarily block his vision, since this sheet covered him from head to toe.

(Could this be one of Eszet's people, or is it someone else?) Nagi wondered to himself. (Well whoever it is, this attempt of theirs to keep me restrained isn't going to work. I'll just wait until they send someone in to check on me and after that I'll restrain him and make him tell me what's going on. After that, hopefully I can use him to escape…)

The young assassin did not have to wait for very long as a few minutes later, he heard the sound of door opening followed by the sound of someone walking into the cell. He could hear approaching footsteps, but there was no sound of the door closing behind whoever was entering.

(This person's just leaving the door open behind him?) Nagi couldn't believe his luck and paused to consider as instinct told him that no one would do something that stupid without some kind of safeguard at hand.

(He probably has a guard or two standing outside the door with a gun aimed at me, or…if this is Eszet, it might be another psychic instead.) The young psychic did not want to consider that possibility, but he knew that that could very well be the case, and that would mean he would have to do battle with another psychic, and probably a powerful one, to escape.

Nagi's thoughts were then interrupted as he heard the footsteps stop at the side of his bed and he hard the sound of a tray of some sort being laid onto something nearby, probably a table or counter. That tray likely had one of three things on it, food to feed him, or one of two types of drugs, something to keep him sedated or something to make him talk.

(Well, I guess I'll just have to take my chances, Crawford is probably looking for me now, so I should be able to hold out until they arrive…) Nagi thought, not relishing the idea of having to go through an interrogation. He then focused on his telekinetic powers, pulling apart whatever was binding him and causing it to loosen. The psychic assassin then carefully got into a position where he would be able to spring up and grab whoever was at the side of the bed. His body hurt quite a bit as he did this, but surprisingly not as much as before. Whoever had captured him had at least treated his injuries.

Nagi waited until he felt the person come closer to where he was lying, probably to check him and see what his condition was, before quickly springing up from where he was lying, grabbing the person by the shoulder and quickly shoved it onto the bed.

"Kyaa!" A girl's startled cry came from the intruder as Nagi held her down, and as he looked down, he saw who it was.

Lying back on the bed and facing him was teenage girl who looked to be around his age with light blue hair, part of it going down in a wavy form down the front sides of her face and the rest was tied back into two small buns on each side near the top of her head, and blue eyes. She was wearing a white dress shirt and a knee length pink skirt.

Nagi was almost literally frozen in that position as he looked down at the girl he was holding down onto the bed as he knew very well who this girl was, and that was what had him so shocked. He knew that as much as he wished it were possible, this girl just could not be here right in front of him, but somehow she was.

The girl, meanwhile, blinked a couple of times in confusion before suddenly reaching over and gently pushing Nagi's hands off of her.

"That won't do, Nagi-kun." The girl said rather firmly. "You're still hurt, so we can't play right now." She then stopped as she noticed something. "Oh no, some of your bandages are torn!"

"T-Tot…" Nagi, not noticing until later that what he had thought were bindings had actually been an excess of bandages wrapped around him, could only look at her in disbelief that she was alive right now and talking to him. "You're…but, how…"

"Oh yeah, I made you some breakfast, it's right over there." Tot gestured over to a small table where a tray of food was laid out. "Now, I need to get some new bandages for…"

Tot didn't finish as Nagi suddenly pulled her up into his arms and held her in a strong embrace.

"Nagi-kun…" Tot glanced over at Nagi in confusion and then started to blush a bit as for some reason she sensed that there was something about this hug that was more intimate than a normal one. "Nagi-kun, we…"

"You're…you're really here, Tot…I'm so glad…" Nagi could barely keep from crying at the joy he felt at finding that the girl he loved wasn't dead after all. "I'm so glad you're alive…"

"Nagi-kun…I see so that's why you didn't come back…" Tot then put her arms around Nagi and returned his embrace. "It's okay now, Nagi-kun. I'm here, and I promise that I'll stay with you…"

The two of them remained that way for a while, holding one another. Nagi because he was overjoyed to be reunited with the one person who he had ever been able to care for who had accepted him, and Tot because as unfamiliar to her as this feeling she was getting from being this close to Nagi was, she found that she quite enjoyed it.

* * *

"So what are we going to do about this boy Riku met after he finished his FOXHOUND mission, Recca-kun?" Yanagi asked.

She and Recca were in the living room of their house while Riku was out in the garage getting the last few things that he and his father would need to bring with them to the family owned fireworks shop. The two of them had heard what Riku had to say regarding what had happened when he had come upon an injured kid with psychic powers on the beach near the base he had stopped at.

"To be honest I'm not sure, Yanagi." Recca answered. "I do have to agree with what Riku said after explaining this that we probably don't need to look for him; I mean the kid really didn't do anything wrong. Riku wasn't hurt by that psychic strike that knocked him out, and the kid was even nice enough to pay for tearing Riku's jacket. There's only one thing that bothers me…"

"You think he might have something to do with that island sinking into the ocean last night, right?" Yanagi asked in reply.

"Exactly," Recca nodded. "I could be wrong, but still…the time that the newspaper said that the island sank wasn't that long before Riku ran into that kid on the beach."

"It definitely is hard not to wonder if there's a connection between the two…" Yanagi agreed. "So I guess we need to mention this when we talk to Kurei about that hunch you had about the island, huh?"

"Yeah, that's the plan." Recca said. "Anyway, I guess Riku and I need to get going; don't want to keep Dad and Renge waiting…" He then stopped as he remembered something. "Oh by the way, how's the next adventure of 'The Red Comet Ninja' coming along?"

"I'm actually almost finished, after that I just need to send it to the editors." Yanagi answered.

"Heh, just curious, but who's going to be helping the Red Comet Ninja and Princess Sakura in the next book, the Kamikaze Kunoichi, the Strong Arm Warrior Monk, the Great River Ronin, the Puzzle Boy, or the Puppeteer Girl?" Recca then added one more character he just remembered. "Or will it be that new character you're introducing in this new book?"

"I'm still thinking on that part, Recca-kun." Yanagi answered with a smile. "Though since the Mind Wiper was only just introduced…"

The two of them were actually referring to a popular kodomo manga series that Yanagi had started writing, under her penname Rose, shortly after Riku had been born. This series was basically a more polished version of her 'Firestar Reccaman' books, which she technically still wrote as the process of making a new addition to 'The Red Comet Ninja' started with her making a new issue of the former and then adapting it into the latter. While it sounded like a complicated process, Yanagi seemed to work with it just fine.

The story of the series was simple; Koheita, childhood friend of Princess Sakura, secretly protects her and their city from the Daimyo of Avarice and his evil army by transforming into the powerful Red Comet Ninja, a powerful hero blessed with the powers of the Eight Imperial Dragons. Along the way, he meets many characters with special powers who become friends with him and Princess Sakura, who secretly knows that the Red Comet Ninja is Koheita but is never able to tell him, and help to thwart every single evil plan of the Daimyo of Avarice.

Now as this series was the result of 'Firestar Reccaman', it too used people that both Yanagi and Recca knew well as inspiration for the characters. Koheita/The Red Comet Ninja was obviously Recca, Princess Sakura was Yanagi, the Kamikaze Kunoichi was Fuko, the Strong Arm Warrior Monk was Domon, the Great River Ronin was Tokiya, the Puzzle Boy was Kaoru, the Puppeteer Girl was Ganko, and the Mind Wiper was Aoi, and finally, of course, the Daimyo of Avarice was Koran Mori, albeit a less successful, slightly less vile (this was a manga for kids after all), and stupider version. There were of course other characters, for Kurei there was the Scarlet Moon Ninja, Koheita's long lost brother long thought dead who had in fact been kidnapped and forced to do evil by the Daimyo and for a while was the Red Comet Ninja's fiercest enemy, only to finally be set free with the aid not only of just the Red Comet Ninja and his friends, but also by his own friends like the Valkyrie of Sound (Neon), the Lightning Swordsman (Raiha), and the Jester (Joker).

"Still, I wonder what ancient us would have thought if they knew that their names would be used as the main characters in a manga?" Recca said with a light chuckle, referring to the two people who had, according to what the eighth dragon, Resshin, or Ohka, Recca and Kurei's father, been their previous incarnations, Shimizu Koheita Takamitsu, a vassal of the Sawaki clan and childhood friend of that clan's princess Sakura, who, like Yanagi also possessed healing powers.

"I think they probably would have liked it." Yanagi replied with a warm smile. She had been told about this by Recca not too long after the two of them destroyed the Tendou Jigoku and in doing so finally ended Koran Mori's life. Later, when she started this series, and Recca had asked her why she had picked those names, her answer had been because after hearing both Koheita and Sakura's story, she'd felt some inspiration to write a story about the two of them in a setting where they could have been together.

"Yeah, I think so too." Recca then stopped as he looked at his watch. "Whoa, it looks like Riku and I need to be going now. We'll be back this afternoon."

"Take care of yourselves." Yanagi then stepped over to Recca and the two leaned forward to each other and kissed. "I'll see you later, Recca-kun…"

* * *

Nagi looked over at the door to his room as he saw it open and Tot come in. She had just finished washing the dishes that she'd used for breakfast, something Nagi had actually eaten so fast he wasn't sure what it was or how it had tasted, he had been that hungry having not eaten anything since the day before. Nagi had offered to help her, but Tot had insisted that he stay in bed and rest until his wounds healed. While the young psychic did try to convince her that he'd be alright, it soon became apparent that Tot was not going to take no for an answer on this one.

(Well, it's not like I didn't know that Tot can be stubborn in her own way…) Nagi thought to himself, remembering from the times that they had been able to meet each other that once Tot decided she was going to do something, she usually did it. (And she is doing this because she's worried about me…)

Knowing that was another reason Nagi decided to let Tot have her way; being cared for by someone like that was not something that the young psychic was used to receiving from anyone.

"Well, I'm done washing the dishes, Nagi-kun." Tot said as she entered the room and sat down next to Nagi. "So, did you like the breakfast I made for you?"

"Uh…yes, of course, Tot, and thank you for making it." Nagi answered, even though he hadn't really tasted the meal as he'd eaten it so fast, but not wanting to hurt Tot's feelings he decided to just tell her that. After all, he'd eaten the whole thing and felt fine now, so it couldn't have been that bad.

"I'm glad you liked it, Nagi-kun, now I know I can make you good food so you'll get better faster." Tot said happily.

"Well, I'll look forward to that." Nagi gave a light smile in response before continuing. "So Tot…how long have you been at this safe house?"

"Well, I've been here for almost a week now." Tot answered. "Ever since…" She paused as her eyes lowered and her expression became a sorrowful one. "Ever since…"

Nagi silently cursed himself for not thinking a bit before asking Tot that question as it had only been a little over a week since that battle against Weiss at the mansion where Schriendt had kept the barely alive body of Masafumi Takatori along with that of the comatose Aya Fujimiya. That battle had resulted in the death of Tot's two remaining teammates, Hel and Schoen, who had been like family to her and it was obvious that she was still mourning them.

Nagi then reached out and took Tot's right hand and held it.

"Nagi-kun…" Tot blinked in surprise at this.

"Tot, I'm sorry…" Nagi said as he looked up into her eyes. "I'm sorry if I brought any bad memories up for you…and I'm sorry I can't do anything else for you about this aside from this…"

Nagi then put his free arm around Tot's waist and then drew her close to him in a strong but gentle embrace.

Tot stayed that way for a moment, blushing quite a bit as she wasn't entirely used to this, especially with Nagi being a bit more forward with her than last time. It was then that she realized something.

(This feeling, it's…it's almost like when Nagi-kun was there after Neu died…) She thought to herself. (But…it's different somehow…Nagi-kun somehow feels closer this time, and I…) Tot's eyes then widened a bit as the memory of that time came back to her. (I see…now I understand…back then, and right now, Nagi-kun is trying to comfort me, even though I…)

"It's okay, Nagi-kun, I'm fine now." Tot said as she, with a slight feeling of reluctance, drew back away from him. Her light blue eyes then lowered a bit as if she was looking to the side. "And…I understand that you can't bring them back, so…"

(Is Tot…trying to apologize about before?) Nagi wondered as he remembered how Tot had asked him to bring back another of her teammates, a woman known as Neu, who had been killed in a previous mission. When he had told her that he couldn't do that, Tot had yelled at him and run away from him. Still, he hadn't blamed her for that as Tot had just lost someone important to her, and not understanding the concept of death, didn't know how to handle it. He wasn't sure where exactly she stood on that now.

"It's alright, Tot I understand." Nagi then gave Tot's hand a light squeeze. "Still, there's something I need to ask you about that night…"

"Eh…" Tot then paused as she could see from Nagi's expression that this was something important. "Well…okay, if it's for you, Nagi-kun."

"Okay, well…this is hard to put into words, but…Tot, how did you survive that night?" Nagi asked. "I was right there when it happened after one of Weiss' people stabbed you, so…"

"What are you talking about, Nagi-kun?" Tot said, interrupting him, her expression a confused one. "The one who stabbed me was that creepy looking knife guy from Schwarz when he threw that sword at me…"

"Huh…but, that's…why…?" Nagi then felt a sudden and sharp pain in his head, causing him to grunt and place his hand on his forehead. "It couldn't have been…it was…"

"Nagi-kun? What's wrong?" Tot asked, but Nagi didn't seem to hear her.

(Wait a minute…why is it that I can't remember for sure which member of Weiss did it?) Nagi wondered to himself. (All I can remember for sure is that all four of them were there, but…why can't I get a solid image of which one of them did it? Unless…)

Nagi could feel a sharp throbbing in his head as his thoughts dwelt on what Tot had just said. It was like something trying to push him away from thinking about it.

(_**Who else but Weiss would do it? There is no one else…That girl is mistaken…**_) A voice seemed to urge Nagi. (_**There's no need to dwell on it…Just move on from this…don't mind it…**_)

Nagi tried ignoring the voices but they seemed to press on, becoming even louder the more he tried ignoring them. Soon, he couldn't take hearing them anymore.

(ENOUGH!) Nagi cried out mentally, pushing out against the voices, wherever they were coming from. He then heard the sound of something shattering, as if someone had dropped a large and fragile glass statue onto the floor.

It was then that the memories of that night at that Takatori mansion where Schriendt had met its end came flooding back to him. How he had still tried to save Tot from being killed in that battle between her group and Weiss even though his mentor, Crawford, had made it clear that he was not to do that, to how that effort proved to be in vain as the image of Tot standing where she was with Farfarello's sword sticking in her chest seemed to hang in his mind for a moment before Nagi's memory then moved on to his rushing over to Tot's side as he held the dying girl in his arms until he felt her life slowly leave her, and finally how his powers had gone out of control as he desperately tried to save Tot and the mansion began collapsing around him before it was enveloped in light. It was then that the flood of memories ended just as suddenly as it had come, but with those memories, Nagi Naoe also understood how and why he had forgotten them.

* * *

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you, boss." Schuldig spoke as he looked over at his leader.

Both the German telepath and Crawford were standing in the same star filled room that was part of their home base. The well dressed precognitive looked over at his partner and asked him, "What's happened?"

"I think we're going to have to start looking for Nagi now since I think he might be a little reluctant to come back." Schuldig admitted and gave a mock embarrassed smile. "You see, that bit of work I did on the kid's memory of when we took out Schriendt just became undone."

"I see…" Crawford paused to fix his glasses as he got up. "Well, I suppose he would have done that sooner or later, that's to be expected of a student of mine. We'll go looking for him starting tomorrow…"

"You don't seem too overly concerned about this, Crawford." Schuldig noted.

"I'm simply making sure things will go smoothly with Nagi so we can move from this." Crawford replied. "Nagi has always been the more emotional of us, aside perhaps from Farfarello. I'm sure that at the moment he's feeling a bit put out over this so I think I'll give him some time to cool his head for a bit. This way I should be able to talk this out with Nagi once we find him, I'm sure he'll understand once I explain the reason we had to do this."

"You did bring up the kid, so I'd figure as much." Schuldig said with a light shrug. "And since he's usually pretty level headed, though a bit too serious about things if you ask me, then who knows? Maybe he'll think this whole thing through and come back to us tomorrow and we won't even have to look for him."

"Not likely, if Nagi was that forgiving I doubt he'd have survived as a psychic." Crawford said and then paused as he remembered something. "By the way, where's Farfarello at?"

"In his 'suite' doing his usual activities." Schuldig said jokingly. "Shall I go get him for you?"

"Give him a couple of hours and if he's not done then go ahead, just don't have too much of your 'fun'." Crawford replied simply. "In any case, I've just gotten a message entailing a new assignment…"

"Heh, you certainly fit the term 'married to your work', you know that?" Schuldig asked with a light laugh.

* * *

"Nagi-kun…Nagi-kun! Hang in there!" Tot's voice, and the light shaking by her of his shoulders brought the young psychic back to reality, causing him to look forward and see Tot leaning on her knees on the bed with her face right in front of his. This surprised Nagi a little, and caused him to temporarily forget about the sudden revelation.

"Tot, uh…I…" Nagi was about to explain to the worried girl that he was alright, but Tot spoke before he could continue.

"Oh no…Nagi-kun is sick as well as injured, what do I do…I don't even know what medicine I need to give him!" Tot then stopped. "Okay, calm down, Tot, your Nagi-kun won't get better if you panic…" She then realized something. "Ah, of course! When I got sick, Papa, Hel, Neu, or Schon would give me eat rice porridge along with the medicine and I always got better. Maybe if I make Nagi-kun some rice porridge…" Tot then remembered something else. "No wait, what if that just makes it worse if it's without the medicine?"

"Tot…" Nagi sweatdropped a little at this but nevertheless tried getting through to her, but it seemed she hadn't heard him, or maybe she had as she turned back to him.

"Nagi-kun, could you tell me what's wrong, maybe then I can guess what I need to get you from the medicine ca…"

"Tot, it's alright, I'm not sick!" Nagi said, raising his voice a little just to be sure that she heard him right.

"Eh…?" Tot paused at this and then took a good look at him before suddenly leaning forward and gently pressing her forehead against Nagi's, causing the young psychic to blush furiously at this especially because of how close the two of them were now. His eyes then strayed a little downward to her soft pink lips, which then got him to remember that kiss they had shared just before the events that Nagi had just remembered, which only served to make his face flush into an even deeper shade of red.

"But Nagi-kun, your face kinda feels a little too warm." Tot commented, completely clueless about the fact that what she was doing now was the cause of that. She then drew her head back a little and then touched his right cheek with her left hand. "See, and your face is also getting red, so…"

"R-really, it's not what you think." Nagi said, feeling a little nervous for some reason, as he backed a way a little from her. "Please just hear me out, okay?"

"Well, okay…" Tot's eyes lowered and her head drooped a little bit as she said this.

"Tot, I'm not mad at you." Nagi said as he gave her a reassuring smile. "It's alright for you to be worried…in fact, I appreciate that."

"Then if you're not sick, why were you holding your head like that and groaning like you were in pain?" Tot asked.

"It has to do with my powers…actually, let me explain this properly." Nagi paused for a moment before continuing. "Remember when you said that the reason I didn't come back for you was because I didn't know you were still alive?" Tot nodded. "Well, that's only basically what it was. You remember Schuldig, right?"

"That weird guy with the orange hair?" Tot asked and Nagi nodded. "What about him?"

"Well, Schuldig is a very powerful telepath…" Nagi then saw Tot blink in confusion. "Meaning he's someone who can read, enter, control, and manipulate other people's minds, that's actually his favorite pastime. Anyway, he used his power to alter my memory of what happened that night to believe that the ones who killed you was one of the members of Weiss and not Farfarello."

"What?" Tot gasped at this. "But…aren't they your friends, aren't they your nakama? Why would they do that to you?"

"I'm not sure…I do know Schuldig wouldn't do that without Crawford's permission, so…" Nagi's head bowed a little bit as the truth of the matter started to weigh heavily on him. "Maybe they thought I would leave the group for that, or maybe they just wanted me to have more focus on eliminating our enemies, Weiss. Either way, it sounds like just a way to control me, one of their own…"

"Nagi-kun…are you upset?" Tot asked.

This question caused Nagi to look up a bit and that was when he could look full into Tot's face. Her face wasn't showing its usual child-like naiveté, but instead it showed genuine concern for him. This felt a little strange to Nagi as this seemed a little different for Tot, but at the same time it touched him.

"Well, in a way…" Nagi gave pained smile before sighing. "I guess I'm just disappointed…in Crawford anyway. While I wasn't that close to Schuldig or Farfarello, Crawford on the other hand was…he was my mentor and the one who saved me from that life of misery. He taught me everything I know, gave me almost everything I've ever had…Everything I've ever had up to now, I've had because of him, in some way or another…"

"So…in a way, Crawford is to you kinda like Papa was to me." Tot spoke.

Nagi was quiet for a moment before giving a bitter smile.

"I can't really deny that…" He admitted. "There were so many times I viewed him as the father I never had…" Nagi then gave a bitter laugh. "I really have no luck in that area, huh? My real family abandons me, and the one I considered to be my adopted family does this to me…This almost feels like some kind of bad joke…"

Nagi then stopped as he felt Tot get up from the bed, and at first a part of him was afraid that she was going to leave because she didn't understand, but that fear was soon proven wrong as Tot simply walked a little past him and then moved the pillows at the head of the bed aside so that she could sit down next to him. She then drew her arm around his side.

What happened next definitely surprised the young psychic as Tot suddenly tipped him over so that his head suddenly landed in her lap. Nagi blushed a bit as he definitely wasn't expecting this and was about to say something, but Tot spoke first.

"Uh…I remember seeing that on TV when girls do this with the guy they like, and he usually feels better…" Tot said hesitantly as Nagi looked up to see that she was blushing a bit as this was something she wasn't familiar with. "Um, well…if it isn't doing that I'll do something else if you want, Nagi-kun, I…" Tot paused for a moment as she looked at Nagi, her face showing her concern for him. "I just don't want to see you look so sad…"

Nagi wasn't sure what to say after hearing Tot say that. Even though she wasn't very experienced at this, Tot was trying to comfort him in some way and he had to admit it was working. That feeling of bitterness had faded away at Tot's words.

"This is alright, Tot, and…thank you." Nagi said gratefully as he took her hand. "Tot…"

"Yes?" Tot asked.

"Can we…stay like this for a little bit?" Nagi asked, his face reddening a little as he said that. This was definitely something he wasn't used to, but being close to Tot like this felt strangely soothing.

Tot then smiled down at him, a warm and caring smile.

"Of course we can, Nagi-kun." She said, inwardly glad that Nagi wanted to be this close to her.

For a few minutes, Tot sat there and watched as the boy psychic began to drift off to sleep.

(Nagi-kun's face…it looks so peaceful now…and pretty cute too.) She thought to herself. (I hope he has some good dreams…) Tot then noticed that Nagi was still holding onto her hand. (I wonder if any of them are going to be about me…) She then stopped as she remembered something. (Well, whether I'm in any of them or not, I think I should do what Hel or Schon did when I was little and started living with them and had trouble sleeping…)

Tot then paused as she began to think of any nice songs she remembered hearing that would help Nagi sleep well. Finally, one came to her and after taking a breath, she began to sing it…

(AN: If anyone is wondering, this song is entitled "Sora wo Mistumete" or "Look Up at the Sky" and it's from the visual novel game "Private Nurse", one of my personal favorites of the ren'ai genre. Now if anyone is wondering how Tot would know a song from an eroge, well, to tell you the truth an all ages version was made for the PS2 a while back after the original was made, unfortunately I don't know much about it as that game version is pretty rare and my PS2 isn't made to play Japanese games. Still, anyone interested should look up this song on google or youtube and listen to it, it's really very good and I'm pretty sure the singer for this song is Maaya Sakamoto (note: this is to the best of my knowledge, so there is a chance I could be wrong), famous singer and the voice behind several notable anime and game roles such as Aura and Natsume of the .hack series, Aerith Gainsborough of Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts, Lunamaria Hawke of Gundam Seed Destiny, Aigis of Persona 3, and Hitomi Kanzaki of The Vision of Escaflowne. And on that note: in case the disclaimer does not suffice, I DO NOT own this song. Anyway, enough of my otaku rant, back to the story)

(note: original Japanese romanji lyrics first, translation second)

_Kazeto kumoga asonderu  
Aoi sorawo mitsumeteiru_

Itsumo kokode sagashiteta  
Futari dakeno yumeno chizuwo  
Nagai michiwo aruite kitano  
Donna tokimo waratteita

Imawa tooi omoide ni  
Meguru kisetsu kanjiteiru

Itsuka kokode mata aetanara  
Anohino egao okuritai

Kazeto kumoga asonderu  
sorawo anatamo miteimasuka

(The wind and a cloud are playing together.  
I'm looking up at the blue sky.

We were always looking for  
the map of our dreams.  
We walked a lot,  
But we never lost our smiles.

It feels like an old memory now,  
After I went through so many seasons.

If I can meet you here again,  
I want you to show me that same old smile.

The wind and a cloud are playing together.  
Are you looking up at the same sky?)

* * *

Recca parked the car in front of the house and he and Riku then got out before getting the stuff they needed out of the trunk; mainly the makings needed for today's batch of fireworks as well as lunch as it was their turn to bring it.

After unloading the stuff, Recca and Riku were greeted by two people; a man who looked to be in his late forties (though he was actually in his fifties) wearing a large and dirtied white shirt and work trousers wearing a bandana over his head, and the other was a girl with long blonde hair who looked to be in her twenties, she was wearing a similar outfit.

"Well, it's about time you two showed up." Shigeo Hanabishi said with a hearty grin. "So, you guys didn't forget lunch, I hope."

"We dropped it off in the kitchen before unloading the stuff we needed for today, Grandpa." Riku answered. "So, I guess we should be getting to work then, huh?"

"Yeah, especially since we're going to be taking on a real monster of a shipment for the Yokohama display." The blonde girl commented.

"Even though the display isn't until late July, they sure got that order to us pretty quickly." Riku added. "Ah well, I guess the sooner we complete the shipment, the better. Maybe we'll get a chance to catch our breath until the summer festivals start."

"We'll see…" Recca gave a light smile and turned to Shigeo. "So, Dad, let's have a look at those plans for this year's batch one more time before we get started."

"Heh, you're pretty enthusiastic today, Recca…" Shigeo noted. "Anyway, they're right over here, just give me a sec…" Shigeo then reached into his pocket and then suddenly stopped as he realized something wasn't there.

"Looking for these, Dad?" The girl spoke as she held up a small pack of cigarettes. "Sorry, no smoking near the shop, remember?"

"Ack! How did…!" Shigeo eyes widened in disbelief. "I could have sworn I hid them better than the last time…" He then gave a sheepish grin. "Sheesh, Renge at least let your dear old Dad win once…"

"Since when does any firework maker let their shop blow up once?" Renge Hanabishi asked in reply. "Besides, we agreed that it was fair that you can smoke if you can sneak a pack by me."

"That was before I knew you were learning ninjutsu." Shigeo replied and then muttered slightly. "If I'd known that I would have come up with something more difficult…"

"Well, it looks like another victory for Ane-ue," Riku commented and then turned to Recca. "Speaking of which, Dad, what's the score now?"

"If you want to know Renge's, son, then don't look at me, I stopped counting that years ago." Recca then looked at Shigeo with a grin. "Though, I know this old geezer's score…a big fat zero."

"Oh really…" Shigeo looked over at his adoptive son. "I'd like to see you try sneaking something past Renge and see if you'd say the same thing…"

"I don't smoke." Recca replied simply. "Besides Renge isn't the Hokage's top information gatherer for nothing…not to say I couldn't do it…"

"If that's so then why don't…" Shigeo then paused as he realized something. "Wait a minute…that's actually not such a bad idea…" Shigeo then gave a crafty smile. "And the rules never said anything about outside help…"

Shigeo then looked at Recca with an imploring look. "Recca, my son, would you…"

"Forget it, old man." Recca said simply. "You don't think our battles back in the day over your smoking were for noth…" Recca then stopped as he saw Shigeo then turn to Riku. "Hey, at least let me finish!"

"Uh, before you say anything, Grandpa, I'm afraid I'll have to side with Dad and Ane-ue on this." Riku said.

Shigeo then tried a different tactic, sympathy.

"Wouldn't you grant the last wish of a dying old man, Riku? Your grandfather no less." He implored, causing Riku, along with Recca and Renge, to sweatdrop at this odd display.

"Well…Grandpa…the only problem with that reasoning is, what if the cause of 'dying' would happen to be those very cigarettes." The young ninja said, causing his grandfather to pause and rethink his strategy as he realized that he'd only just reinforced his grandson's being on Recca and Renge's side. It was then that a new strategy came to mind.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered something…" Shigeo then glanced away from Riku and began talking as if he were addressing no one in particular. "I noticed at the local game shop they were selling the PSP version of Kanon for a pretty good price, not to mention PS2 version of Code Geass: Lost Colors. Why I could go and get them right after work if I knew someone was interested…"

This definitely got Riku's attention, old games like that were hard to find, and paused to consider this. "The PSP version of Kanon, the fully voiced version where Tomokazu Sugita plays Yuichi…and Lost Colors, fully voiced and with so many ways to alter the story of season 1 of Code Geass…"

"Wait just a minute!" Renge shouted. "Bribery has got to be against the rules!"

"I don't remember any rules about that." Shigeo replied.

"Well even so, I know that my little brother wouldn't be susceptible to bribes, right Riku?" Renge then put her hand on Riku's shoulder. "Right?"

Riku couldn't say anything as though Renge wasn't actually gripping his shoulder, he was getting an odd feeling from her hand that seemed to hint that something unpleasant would follow if he disagreed, on the other hand, he had been looking for those two games…

(I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to working…) Riku thought to himself.

* * *

Several hours had passed in which Recca, Shigeo, Renge, and Riku worked on the fireworks, alternating between working on the warimono, kowarimono, and pokamono types of fireworks. They had taken a break for lunch before resuming their work and had finally reached a point where they could take another break.

Riku and Renge were sitting at the kitchen table, Riku was finishing off a soda that he had gotten from the refrigerator while Renge was sitting there, having finished her own. Riku had been telling her how his recent FOXHOUND mission had gone as she had asked him about it, and had just finished.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that everything went well, Riku, especially for those kids." Renge commented. "Still, blowing up that place with the ammunition…you should work on remembering the layout of the places you sneak into…"

"Yeah, I'll work on it, Ane-ue." Riku blushed a bit in embarrassment. "But that bit of a mistake did get the guys in charge of that place to focus entirely on putting out that fire and they didn't even notice the strike team until they were almost on top of them. Those guys didn't even go into alert mode after the explosion either; guess they thought it had been an accident…"

"Well, like they say 'a stupid enemy is a gift from God'." Renge quoted. "Just don't expect that to happen too often."

"It wouldn't be much of a 'gift from God' if it did, would it?" Riku replied with light smile. "To tell you the truth, that's actually the first time I've dealt with guys who ended up making things easier for us. I guess we all get lucky from time to time…"

The two of them were silent for a moment before Renge spoke.

"So about that kid you ran into after that mission, the one who knocked you out with some psychic attack…" She began. "What are you going to do about him?"

"Nothing, at least not at the moment anyway." Riku shrugged. "Though if I ever run into the guy again I'd like to just talk to him just to straighten a few things out." Riku then changed the subject. "Anyway, what did you think of today's lunch?"

"Heh, I can tell you guys picked it up from Mariko-san's place, I recognize Riko-chan's cooking anywhere." Renge smiled. "Well at least the sandwiches were from Riko-chan, I think Mariko-san made the dessert."

"Sheesh, I'd almost think 'you' were psychic, Ane-ue, you're right on both counts." Riku could only shake his head in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Recca and Shigeo were standing outside on the porch and they noticed Riku and Renge talking.

"Sometimes it's hard to believe it's been so long since we first started teaching those two the family business." Shigeo observed. "I can still remember those two as kids almost perfectly."

"Yeah, Renge was the first one to ask to learn and since Riku always followed either her or Kenshin around, he wanted to learn to make fireworks too." Recca smiled as he remembered. "Looks like leaving Renge with you twenty years ago was the right decision."

"Heh, I'll take that as a compliment, though I should say you and Yanagi have done a good job in the parenting area yourself." Shigeo then yawned a bit before stretching. "Anyway, there's only a bit more to go before we're done for the day, so let's give them a few more minutes and wrap this up."

Recca nodded before lapsing into his own thoughts.

(A lot sure can happen in twenty years…) He thought. (Thanks to Second Impact, Mom, Kurei, and I had to reform the Hokage clan for the sake of the future, 'they' came back, and the Hokage continued into the next generation, Riku, Renge, and…) Recca paused as a troubling memory came to mind but pushed it aside and his thoughts then went over to a different matter. (Renge…thanks to Dad's raising her, she's completely different from the original even if they do look alike. It sure was a surprise that she wanted to become a ninja too, but she's managed to get everyone, even Kurei, acknowledge her as one of us. Though I wonder what will happen if she ever decides to read those documents we gave her about her older sister…)

* * *

Nagi Naoe looked down at the broken body of the man that lay at his feet on the floor of an untidy living room. He had been about middle age, from what the young psychic could tell, and Nagi did not regret for a moment having killed the man. Aside from the now broken bottle of liquor that lay on the floor not too far away, the man's very appearance, from his disheveled and several days worn clothing and unkempt hair and barely shaven beard, to his very smell betrayed him as a heavy drinker. The man had been a total loser, someone who had obviously fallen on hard times at some point in his life, but that was not the reason Nagi had killed him as he could sympathize with those less fortunate, the reason was lying on the floor a few feet behind him near a broken down couch, a little girl of about five or six years of age who was probably the man's daughter. Nagi couldn't see the girl's face very well due to the fact that the room was so dark, but he could see more than enough signs of neglect in that the girl was wearing what looked more like rags than clothes, and she looked like she herself was about as clean as they were, she also looked like she hadn't eaten anything in a while either. Nagi didn't even bother to look at the many bruises along her arms, legs, and God knew where else on her body, he'd already seen the cause of at least some of them.

When Nagi had first arrived in this place, he had been standing in the older more ruined part of a city when he heard the girl crying, perhaps out of hunger, physical or emotional pain, or maybe all of that and more. For some reason, Nagi felt that he needed to follow that cry, because something about it brought back memories he would rather forget. Memories of another child who had cried out in pain and loneliness, but was never answered.

Upon reaching the source of the cries and opening the door to the room, Nagi entered just in time to see the man standing over the girl before proceeding to roughly kick her cursing and shouting at her to shut up.

Now the young psychic was no stranger to abuse; aside from personal experience, while living on the streets he'd seen it happen and also seen how it could affect people. Even after he had become an assassin for Schwarz, he had seen similar instances occur during jobs and after them, some were connected to the people Crawford had accepted jobs from and some of them had just been from people he had passed by. Perhaps it was stretching things to say he had gotten used to it, it was more like he'd somehow acquired a way to endure turning a blind eye to things such as that as well as endure the knowledge that he had done so.

Yet something about the sight before him disgusted Nagi beyond any form of that endurance. Just seeing a wretch like this taking his own drunken rage out on someone who didn't deserve any of it, accompanied by the girls cries of pain, which seemed to grow louder with each blow the man delivered and the louder they got the more they started to sound like the voice of someone he knew, someone he couldn't remember for some reason, but all the same he could feel that it was someone important to him.

Gritting his teeth Nagi yelled at the man to stop, but he didn't seem to hear him. Two more times he did this, raising his voice to get the man's attention but to no avail. The young psychic then tried pushing the man away from the girl, only to be roughly shoved away. It was then that Nagi let the anger he felt towards this man flow into his powers and he lashed out at him.

Returning to the present, Nagi took one last look at the damage his power had done to the man. As his specialty was telekinesis, or psychokinesis, all he really would have had to do was use his powers to grip the man's heart and stop it or seize him by the head and break his neck, but in his anger he had taken things a great step further by using his power to lift the man in midair, take a hold of his insides before suddenly and sharply wringing them up all together, spine, bones, organs, and all, like a wet towel before roughly slamming the man face first into the floor.

Nagi then looked away from the broken up corpse, partially out of a sense of disgust both towards the one he had killed and partially for having done the deed. This wasn't out of some sense of guilt though, it was simply because it had left a feeling as if he had killed something like a roach or other form of vermin and the remains of which were now on his shoe. Pushing aside those feelings, however, Nagi focused on the main reason for turning away, the girl he had just saved.

After walking over to her side and kneeling down to check to see if she was conscious, Nagi noticed that her hair was a wavy sort of blue, which matched her eyes. There was something familiar about her, but the young psychic couldn't recall what it was for some reason. He decided to forget about that for now, helping this child was more important to him.

The moment he touched the girl's hand, however, she quickly withdrew it, and even tried pushing herself back away from Nagi, her eyes showing fear. Nagi wasn't surprised at this, he had just used his powers to kill this girl's father in a truly gruesome way which would have frightened anyone. Also, reacting with fear to psychic powers alone wasn't an uncommon thing.

"It's alright, I promise I won't hurt you," Nagi spoke to the girl in a gentle tone so that he wouldn't startle her. "Please, let me help. You're hurt, so…"

"You're not him….you're not them…" The girl spoke as she looked up at him. "But you're the one who…" Nagi had a feeling about what she was about to say and spoke first.

"I know it must be difficult to trust me after what I just did to your father, but…" Nagi was then interrupted by a shout from the girl that he wasn't expecting.

"That bad man isn't my father!" The girl's shout seemed to fill the room as she closed her eyes and looked away from Nagi. "A bad person like that, a person who always hurts me…that can't be my father…" The girl's voice seemed to descend into a choked sob as she said the last part. She was silent for a moment and then she turned her head to look up at the ceiling; she then spoke in a more hopeful tone. "I know that my real father, and my real family, will come and save me…then they'll take me to where our home is and we can be a family!" The girl was almost smiling now and then her eyes looked downward. "They…they just need to find me…or I need to find them…"

Seeing this as a good opportunity to get the girl to trust him, Nagi then spoke to her.

"Then, how about I help you find them?" He suggested.

This caught the girl's attention and she looked at Nagi once again.

"You're not a bad guy right?" She asked, her eyes showed that she was cautiously studying him as if to decide the answer herself.

"Can you really see me that way?" Nagi asked in reply, but as soon as he said that, the young psychic got another feeling of familiarity, as if he'd been in a similar situation and asked someone this very same question. He didn't have much time to dwell on the subject though, as the girl's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Well…" The girl seemed to hesitate before looking at Nagi long and hard before continuing. "…you stopped the bad man from hurting me and you said you want to help me…" The girl then gave a light smile. "I guess that means you're a good guy after all." Before Nagi could say anything the girl spoke again as something seemed to dawn on her. "Wait, you did something strange to the bad man to save me, so that must mean…Mister, are you a super hero?"

"Huh? Uh, well…" Nagi sweatdropped a bit as he was definitely surprised at that sudden question. "I guess you could say that…"

(Though I probably fit the bill more as a super villain than anything else.) The young psychic thought to himself dryly.

"Wow, that's so cool!' The girl really was smiling now. She then tried getting to her feet. "Alright, hero-san, let's…ow!" The girl then stopped and would have collapsed onto the floor if Nagi hadn't used his powers to stop her fall.

"Are you alright?" Nagi asked as he took her hand and used his other to support her.

"It…it hurts…all over…" She said between sniffle as she started to cry a bit from the pain of her wounds.

"Then I think we should get you to a doctor then." Nagi said and added something else so she wouldn't have any objections. "And maybe we can find someone there who can help you find your family, or maybe they'll hear that you're there and come find you."

"Well…okay." She gave a light nod.

"Don't worry about getting up, I'll carry you." Nagi then scooped the girl up into his arms. As he picked her up, he felt a sudden weight coming from her, but then it suddenly seemed to disappear and the girl was suddenly light to carry.

Nagi and his passenger soon walked out of the building and into an empty street. There were no cars driving by or parked near the sidewalk and no people walking around either.

"Well, I guess we'll have to find someone who can tell us where to go." Nagi said to the girl, but she didn't say anything in reply. He then decided to go to the left as it seemed to head to the city's center.

The young psychic continued on for a few minutes when he suddenly felt something grip the front of his shirt followed by the feeling of it getting wet and warm. The girl was crying into shirt and even though she was trying to hide it, the young psychic could hear her sobs.

Nagi stopped to see if there was a place that he could sit when the girl suddenly spoke to him.

"I know….I know the bad man is my real father…" She said between sobs. "But why then…why would he hurt me if he's my real father…why?"

"I…" Nagi couldn't say anything as for some reason he couldn't answer this girl's question. Normally he would have answered something like the man had simply been scum and therefore been incapable of something like loving, yet the young psychic knew that in the end that was a simple answer that may or may not have been true. In the end, it was really no different from saying that he didn't know, that being the truth.

(This is almost the same…) He thought to himself. (Just like how I can never truly know why my family abandoned me, this girl can never truly know why her father abused her…) It was then that Nagi made his decision. (No…it doesn't have to be the same…I can at least try to give this girl what I didn't have back then…)

Nagi then slowly shifted one of his arms around the girl's back and then held her close in an embrace.

"I'm sorry…to be honest I don't really know why, but…" Nagi then brought his head down so that it was resting on the girl's left shoulder. "…whatever the reason it was, it wasn't your fault, so…" Nagi paused as he wasn't sure how to continue but finally continued. "What I mean is…it's okay if you're sad and want to let it out now, I'll make sure you won't get hurt for crying anymore…"

The girl was silent for a moment before burying her face into Nagi's right shoulder, holding onto him tightly while sobbing hysterically.

Nagi wasn't sure how much time passed as he stood there with that crying girl in his arms, but he remained where he was, occasionally saying some reassuring things softly in an attempt to comfort her. Finally the girl's sobs quieted and her grip on Nagi slackened.

"Do you feel any better now?" Nagi asked and he felt a nodding motion from the girl's head. "Okay, I'll get you to a doctor soon, so don't worry…"

With that the two of them continued down the street in silence. This continued for a while until finally the girl broke the silence.

"Hero-san…you really are a nice person…" She said, a comment that the young psychic was not used to hearing from anyone. "By the way, what's your name?"

"It's Nagi, Nagi Naoe." Nagi replied. "And what's yours?"

However, there was no answer from the girl. Nagi waited for a moment before he heard her say some things that were almost in a whisper.

"…kun." Was all that he managed to hear from her.

"Excuse me, but…" Nagi began but didn't finish as he felt the girl suddenly push herself away from him so that she could look up at him fully in the face, at the same time giving him the first real look at her in the light.

"Don't you know, Nagi-kun?' The girl asked, her blue eyes gazing into his as her wavy light blue hair fluttered at a sudden breeze. "I'm…"

* * *

Nagi's eyes suddenly snapped open as he found himself lying in the bed that Tot had put him in so he could recover. The room was now dark and a look out the window showed that it was nighttime. It was then that Nagi's thoughts shifted back to what he had seen just a moment ago.

"A dream…" He muttered before moving to get up only to find something clasping his left hand. He could immediately tell it was a pair of hands and who they belonged to.

(Did she stay by my side all this time?) He wondered even though the young psychic knew the answer to that question already. His eyes soon adjusted to the dark and he could soon make out Tot's sleeping form lying next to him.

Nagi wasn't sure whether to wake her or not, but that was resolved as he saw Tot stir and then suddenly bolt right up. He then saw her head turn towards where he was.

"Looks like you woke up." Nagi commented, not entirely sure what else to say on the matter.

"Nagi-kun…" Tot's voice sounded like she felt relieved about something. She then seemed to become aware that she was still holding his hand and quickly let go of it. "Umm…well…oh yeah, it's dark out so I need to start making dinner! So…excuse me!"

Tot then ran over to the door and turned on the bedroom light before leaving the room. After she had gone, Nagi shrugged and decided to kill time by making the bed he and Tot had been sleeping in. He slowly got out of the bed; he wasn't hurting as much as he had when he had first woken up but the young psychic didn't want to take any chances as he knew he was going to have to recover from these injuries as quickly as possible and he also didn't want to worry Tot.

Nagi began by drawing back the bed sheets and as he did this he noticed something. On the pillow where Tot's head had been resting, he noticed two large wet spots on the pillow case.

(Was she crying in her sleep?) Nagi paused to look back at the door Tot had just left through. (I guess she must have had a bad dream, probably about her dead friends or maybe…)

It was then that the full memory of the dream he had just seen a moment ago came back to him and Nagi's eyes widened in surprise as one specific detail came to mind.

(That girl in my dream…) Nagi put his right on the side of his head as it was aching a little. (The way she looked, and her voice…could that have been…?)

Meanwhile, just outside the room, Tot had finished drying her eyes and she looked back at the door to the room that she had just left.

(The same dream again…then does that mean…?) Tot then shook her head violently to deny what she'd just seen. (No…no, I won't let that happen to my Nagi-kun, I won't!)

* * *

"So I assume that you and Mom are going to be going out tonight as usual?" Riku asked as he and Recca got into the car to head home.

"Yeah, unless you need to..." Recca began, but Riku shook his head before speaking.

"No, no, you guys should enjoy yourselves, you deserve it." He said in reply. "I've got to finish up that mission report anyway. Wouldn't want it getting in the way of whatever make up work I'll be getting from school tomorrow."

"Just don't stay up too late with that report, Riku, you won't want to end up sleeping in class." Recca advised.

"You wouldn't happen to be speaking from experience on that note, are you Dad?" Riku gave a light smirk; thanks to two particular people (Domon and Fuko), there wasn't much the young ninja didn't know about his father's school life. "No need to worry, you and Mom haven't heard anything from the teachers about me falling asleep in class, right?"

"Does that mean you don't asleep in class, or are you just saying that no one's caught you yet?" Recca asked in reply.

"Eheheheh…I wonder…" Riku said as he rubbed the back of his head, shifting his eyes to the side. A clear indication that it was the latter.

(Why do I get the feeling that if anyone I knew was here, they'd say something like 'the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree'?) Recca wondered to himself.

* * *

Nagi and Tot were sitting at a folded out folding table in what was basically the safe house's dining room. They had just finished eating some cup ramen that Nagi had prepared; some canned sodas had been their drinks.

"I'm really sorry about dinner, Nagi-kun." Tot said, her expression a little downcast.

"It's alright, Tot. Accidents happen." Nagi tried his best to give her an encouraging smile, while trying not too look back at what had been the dining room's real table and the stove.

Tot had been cooking what he could only guess was supposed to have been curry (he wasn't sure due to the fact that she'd added so many other ingredients that he was sure was not part of a normal curry dish) when somehow the stuff she had been cooking somehow caught fire inside the pan. Fortunately Nagi had been close by and helped her get the pan off the stove, unfortunately, a large portion of the flaming mass spilled out and onto the nearby table. The two of them had then had to throw baking soda onto the fire to put it out, and after that they were left with a very badly burnt and barely standing table and dinner now inedible, though whether it ever was edible would forever remain a mystery.

In the end Nagi had managed to find some ramen in the pantry and that became their meal. Though he'd first had to take care of Tot as she'd started to cry when she saw that she'd ruined what she was preparing for dinner.

"Tot, there's something we need to talk about." Nagi said. "It's about what we need to do from here. You do know that we can't stay here, right?"

"Yeah, I do." Tot gave a nod. "We're almost out of food and…" She paused for a moment. "…won't they be looking for you?"

Nagi nodded, knowing full well as to who Tot was referring to. "Yeah, I'm sure Schuldig knows I broke free of his mind manipulation and if I'm not back in a couple of days, they'll know I'm trying to run away."

"So what do we do?' Tot asked.

"Well, we can't hide here in Japan, at least not for very long." Nagi paused to consider the options. "Our best bet is to go someplace out of the country…"

(China's one possibility, it's close and the country's large enough to disappear into…unfortunately I'm only familiar with a few places there, places Crawford would know…) Nagi then ruled out any European countries as he knew Crawford, Schuldig, and Farfarello were more than familiar with that part of the world; also going into Eastern European countries would put him too close to Rosenkreuz's territory and he did not want to have to deal with them, especially with Tot with him. (I need to think of someplace where I can get work in without worrying about Crawford…) After considering some of the countries that came to mind, the young psychic quickly decided against any Middle Eastern countries. While he could definitely find work there, especially with the PMCs, it would mean moving around according to the PMC's contracts, and Nagi doubted a life of continuous fighting on the battlefield was something he or Tot would want. (So I guess the only option is the United States for now…)

While Crawford would be familiar with a lot of places there, Nagi was aware of a few places that he and Tot could hide in, for a while at least. He also knew of potential employers that would hire a psychic, a number of which were located in Southtown.

Nagi then decided to push those thoughts aside for the moment. While the issue of finding work to support the two of them was an important one, they had to focus on safely getting out of Japan first.

"Tot, we'll be going to America, if that's alright with you." Nagi said.

"Sure, I'll go anywhere with you, Nagi-kun." Tot nodded. "So how will we be going? Are going to take a plane or a boat?"

"We'll be going by plane since that's faster." Nagi explained. "In a couple of hours, I'll go out to an internet café and order our tickets under a false ID. I'll be using one I only just recently made as Crawford won't know about it, and on the way back I'll pick up what I need to make one for you, along with some new clothes."

"But won't those guys be looking for you?" Tot looked a little worried as she asked him this. "Are you sure you'll be okay? And you're still hurt…"

"I promise I'll be careful, Tot." Nagi then gave a light smile. "Besides if I can help you put out a fire, I think I'm well enough to do this."

"Hey! That was…" Tot's expression was now flustered. "…that was because I haven't cooked with a stove before. Everything I made before dinner I made just by copying what Hel did."

"Well, when we find a place to stay, how about I show you how to use a stove properly for cooking?' Nagi suggested. "I'm not much of a cook though, so…"

'Thanks, Nagi-kun, and don't worry I promise I'll make good meals for you from then on." Tot then paused to consider something and then blushed a bit as a dreamy look came onto her face. "You know, the two of us sneaking out of Japan together to start a new life…together…it's almost like we're eloping…"

The young psychic's face reddened quite a bit at that, but it also brought something to mind that he knew had to ask Tot.

"Um, well…Tot…there's something I need to ask you." As he said this, Tot's attention turned back to him. "I need to know, well…what exactly is our relationship now?"

For a moment, Tot only blinked a little in confusion and was silent for a moment before answering.

"Well…what do you want it to be, Nagi-kun?" Tot's voice had a bit of nervousness in it now, but the way she was talking and the way she was looking at him showed that she needed him to answer this.

"Well, that's…" Nagi lapsed into his own thoughts as he stammered a bit at this. (Why am I being so nervous about this? I mean, we've already kissed and…) The young psychic blushed even more at that memory, but that same memory ended up strengthening his resolve. (I get it now…I can't be distant from her like this…If Tot and I are going to be living together from now on, and if we're going to be in any sort of relationship, then I need to be open with her.)

"Then, Tot, will you…" Nagi paused for a second before continuing. "…will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." Tot gave a nod as she took Nagi's hand, her face showing a combination of relief and happiness as she said this.

"Then, uh…" Nagi really blushed at he was about to ask her. "Tot, can I…can I kiss you?"

"Eh…why are you even asking, Nagi-kun?" Tot asked in reply.

"W-well, it's just…I wanted to know if it was alright with you, and also…" Nagi paused as he lowered his head a little but slowly returned Tot's gaze. "…I've wanted to kiss you ever since this morning."

"Aahh…" Tot was now also blushing as she heard this, but she smiled and then brought her face close to Nagi's. "It's alright, Nagi-kun, and you can kiss me whenever you want."

Nagi then drew his face in close to Tot's, this time making sure that the two of them wouldn't bump heads, and their lips met. The kiss lasted for a moment until the two of them withdrew from each other.

"So with this, we're officially boyfriend and girlfriend now, right?" Tot asked with a light giggle.

"Aa…yeah…" Nagi nodded in reply with a light smile. "I hope I can be a good one for you, Tot."

"I know you will, Nagi-kun…" Tot then put her arms around Nagi in an embrace and pressed herself against him. "And I know…you'll take good care of me…"

"Yeah, I promise…" Nagi said as he returned her embrace.

* * *

It was at around 11:30 at night when Crawford received the call on his cell phone. The caller was one of the local informants who he used from time to time to find things out that he specifically requested. This particular informant was smart enough to just do whatever jobs Crawford gave him and not ask questions, so Crawford was sure he didn't know his identity.

"Hello, it's me…" Crawford said as he answered the phone. "Really…? Yes, yes, good work. I'll have your payment sent to you soon, Mr. Glen."

Schuldig walked in as Crawford hung up.

"So what's happened, boss?" The German telepath asked.

"One of our informants found something regarding, Nagi. It would seem he's decided to run away." Crawford replied. "He just recently bought two plane tickets to the United States using one of his false IDs. It was actually one his newer ones, one I would have missed if I hadn't foreseen that it would be important somehow." The American assassin then gave a sigh. "This is certainly an unexpected development…"

"You got that right, Crawford, this isn't like him at all." Schuldig nodded in agreement before pausing to consider something. "But you know, another weird thing is why he'd buy two tickets…you think someone's helping him?"

"It's possible, but the few possibilities I can think of are slim at best." Crawford replied.

"Well, if you want, just tell me where our informant said the purchase was made and I'll check the area out." Schuldig offered. "I should be able to probe the place with my telepathy while concealing myself from Nagi." He then gave a sly grin. "Of course, you'll owe me for this one, boss."

"I'll see that you're well compensated, my friend." Crawford replied with a smirk. "And something tells me I should be looking forward to what you find."

* * *

April 9, 2012:

Riku gave a yawn as he walked on his usual route to the high school he attended, Daimon High School.

"Maybe I did stay up a little later than I should have…" The young ninja mumbled to himself. "If breakfast didn't wake me up, then…"

Riku then stopped as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a teenage boy around his age, wearing a grey windbreaker over a white T-shirt and long shorts, coming out of a local convenience store. But the reason the young ninja noticed the boy is because he recognized him as the very same boy he had found on the beach.

"Excuse me…" Riku began as he walked towards the boy, who turned towards the ninja upon hearing him.

The boy's eyes widened in recognition as he saw Riku, and he immediately broke into a run across the street and into a nearby alleyway.

"Hey wait a second!" Riku called as he started to give chase but then stopped and shook his head. "On second thought, maybe not…I can't be late for school today, and if that guy doesn't want to talk to me, I guess I should respect his wishes…"

With that Riku turned and headed back in the direction he was going, towards the school.

Meanwhile, Nagi stopped and looked back in the direction that he had come from and saw that he wasn't being followed. He then gave a sigh of relief before pausing to catch his breath.

(Who would have thought that guy from back there would be living in this exact same area?) The young psychic thought to himself. (Well, since Tot and I will be leaving here tomorrow, it doesn't matter anyway. Anyway I'd better finish making the travel arrangements and then I'll pick up the food we'll need both for tonight and for the trip.)

* * *

It was now the afternoon, and school had ended. Riku, however, was doing his best to leave as quickly as possible. It wasn't because he particularly disliked being in school or the school itself, in fact he quite enjoyed the place, especially its 'extracurricular activities', it was because he was avoiding a certain person. The strongest of the male students, Shizuma Kusanagi.

(The guy sure is persistent, I'll give him that.) The young ninja thought to himself as he went out through on the campus' side entrances. (Then again it was kind of my fault for not double checking to see if anyone I knew was nearby at that time. Not to mention I should have listened and I wouldn't have accidentally agreed to a K-fight, good thing we never gave an official schedule for it…)

Riku then pushed those thoughts aside for the moment as he concentrated on heading home as he had a few days worth of make up work from each of his classes as a result of the mission he'd just completed. It was then that he remembered something.

(Oh yeah, those games Grandpa mentioned yesterday…I wonder if they're still there. Well, I couldn't accept Grandpa's offer, but there's no rules against buying them with my own money. Please still be there…) And with that Riku changed the direction he was going in and headed for the local video game store.

* * *

"I've finished making all the arrangements so we can leave early tomorrow morning." Nagi said to Tot through a pay phone that he was using to call the Takatori safe house. "How's the packing coming along, Tot?"

"Just great, I've packed all the clothes, food, and stuff we'll need for the trip, Nagi-kun." Tot's reply came through the receiver, sounding as cheerful as ever.

"You do remember we need to pack light, don't you?" Nagi asked, a little worried that he'd come back to find a series of bulging suitcases and he'd have to help her repack as too heavy luggage would slow them down.

"Yeah, one suitcase for each of us, right? Don't worry." Tot said, and then her voice lowered a little as she continued. "Still, it's going to be hard to leave a lot of these behind since Papa and everybody got them for me…"

"Well…if your suitcase is full and there are still a couple of things that mean that much to you then you can put them in my suitcase if you like." Nagi said quickly. "I mean…it's not like I have much with me anyway and, well…" He then quickly added in the next thing that came to mind. "And when we get to the states I'll buy you any new clothes you want to replace what we can't bring, so…"

"Nagi-kun…" Tot's tone showed that she was touched by the offer, the former much more than the latter. "Sure. Thank you, Nagi-kun!"

For some strange reason, the young psychic felt his face redden at Tot's thanking him.

"W-well then, I'd better hurry back then, so I'll see you soon." Nagi said quickly.

"I'll be waiting…" Tot's voice then quickly added something else before she hung up. "I love you, Nagi-kun!"

"Uh…" Nagi was actually sort of glad that Tot had hung up as he knew he wouldn't have been able to make a romantic sounding reply that Tot probably would have wanted to hear.

While Tot's declaration had the young psychic blushing an even deeper shade of red than when she'd thanked him, it also put him deep into his own thoughts.

(As cliché as it sounds…this is the first time anyone's ever told me that.) Nagi thought to himself. He was also getting a strange feeling from the back of his mind somewhere, a feeling that seemed to slowly envelope him in a strangely comforting way. The young psychic then felt the corners of his mouth tug a little and he realized he was smiling. (This feeling…it's really not so bad. I just hope the next time she says that I'll have the courage to tell her I love her back.)

Doing his best to push those thoughts aside until he got back to the house, Nagi hung up the phone.

"Well, you seem to be enjoying yourself, Nagi." A familiar voice spoke behind him, immediately causing the young psychic to tense up slightly as he recognized the voice all too well. "One would find it hard to believe you'd suffered a nasty fall like you did."

Doing his best to hide his surprise, Nagi turned around to see Brad Crawford standing a few feet behind him.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting then." Nagi replied. "I was about to contact you, and I'll explain everything when I get back to our place."

"Oh, why not tell me right now?" Crawford's eyebrow arched slightly. "Especially what, or should I say 'who', kept you from contacting us for two whole days when you're obviously well enough to walk." Crawford then gave a light sigh. "Don't bother trying to lie, Nagi, I know what's going on. Under normal circumstances, your plan may have worked, but deception isn't very effective against my ability." Crawford then smiled. "Still, I must commend you for being able to revive and heal that girl from a fatal injury like the one Farfarello gave her, that's certainly not something I expected you to be capable of. Though…"

Crawford didn't finish as he saw Nagi about to make a run back in the direction of the safe house and he quickly reached out and grabbed the young psychic's wrist in order to stop him.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Nagi?" Crawford asked. "I'm trying to make this easier for you, my student. Stay here and you will not have to witness that girl's passing, and I'll even make sure that Schuldig and Farfarello make it quick and painless."

"It doesn't have to be this way, Crawford." Nagi said. "Look, I'll forget about what Schuldig did and assume you had a good reason for ordering him to do it. Just please don't kill Tot; I'll take responsibility for her. I'm sure I can persuade her to…"

"It almost sounds like you're begging me, that's not like you at all, Nagi." Crawford commented. "You really must care for this girl if you're willing to do that…unfortunately I can't allow that girl to live."

"What? But why?" Nagi asked. "I know that Tot isn't like us, but that's no reason to…"

"That's not the reason, Nagi, it's not for something that trivial." Crawford's voice had a firm but serious tone to it. "This has to be done for your sake."

"For my sake? How can your killing someone I care for possibly benefit me?" Nagi asked in reply.

"I could tell you, but I doubt that you'll believe me. Would you like me to tell you anyway?"

"I…" Nagi then stopped as he realized something. "Wait, you mentioned Schuldig and Farfarello, and since they're not here then that means that…" Not needing Crawford to confirm his guess, Nagi then pulled his hand free of Crawford's grip and then took off towards the safe house.

Crawford was about to call out to Nagi, but stopped as he knew it would be useless.

"So this is what you've chosen…" Crawford gave a deep sigh. "Why must you always choose to learn things the hard way, Nagi? Well, you can't say I didn't warn you…"

With that Crawford turned and began heading towards the safe house by another way, and though it was slightly longer than the way Nagi was going, Crawford could foresee what would happen when Nagi arrived and already had a plan to make sure that his student wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop what had to happen.

* * *

(Well, looks like Kanon was taken, but at least I got Lost Colors.) Riku thought to himself as he exited the store, his new purchase stowed safely in his book bag. (Now, I'd better…)

His thoughts were then interrupted as something suddenly rammed into him from the side, knocking him over. Riku turned to look at what it was that had hit him, and found that it was a very familiar person.

"You again?" Riku asked. "The kid with the invisible hammer…"

"Huh…?" Nagi almost sweatdropped as he heard that. (Just who would call psychokinesis…) Nagi then remembered and pushed that thought of the way and got to his feet before making a run past Riku in the direction of the safe house.

"Hold on a minute, I…" Riku began calling out to the boy as he started after him, only to be surprised as the boy turned around to look at him.

"Don't get in my way!" Nagi shouted.

Riku suddenly felt some thing and backed away, just in time to hear a sharp cracking coming from below where his feet had just been. He looked down and saw a small crater had appeared in the sidewalk with several cracks forming around it. Riku then looked back in the direction of the boy, whose face showed surprise along with a hint of frustration. Apparently he hadn't meant to do that.

The boy looked like he wanted to say something, but then stopped and turned around and resumed running. Riku was about to call out to him and then saw that a number of people passing by were starting to take notice. Not wanting to be asked questions, Riku instead decided to run after the boy psychic while keeping his distance so he wouldn't be noticed.

(Something was definitely bothering that kid, I could tell from the way he made that attack, even if it wasn't intentional.) Riku thought as he began his pursuit. (Not to mention it the look on his face said it too…It was like he was really worried about something, or someone…Either way I need to at least look into it, and if this does turn out to be something dangerous...)

Riku then took out his cell phone and selected Recca's number. In a situation like this, he normally would have used his codec as that was a sign to his father that it was serious, but Riku didn't have it with him.

"Hello Dad, it's me." Riku said as he heard Recca pick up the phone. "Something important's come up and I'll fill you in on the details now, as for how important it is…let's just say you'd better see if anyone's available to help just in case…."

* * *

Nagi wasn't sure how much time had passed since he had run away from Crawford towards where he could only hope Tot was still safe and sound. While he was running as fast as he could, it still felt like he wasn't going fast enough, like every second felt like a minute instead.

While breathing heavily from all the running, Nagi soon reached the hidden path that would take him to the Takatori safe house and quickly started down it. Within a few minutes, he arrived.

The sight that greeted him showed that he hadn't been able to reach the place before Schuldig and Farfarello; the two of them were standing in front of the house, waiting for him. Farfarello was holding Tot down to the ground from behind with one of his knives at her throat while Schuldig was standing next to them. Inwardly, Nagi sighed with relief that it didn't look like Tot was seriously hurt; he also noticed that there were a number of fresh scratches and bruises all over Farfarello's arms and a few on his face, apparently Tot hadn't made it easy for them.

"Hey, look who finally arrived." Schuldig commented with a grin the moment he saw Nagi. "Well, Nagi, I have to say you've surprised us all in a single day. You bring a girl back from the dead, you undo my mind manipulation, and now you're trying to pull one over on Crawford. This girl must really be something if you're willing to try that last part…"

"If you're that impressed, how about letting us go and see how far we can get? I'm sure that would amuse you." Nagi asked in reply.

"Heh, tempting but no can do, Nagi." Schuldig held up his hands in a light shrug. "I don't mind teasing Crawford a bit, that's fun, but the guy's no fun when he's uber pissed." The German then continued. "Don't worry though, Crawford said that if you came here that this girl will remain alive until he himself gets here."

"I see…" Nagi then turned his gaze to Tot. "Tot, are you alright? You're not hurt badly, are you?"

"Hey, can you move your knife so she can talk without accidentally cutting her throat?' Schuldig asked, glancing over at Farfarello. "I bet the idea of that happening's funny to you, but…"

"Fine, satisfied?" Farfarello growled as he lowered his knife slightly.

"It's okay, Nagi-kun, I'm not hurt." Tot replied.

"I'm glad to hear that." Nagi gave her a light smile. "Though it looks like you gave at least Farfarello a hard time."

"You bet I did." Tot smiled proudly as she said this, causing Schuldig to laugh.

"Sheesh, you two are made for each other in a weird sort of way." The German shook his head. "Though I have to admit she's right; between the hitting, the kicking, and the scratching, I'm sure Farfarello here is glad he can't feel pain."

"Will you quit playing around?" The Irish assassin asked in irritation.

"Hey, hey, this isn't playing, there's a point to this conversation. It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Schuldig gave a knowing grin to his knife wielding partner, who smiled as he realized what the telepath meant.

"If you're thinking of trying to surprise us by using your psychic powers to attack us in the middle of a conversation, then I'd say don't try it, kid." Farfarello said as he looked over at Nagi. "You'll need to hit me real hard to knock me away from this girl and if you try, well…" Farfarello then readjusted his knife so its edge was right against Tot's throat as it had originally been. "It won't be my fault what the edge of my knife ends up cutting."

"I don't have to do that, Farfarello." Nagi replied coolly and slowly began to focus applying his power to both of them, but not to attack. Before he could make his move though, Schuldig vanished from his sight.

"Okay, maybe you weren't going to pull something so obvious." Schuldig's voice came from behind Nagi, causing the young psychic to glance back to see the telepath was standing behind him. Schuldig didn't have a weapon drawn, but Nagi knew that with his speed, that didn't matter. "Sorry kid, but I can't let you try anything funny here."

"That won't be necessary, Schuldig, I'll handle this." A familiar voice spoke from behind the group and the speaker, Brad Crawford, calmly walked towards them from the path Nagi had come from. "Let Nagi be for now so I can speak with him."

With a shrug, Schuldig wordlessly stepped away from Nagi who quickly turned around to face his mentor.

"I know you're angry with me, Nagi, and I don't blame you for that." Crawford said. "Earlier you said that if I let that girl go you'd forget the whole matter of my having Schuldig alter your memories and assume I had a good reason. Would you be willing to listen to my reason now? The reason why I couldn't let you save this girl back when Weiss targeted her and her late teammates, and the reason why she must be eliminated now…"

"I thought the reason was because you didn't want me to develop an attachment to a normal person, someone unlike us." Nagi's eyes narrowed as he said this. "Are you saying that was a lie? You seemed pretty convincing then, and as far as I can remember you've never told me a straight out lie."

"What I said back then was simply my reason for why I disapproved of you developing an attachment to that girl. You see…" Crawford then paused mid sentence and then drew out a pistol from beneath his business suit jacket. Pointing it to the side and into the woods, he pulled the trigger without even glancing at whatever he was aiming for. The sound of the shot rang out and a couple of seconds later, the sound of something large collapsing in the bushes in the forest could be heard.

"Do forgive my interruption, but it would seem some curious civilian decided to follow you. I actually noticed him as I was coming in and he was trying to conceal himself." Crawford said as he put the gun back in its holster before fixing his glasses. "I don't know what he was planning to do, but it no longer matters."

(That guy from before…he actually followed me…) Nagi thought to himself. (Don't tell me he did that thinking he could help…the fool…)

* * *

(Sheesh, that was a close one.) Riku thought to himself as he watched the copy of himself created by his uncle, Kurei Mori's, Genjutsu Wakemi technique turn into a puff of smoke a few seconds after it had collapsed to the ground after the American in the suit had shot it. (That guy didn't even look in my copy's direction when he made the shot and it hit it right where my heart would be. A good thing I mastered that technique when I did, it's already paying off…)

Riku, while chasing after the mysterious boy, had noticed that he was being followed by an American man in a business suit. To test to see whether this had any connection with the boy he was tailing, the young ninja picked up his pace so that he'd round a corner and be out of the man's sight long enough to perform Genjutsu Wakemi and then have the copy stay out of sight until the right moment, which came when they reached the trail that the boy started down. Riku made the switch by having his copy follow the boy, while he remained hidden to see if the American would continue following. After the man had passed him by, Riku slowly and carefully began to follow him.

The young ninja had been lying on the ground beneath a bush only a few feet away from his copy when it had been shot, and he slowly began making his way forward so as to get a better view of what was happening with this kid he'd decided to follow. Riku was also ready to grab his cell phone as he had a feeling he'd need to notify Recca soon about what was going on.

(And I'd better hope help arrives soon since I'm unarmed and…) Riku paused to take a good look at the American, the German, and the scarred man who was holding the blue haired girl down with a knife to her throat. Even at this distance, he could tell that all three were highly skilled. (Even if I were to use my powers, I get the feeling I'd be at a disadvantage once the surprise wears off. Still, if things are going the way I think they're going, I won't have much choice…)

* * *

"Alright, with that out of the way, why don't you tell me what this is really about, Crawford?" Nagi asked, pretending not to notice or even care about the death of that kid he'd run into.

"Very well then." Crawford took a light breath before continuing. "Now as I was saying, what I said to you then was based on my reasons for disliking your attachment to that girl. But had it truly just been those reasons, I may have let you keep her. You've been an apt pupil so allowing you a plaything would have been acceptable, distracting to you, but acceptable, especially considering the possibility of children with your ability."

"Get to the point." Nagi said crossly, feeling a surprising sense of irritation at the way Crawford was referring to Tot. "Why didn't you allow it? If you'd considered that, then…"

"Because that girl is your death." Crawford said simply, but his tone carried a finality to it that silenced Nagi for a moment as what his mentor said registered in his mind.

"Tot is…" Nagi turned to look back at Tot, who looked just as shocked as he was at this revelation, before turning back to Crawford as his shock started turning to disbelief. "How…how are you so sure about that?"

"I used my precognition to see what your future held with that girl in it, and I saw nothing." Crawford answered. "Time and time again I looked, and each time there was nothing. If you choose to remain with that girl, then you will have no future in the truest sense."

(No future…staying with Tot means…) Nagi's thoughts were interrupted then as he heard a voice in his mind, the owner of which truly surprised him.

(Nagi-kun's…going to die if we're together…) Tot's voice echoed in his mind with a shocked tone to it. (That can't be…it just can't be true!)

Nagi glanced back at Tot and saw that she had her eyes shut and tears were streaming from them.

(That was Tot, but how…?) Nagi's thoughts were interrupted as Crawford spoke to him.

"You understand now why this must be done, don't you Nagi?" Crawford was now looking at Nagi with an almost imploring look in his eyes, something the young psychic knew was rare in his mentor's case. "Especially since your part in our plan is one of the key elements to it. You're the only one we can depend on, the only one I can trust with such a task…"

"I see…" Nagi looked down for a moment, his expression unreadable. "Then, can I speak with Tot for a moment? After that…"

"Alright, I'll allow you a farewell." Crawford nodded with approval and turned to Farfarello. "Release the girl." He then turned back to Nagi. "Go ahead then."

"Alright." Nagi nodded and started towards Tot as Farfarello released his hold on her and backed away, but still holding his knife ready in case she tried running away.

"Nagi." Crawford's voice called out to him, causing the young psychic to stop and look back at him. "Don't disappoint me…"

Nagi could tell what Crawford meant from the sudden firmness in the man's voice and the expression on his face as he said that.

(So he knows what I'm going to do, but he's letting me do this since he's now hanging onto his trust in me that I'll make what he considers to be the right decision.) Nagi thought to himself as he walked up to Tot, who hadn't moved from where Farfarello had held her down.

"Nagi-kun…" Tot said as she looked up at him, her expression a hopeless one. "I…"

Nagi didn't say anything as he knelt down and slowly put his right arm around Tot to help her up before drawing her into an embrace.

"It'll be okay, Tot, I promise." Nagi spoke into her ear, his voice only a little above a whisper.

"Eh? But…" Tot's eyes widened in surprise at this.

"We'll talk about this once we get away, just stay close to me no matter what happens and…" Nagi then paused to whisper the last part to her. "After this, please stay by my side…"

Tot was silent for a moment, but she then smiled and gave a light nod as returned Nagi's embrace. "I will, Nagi-kun."

"Nagi, don't do this!" Crawford shouted, but it was too late as the young psychic lashed out with a 360 degree wave of psychic energy around him and Tot while creating a barrier around the two of them. All three Schwarz members ha expected this, though, and had leaped back out of range of the attack before it could hit them.

"To think you would make such a foolish decision…" Crawford then turned to Schuldig and Farfarello.

(Well, boss, what do we do now?) Schuldig asked telepathically.

(Nagi's going to try to use his powers to create a corridor to the forest and try escaping through it.) Crawford informed both his partners. (Schulding you know what to do about the barrier, I'll handle Nagi, and Farfarello...)

(I'll take care of the last of Masafumi's dolls the moment the barrier is down.) Farfarello gave his reply with a grin of anticipation.

Meanwhile, Nagi began using his skills to create a barrier to act as a corridor so he and Tot could make into the woods and escape. The process however, was interrupted as he felt a sharp pain in his forehead.

(Looks like Schuldig's making his move…) The young psychic thought as he was expecting a telepathic attack so as to interfere with his ability.

"Nagi-kun are you okay?" Tot asked.

"It's alright as long as I concentrate." Nagi answered with a forced smile, though in reality he knew things weren't going to be that simple as already the telepath was assaulting his mind and making maintaining the barrier while defending from this attack difficult.

However, as Nagi tried to refocus so that they could make their escape, a stronger, and even sharper pain, lanced through his head. The pain was so intense, Nagi fell to his knees and almost collapsed but managed to mentally shove the pain from Schuldig's telepathic assault away. Yet as he did this, he also realized that though the barrier he had created around him and Tot was still up, it had weakened considerably now as he'd had to put so much power into repelling Schuldig's attack.

Farfarello, meanwhile, saw his opportunity and made a dash towards them, drawing three knives out from their sheaths with his left hand, each one held between his fingers. Upon reaching the barrier, the Irish assassin lunged forward with his right fist, smashing through Nagi's barrier in a single punch.

Tot immediately grabbed a nearby branch and held it forward in a defensive stance. She was more than aware that she was Farfarello's target and was prepared to defend herself.

Farfarello gave chuckle of delight at this, to him bringing down an enemy that still had fight in them made it all the more rewarding when he made the kill.

"This time, doll, I'll take your head so that you won't be able to come back." The Irish assassin grinned as he got into a stance to make an attack.

Nagi immediately recognized the stance Farfarello was making, and knew that his former ally was serious in what he had just said. He also knew that while Tot was by no means a weak fighter, she wouldn't be able to properly defend herself from Farfarello's attack. The young psychic was about to call out to her and tell her to run, but his word's were interrupted by another's.

"Farfarello, from behind you, dodge left!" Crawford's voice called out in warning.

Farfarello quickly did so, knowing from the intensity in Crawford's voice that this was an important warning and not an arguing matter. Just in time as well as a number of small fireballs came showering down on where he had been standing.

Both Nagi and Tot, surprised at this sudden turn of events, both looked and saw a similar stream of fireballs come shooting out of the forest and aimed in the direction both Crawford and Schuldig, who both dodged them with ease, causing them to hit only the ground. Suddenly there came the sound of something bursting from each spot the fireballs had hit and the clearing was filled with a thick white smoke.

So as not to lose her in the smoke, Nagi quickly reached towards Tot, calling to her so she'd know it was him and then took her hand.

"You two, come this way, quickly!" A male voice called over to them from behind, and deciding to take the chance, both Nagi and Tot followed the voice and were soon close enough to see the speaker as a figure standing in the smoke. "The smoke won't last much longer, so let's get into these woods and find a place to hide and quickly."

* * *

The two of them followed their rescuer for five minutes before he finally stopped and turned to face them, revealing himself to be a Japanese boy around their age with shoulder length black hair and wearing a school uniform.

"I think we've gone far enough that we can stop for a moment." The boy commented and looked over at Nagi with a light grin. "Well, I have to admit, my following you really was putting my foot in it, Kanazuchi-kun."

"Huh?" Nagi could only sweatdrop at what the boy called him.

"Kanazuchi? I thought your surname was Naoe, wasn't it, Nagi-kun?" Tot said with a confused look on her face (AN: Kanazuchi is Japanese for hammer).

"It is, it's just this guy…" Nagi shook his head and turned back to their rescuer. "Alright, just who are you anyway? And why are you still alive? I mean…"

"That American guy with the glasses has perfect aim, or something like that, right?" The boy finished and Nagi gave a nod in reply. "Well to answer your first question, I'm Riku Hanabishi, just your average local ninja."

"Average? Just what's, never mind…in any case since that explains the smoke bombs, I guess that means what Crawford shot was a clone or replica or something like that which you created using one of your techniques, right?" Nagi asked.

"Pretty much." Riku replied. "Since you're not too surprised, I guess I'm not the first ninja you've encountered."

"You're the first one that hasn't tried to kill me." Nagi gave a simple answer. "Anyway, why did you follow me and help us like that?"

"Well, after you crashed into me back there and took off, you looked pretty panicked about something so I decided to follow you and see if it was something really serious." Riku answered. "And since it was, well…isn't that reason enough?"

"That's it?" Nagi's eyes widened a little in surprise as Riku gave a simple nod, not noticing this. The psychic wasn't really surprised by what Riku said, but rather that he couldn't find anything behind what the ninja had told him.

(Either this guy's a really good liar or he's actually being honest.) Nagi thought to himself. (But either way he's our best bet on making it out of this for the moment…)

"In that case, Hanabishi-san, I assume that you've got a good plan for us to escape, don't you?" Nagi asked.

"Kind of, I mean this was pretty sudden." Riku grinned sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, I only know this forest a little well since I've done some ninja training a little further in. We'll be there soon and after that I think I can get you out of here without those guys finding us."

"You'll need a better plan than that, Crawford, the American, is a precognitive so he'll be able to know where we're going and be waiting for us." Nagi informed him.

"Well, that explains how he was able to shoot my clone without even having to look, and what he said to you…" Riku then paused as he realized that was probably a touchy subject for both Nagi and Tot. "In any case, we shouldn't worry too much since some help will be meeting us at where we're going."

"Help? You mean other ninjas are coming here?" Nagi asked and Riku nodded in reply. "When did you have the time to do that, and how skilled are they?"

"Well, to answer your first question, I called them for help once you started to fight with those three guys, and as for your second question…" Riku paused. "Well, I'm a jounin, meaning an expert ninja, but compared to whoever it is that's coming, I'm nowhere near their level."

"Well, I guess we can only hope that will be enough. Anyway, let's…" Nagi then paused as he realized something, even though they'd stopped here, Tot was still holding onto his hand. "Tot, it's alright, you can let go if you want to."

"I don't want to." Tot said simply, shaking her head slightly. "Because, well…if I let go of Nagi-kun, then…"

Nagi could tell from Tot's expression that she was still thinking about what Crawford had said to him about her being the cause of his death and then put his free hand on her shoulder reassuringly as he looked into her eyes.

"Tot, about what Crawford said…I know he was telling me the truth, but there's something you should know." Nagi paused for a moment before continuing. "There may be a chance he interpreted what he saw wrongly."

"So…does that mean you won't die after all?" Tot asked him hopefully.

"Maybe…" Nagi then saw Tot's worried expression at that answer and continued. "Tot, please listen. Whether or not I'm right, please don't let what Crawford said make you think you need to leave me to save my life or anything like that. I was serious when I asked you to stay at my side and…you said that you would, right?"

"Yeah, I did, but…" Tot was blushing slightly at what Nagi was saying but she still sounded a little hesitant.

"Tot, I'm saying this because I want you to stay with me." It was now Nagi's turn to blush as he continued. "I…it's because…"

"Uh, I'm really sorry to have to break this up, you two, but I really think we should get moving since those three from before could be following us." Riku spoke, eyes a little averted from the couple as he really did feel like he was intruding on a moment that, ideally, should have just been for the two of them.

Nagi's face flushed a little in embarrassment now as he had temporarily forgotten the ninja's presence. He then gave a nod in reply.

"Alright, I understand." He then turned back to Tot, who was still holding his hand. "Let's go, Tot."

"Okay." Tot then smiled at him as she nodded.

"And don't worry, Kanazuchi-kun, once we get to our safe haven, you and your girlfriend can do whatever you want in private without any fear of interruptions." Riku added with a teasing grin.

"Hey, first of all that's none of your business." Nagi commented quickly, while Tot only blinked in confusion at this as she didn't get what Riku had said. "And one more thing before we go on, my name is Nagi Naoe. You can even call me by my first name if you like as long as you don't call me by that ridiculous name ever again."

"Alright, Nagi, and to make things fair both you and Tot can call me by my first name as well." Riku gave a friendly yet respectful nod at the two of them. "I wonder what another psychic I know would think of that name though, I mean 'invisible hammer' is kind of a catchy name for psychokinesis, wouldn't you agree?"

"Not in the slightest." Nagi sweatdropped at what this newcomer had to say.

"I don't know, Nagi-kun, I don't think it sounds so bad." Tot commented.

"Tot, please don't encourage him." Nagi said in reply.

(Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be wondering what I got myself into soon enough?) Nagi wondered to himself as he, Tot, and Riku started off through the forest.

* * *

"Alright, so you've called them and we'll meet at the agreed place, right?" Recca said through his cell phone and nodded as the person he was speaking through answered him. "Okay, Yanagi and I will be right there."

"So how are things going, Recca-kun?" Yanagi asked as her husband ended the call.

"Well, I'd say we've got the right people meeting up with us to help Riku, at least from the descriptions of the guys he's dealing with when he called us." Recca said seriously. "Even so, I made sure to have Kurei and everyone else notified in case this turns into something really big."

"That certainly seems to happen when we meet new people, like with Takeru-san or Masane-san." Yanagi noted. "Anyway, we'd better hurry. These people chasing Riku and those two kids he's helping sound dangerous, and I'm worried about them."

"Yeah, let's get going." Recca nodded. "And I promise I'll do everything I can to keep them and you safe, Yanagi."

"And you can count on my healing skills to back you up, Recca-kun." Yanagi gave Recca a smile before taking his hand and the two of them left the house.

* * *

"So you know where they're headed, right Crawford?" Schuldig asked.

"Yes, I've foreseen where they're heading, unfortunately I'm not sure which path they're using." Crawford mused as he, Schuldig, and Farfarello stopped at the place where Riku, Nagi, and Tot had stopped just minutes before.

"I can tell they were here not too long before us." Farfarello spoke as he surveyed the area they were in. "They're not far ahead." He then turned to Crawford. "So what do we do next?"

"Have they left a trail?" Crawford asked in reply.

"Yes, many in fact…" Farfarello frowned as he looked around. "It's like several people went off in different directions…"

"Then I suppose there's no choice but to split up until we find them." Crawford said. "We signal each other as soon as one of us finds them, alright?"

"Right." Schildig and Farfarello nodded and were about to head off when Crawford suddenly stopped them.

"Wait a moment…" Crawford then paused as a vision entered his mind and a minute later he fixed his glasses before speaking. "It would appear our mystery interloper has some help coming." Crawford then turned to his two partners. "Alright, let's continue, but remember to stay on guard. I don't know yet who these newcomers are, but the bit I saw was enough for me to know that they're quite skilled."

"Got it." Schuldig nodded.

"I don't mind how many come, it just means more blood upon my blades." Farfarello remarked.

* * *

Riku sighed with relief as he, Nagi, and Tot came into a small clearing.

"Alright, we're here." He said. "Now our help will know where we're at without our pursuers knowing."

"And how exactly does that work?" Nagi asked.

"Well, since my clan and I use this as one of our training grounds, we need to make the place look normal in case the occasional hiker comes along and so…" Riku walked over to a nearby tree and placed his right hand on it so as to feel around on the bark for something. He soon found it and then peeled off a thin rectangular strip of bark from the tree which, a second after it came off, shimmered and then revealed itself to be a strip of paper with multiple kanji symbols on it. Riku then used his left hand to perform the appropriate hand seals; he then turned to Nagi and Tot. "We use a minor type of genjutsu to hide any traces of our using this place."

As the young ninja spoke, something seemed to fade away from around a number of the trees surrounding the clearing to reveal that many of them were covered with various kinds of cuts, some small, some very large, cracks, and even burn marks.

"Wow, you guys really must use this place a lot." Tot commented.

"So how does this tell your friends that we're here?" Nagi asked.

"The genjutsu may be a minor one, but as a bit of a safety measure, we make sure to keep track of when someone breaks it." Riku explained. "At least one of the ones coming helps in casting the jutsu so they'll know it's been broken."

"I guess we're going to take your word for it then." Nagi said. "I just hope that these friends of yours will arrive soon."

"I'm afraid that it won't be soon enough for you three." Brad Crawford spoke as he calmly stepped out of the woods right across from Riku, Nagi, and Tot on the other side of the clearing. "Did you really think that was going to work, Nagi? You should have known that with my ability I'd be able to predict where you would be going."

"And yet Schuldig and Farfarello aren't with you…" Nagi noted.

"We split up to try and overtake you before you got here, but those two should be here soon enough." Crawford replied and turned his eyes to Riku. "So this is the interloper, and a ninja no less." He then gave a friendly seeming smile towards Riku. "I don't suppose you'll tell me what clan you're from, will you?"

"You're the guy who seems to know a bit of everything, why not guess?" Riku replied with a smirk. "And if I was going to tell you wouldn't your ability to see the future tell you the answer?"

"Hmm, well you do have a point there." Crawford agreed. "You don't seem to be a member of the Black Spider ninja clan or the Hayabusas or Kisaragis…" The American then shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really matter I suppose considering you'll be dead soon anyway."

(Be careful, he's not kidding.) Nagi's voice sounded in Riku's head in a warning tone. (And don't underestimate Crawford because he's alone or doesn't have a weapon out; he's more than skilled enough to defeat an experienced opponent bare handed as he's an expert boxer and he knows other martial arts besides that.)

(I see, thanks for the information.) Riku replied, glancing back at Nagi, whose eyes briefly showed surprise that the ninja had replied without any trouble or surprise at being talked to via telepathy. (That telepathy thing really is handy…)

(Wait you…) Nagi shook his head, knowing that there would be time for that later. (Hold on a minute…) Nagi then directed his thoughts to Tot. (Tot, can you hear me?)

Tot's reaction by looking at him with a surprised look on her face told him that she had.

(I know this is surprising, but I'm talking to you using my mind.) Nagi continued. (There's no time for me to explain now, but to talk back to me just think what you're going to say and focus on me.)

(Um…like this, Nagi-kun?) Tot's voice was heard in Nagi's head.

(Yes, that's good, Tot.) Nagi then redirected his thoughts to Riku. (Alright, we can talk to each other now. Have you got a plan?)

(I've got an escape plan that I hope will work.) Riku replied. (Obviously we can't beat this guy so running away is the only option. Since he's a precognitive, this Crawford will know what my next move will be no matter what it is, right?)

(Yes, no matter what.) Nagi answered.

(Then in that case, I'll go on the offensive and attack him as quick as I can; I'm sure I can move fast enough that even he'll need to concentrate on dodging.) Riku explained. (After that…) Riku paused for a moment before continuing. (Tot, you can fight, right?)

(Of course I can, but…Oh! There's big tree branch on the ground over there, how about I grab it and use it as a club?) Tot's reply came.

Riku glanced over and noticed what Tot was talking about, and that the said branch was more like a tree limb than a branch.

(Okay, but are you sure you can, well wield it?) Riku asked.

(Trust me, she can.) Nagi said and Tot gave a small nod in agreement. (Anyway I think I know what you're planning, basically you distract Crawford to give Tot and I an opening and we both attack him and we hope for an opening to escape as a result of that, correct?)

(Pretty much, so do you think it will work?) Riku asked in reply. (And just to let you know I don't have anymore smoke bombs, that one I used was one I happened to have in my book bag that I just kept for emergencies for a while and then forgot about.)

(Probably not, but we don't really have any other options do we?) Nagi said telepathically. (Before we need to do that, though, I need to talk with Crawford. There's something I need to ask him, please.)

(Well, if it's that important to you, go on, it may even buy us time for our help to arrive.) Riku gave his agreement.

(Go ahead, Nagi-kun, I trust you.) Tot said.

(Thank you.) Nagi said to both of them before stepping forward towards Crawford.

"I assume you three are done with your game planning." Crawford commented. "While it was obvious that you were conversing via Nagi's telepathy, I'm surprised that these two could converse with you so easily."

(Actually, it's more surprising with this ninja than with the girl, she'd probably do anything Nagi told her to do.) Crawford thought to himself. (Could this one be familiar with other psychics? Considering he doesn't seem the least bit bothered with knowing my ability, nor did he show any signs of surprise at Nagi's telepathy at all, it's more than likely.)

"Crawford, there's something I need to ask you." Nagi said, ignoring his mentor's earlier comment. "When you looked into my future, did you also look at Tot's?"

"Why would that matter?" Crawford asked in reply.

"Just answer me, did you or did you not?"

"And if I told you that I did?"

"Then I want to know what you saw." There was a moment of silence between the two until Nagi broke it. "Did you see the same thing that you did for me? Nothing?"

"I know what you're thinking, Nagi, and while yes, I agree that it may be a possibility, that possibility is slim at best." Crawford fixed his glasses before continuing. "In all likelihood, this means that you'll both die. Are you really willing to risk everything on a chance like that?"

"Risk everything…" Nagi paused for a moment as he looked to be in deep thought over something before looking Crawford full in the face. "I'm sorry Crawford, but…if I have to choose between our plan and Tot, I choose her."

"…do you realize what you're saying, Nagi?" Crawford asked in reply, his voice carrying a grave tone. "Are you serious about giving up everything that we've worked towards over all these years? A goal that you wanted just as much as the rest of us…are you seriously going to throw all this away for a simple girl?"

"And let me ask you something, Crawford…" Nagi said, his tone equally grave. "Are you doing all of this because of my sake, or is this because my role in our plan is so necessary it?"

"Nagi…that you would even ask such a thing…" Crawford shook his head with a sigh. "I see that talking won't help matters…so shall we begin the fight now? It seems that will be the only way I can show you your folly."

(Riku, do it.) Nagi gave Riku the go ahead.

(Got it, get ready now, because I'm going to be going all out on this guy!) Riku replied before dashing towards Crawford while using his right forefinger to draw a kanji symbol in the air. "Saiha!"

Suddenly, a curved red blade appeared at Riku's right wrist, firmly attached to it and his forearm.

"Dragon Claw Slash!' Riku shouted as he shot towards Crawford, Saiha's blade ready to cut into its target.

Crawford simply sidestepped the attack to dodge it, but before he could counterattack, Riku whirled around as soon as he passed him and then proceeded make a series of slashes at the American assassin with the flame blade.

(Flame powers…a pyrokinetic, perhaps?) Crawford wondered as he easily dodged each attempt by the young ninja to cut him. (No, the way his body reacts to using this power is wrong for that…it seems that this one's powers are of a magical nature rather than one explainable by science. This could be interesting.)

(This guy's dodging my attacks without any problems, and at this rate Nagi won't be able to find an opening for him and Tot to make their move and those other two may show up.) Riku thought to himself. (Using two dragons at the same time is risky but…I guess I'll be counting on you, Nadare.)

* * *

Farfarello was heading towards the area Crawford had signaled for him and Schuldig to head to, leaping through the trees, when the sound of a series of explosions up ahead caused him to stop where he was to try and see how far ahead it was.

(Looks like Crawford's started fighting, might be Nagi, though he doesn't usually use his powers that way.) Farfarello thought to himself. (Hopefully, I'll get there before…)

Farfarello's thoughts were interrupted as he sensed danger and dodged to the side just in time to evade a large and sharp blade that shot at him from behind. A quick glance as he landed on his feet on the ground showed that the blade was of an extremely long length as it seemed to stretch back into the forest, beyond where Farfarello could see.

The Irish assassin was about to make a counter attack when the long blade suddenly swept down towards him, and he immediately dashed to the side, evading the blade as it smoothly sliced through the tree he had been in and then into the ground where he had been standing. The blade then withdrew back into the forest like it was being retracted.

"Nice weapon, too bad it gives away your position if your surprise attack doesn't work!" Farfarello shouted towards his mystery attacker before throwing two knives in the direction the blade had withdrawn into and then whirled around to throw two more in the same direction.

Rather than a cry of pain or any other sound to indicate that the knives had buried themselves in their intended target's flesh, Farfarello instead heard a series of faint sounds of metal striking against metal and knew that his knives had been stopped by something. He quickly took out another pair of knives in preparation to face this new foe.

"Well, it looks like I was matched up with the right opponent." A woman's voice spoke and a moment later, the speaker was revealed to be a woman of indeterminate age with short brown hair and wearing a red and white kunoichi's outfit and bandages on her right arm and lower legs. She also had a number of scars, three on her left cheek that curled up to just under her left eye, three more that ran along where her right eye would have been, though that was hidden slightly by her hair, and on the upper parts of both her legs were two scars that were practically parallel to each other. The woman was carrying what looked like a single tonfar except with a blade in place of where the club like ends would be.

"Well, this is interesting." Farfarello commented with a grin. "It's not everyday that I encounter someone with scars comparable to mine…not to mention you're fighting style involves blades, and I can tell just by looking at you that you're an assassin like me."

"Ex-assassin." The woman said. "Anyway, I'll only say this once; retreat now and I will do nothing to hinder it. But if you insist on going forward to join your comrade…"

"I think you already know my answer, and truth be told I'm looking forward to fighting you." Farfarello put away the knives he had and instead drew his sword and got into a fighting position. "Someone like yourself who uses blades, killer or former killer, with scars comparable to mine…I'll be sure to enjoy this." Farfarello paused before continuing. "I am Farfarello, and you are?"

"Hisui." The woman answered simply and then readied her bladed weapon, one of a pair making up the madogu Shinryo Shinto. "Prepare yourself, for I will not let you advance any further."

* * *

Schuldig made a quick dash to avoid the incoming projectile, a large missile shaped object attached to a chain-like extension, just in time as it rammed into the trees behind him, smashing through them like they were nothing. Immediately the projectile retracted back towards its user, who Schuldig only had time to see that it was a woman before he sensed another attack coming at him from behind.

The German assassin ducked and rolled out of the way just as an extendable baton came crashing into the ground where he had been standing, leaving a small crater from the impact. Schuldig countered with an upward kick, but his attacker dodged the blow by swiftly stepping back to avoid it.

Schuldig then got to his feet as he got a look at his attackers. The first one, the woman, who looked to be in her late twenties, had spiky brown hair tied back in a single braid that went down to her waist and she was wearing a jacket over a white T-shirt and black shorts and a pair of sunglasses. The weapon that she had used on him had retracted to her right arm, which was worn over her hand like a gauntlet. The second one was a man who looked to be about the same age with spiky silver hair and gold eyes a white turtleneck long sleeve shirt and pants.

(Two against one, huh?) Schuldig thought to himself. (Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me on this one. In a fight like this I doubt I'll have an opportunity to take control of either of their minds, they seem a bit strong for me to do that while fighting. Still, if I can read their thoughts then…)

Schuldig began to do so when he received a surprise when his telepathic ability, the one directed at the woman, suddenly stopped. It wasn't as if it had been blocked intentionally, but more like it had run into something. He quickly tried again with the same result, but not while keeping an eye on the man in case he tried anything.

The woman meanwhile scrunched her face a little as if she were squinting to try and find something. She then gave a sigh.

"Aaahh, it didn't work after all." The woman said and turned to her partner. "Looks like we'll have to do this the old fashioned way, Rasen."

"Well, it's not too bad a thing, Kirin." The man, Rasen, said in reply. "Using two madogu at the same time in battle would be rather taxing."

"Yeah, that's the main drawback of these new ones." Kirin said.

"Wait, you wouldn't happen to be a telepath too, would you?" Schuldig asked.

"No, but you're close." Kirin answered. "Anyway, I'm Kirin and this is my husband, Rasen, here to stop you from going any further."

"While we don't know about the two people with him, that boy who helped them is a member of our clan, so we aren't going to let your group kill him." Rasen said.

"So I'm dealing with another troublesome couple today, man oh man." Schuldig gave a light laugh. "Well, it's been a while since I've fought without having to hold back anything, let's go."

"Too bad, we were going to give you the option to retreat, though I don't even need to read your mind to know you're not even thinking of that." Kirin then pointed her weapon at Schuldig. "Something you should know though, my first attack isn't the only thing that my Hokishin is capable off." The head of the madogu then split into four as it opened up; Kirin then looked over at Rasen. "Ready to begin, dear?"

"As always." Rasen gave his wife a light smile as he got into a fighting position and prepared to attack.

(I wonder if this is going to be grounds to ask Crawford for compensation.) Schuldig wondered to himself jokingly.

* * *

It was shortly after Riku had cried out the name 'Nadare' and suddenly unleashed torrent after torrent of fireballs that shot at Crawford in a rapid fire manner, that Nagi saw the opening that he was looking for as their new ally's relentless firing of fireballs coupled with attacks with his flame blade were enough to keep his opponent completely concentrated on defense.

(Tot, now!) Nagi gave Tot the signal via telepathy and the two of them dashed towards Crawford, Tot with the large branch ready to swing and Nagi charging up a ball of psychic energy into his right hand.

The joint attack, however, failed the moment the two of them reached their target. Crawford immediately ducked to dodge the blow from the branch Tot swung at him before making a single jab type punch that split the branch in half. Crawford then made a round about kick that caught Tot in the side and she fell a few feet away. Crawford then seized Nagi's right wrist and plunged the young psychic's hand, still forming the energy ball, into the ground, causing it to go off in there, before delivering a powerful punch into Nagi's stomach followed by a strike to the head with a right cross.

Crawford whirled around to deliver a punch at Riku, who was coming at him from behind with Saiha's blade ready. The young ninja however, quickly brought up both his arms in defense, blocking the blow, but Crawford had expected that and made lower sweeping kick, catching Riku's legs and throwing him off balance. The American then seized Riku by the shoulders and threw him to the ground and finished things with a deep punch to the stomach that knocked the air out of the young ninja.

Satisfied, Crawford then reached into his jacket and pulled out his pistol before turning to look over at Nagi, who was still trying to get up.

"This is over, Nagi." Crawford said simply and then aimed his gun in Tot's direction. Tot was also trying to get to her feet as Crawford's kick had been a strong one and a couple of her ribs had been broken by it. "Now to finish what we started…"

"I won't let you…" Nagi began.

"Think you can use anymore of your power to shield her, or for that matter bring the barrier up fast enough?" Crawford asked. "You used up quite a bit of power struggling against Schuldig and to create that energy ball…let's find out."

Crawford then put his finger to the trigger, but before he could pull it, a throwing star shuriken whirled out from the woods and knocked the gun out of his hand.

"That was a close one…good thing I made it in time." A male voice spoke, causing Crawford to turn and see Recca Hanabishi standing behind him, dressed in a typical black ninaj gi and his arms were folded.

(He managed to catch me by surprise, looks like there's something special about this one.) Crawford thought to himself as he turned to face Recca.

"So you're the backup I foresaw." Crawford said as he fixed his glasses. "I thought there would be more of you."

"There are, they're just keeping your two buddies at bay." Recca then gave a confident grin. "Anyway, it's your bad day, man. I don't take kindly to guys who pick on kids, especially if one of them happens to be my son."

"So for that you're picking a fight with me." Crawford gave an amused chuckle. "Not very many people would do that so lightly…I don't know whether to call this extremely arrogant or brave."

Crawford then stopped as he took a closer look at Recca and then frowned slightly.

(Hold on, this one looks familiar. I'm sure I've seen his picture somewhere, but…) Crawford then paused in realization as he glanced back at Riku. (I see, now it makes sense, a ninja with odd flame skills could only be…)

"Heh, forgive me, you almost got me to underestimate you." Crawford said. "Though that was probably your strategy all along, wasn't it, Recca Hanabishi; winner of the Urabutosatsujin tournament, leader of Team Hokage, and the one who killed Koran Mouri."

"You're only half right on the last part, mister." Recca corrected him. "In any case, since you know who I am, you interested in fighting me now?"

"It doesn't really matter, I'm sure you won't give a choice either way." Crawford shrugged and then smiled at Recca. "Come on then, I hope you keep me entertained."

"Hope you find getting beaten up entertaining, then." Recca grinned. "And to make sure this stays one on one…" Recca drew a kanji in the air. "Madoka!"

Immediately a transparent reddish orange wall with lines connected by numerous fire balls appeared around Recca and Crawford, while separating them from Riku, Nagi, and Tot.

(Alright, I've gotten him to fight me and the barrier should hold him even if he does figure this out.) Recca thought to himself. (I'm counting on you, Yanagi…)

AN: And with that chapter 3's revision is finally complete! Whew, I have to say this one took a lot longer than I expected, though that was mainly in part to real life stuff, and the fact that I've been trying to finish tons of games I've had on the back burner. Well, at least you guys got a longer chapter than expected.

Anyway with this the revision of DCR is now under way. I'll be taking a short break to finish a few games I've nearly finished and then hopefully I can start cranking out more chapters to this fic.

Now as promised a little explanation on Black Cyc; it's basically one of a larger visual novel making company known as Cyc and its specialty is dark themed games, and I mean REALLY dark themed games with stuff occurring in them that are so nasty, I wouldn't list them here so as to avoid having my fic taken down. Now, having said that, I'm sure a lot of people are wondering why I plan to cross such games over into this fic; well to put it simply, it's because the stories of most of the Black Cyc games are amazing, in particular MinDead Blood, Gore Screaming Show, and Gun Katana.

Before you go checking these games out though, I should tell you that none of them are available in English so unless you can at least speak Japanese, you won't be able to enjoy the games. Fear not however, as a fan translation patch for MinDead is being planned by a translation group called Dark Translations, so hopefully English speaking fans will be able enjoy one of Black Cyc's best games.

A warning to you all though, as stated before almost all of Black Cyc's games contain really dark content and therefore if you're new to eroge, I recommend playing a few and deciding what suits your tastes as the content of MinDead alone could be too much for a beginner.

Anyway, with all that said, I hope you all enjoyed these three chapters and please review and give me your honest opinions. Suggestions are always welcome.

One last thing, as this chapter has been finished and posted at practically the start of April 24, 2009, I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to my online friend and writing buddy, Collis Parris, the author of the core fic that this story is connected to. I hope you have a good birthday today, my friend!

And as a bit of a treat I'll give some story details right here. First off the next few chapters are going to be a bit more focused on Nagi and Tot since this will be covering their joining of both Hokage and FOXHOUND, but there will be focus on other characters. I also have planned two, count 'em, TWO original mini story arcs to take place before the Ceres arc that will feature two of Black Cyc's games: Mushitsukai and Gun Katana, though the latter will be more of a prequel to the main arc for its game, which unfortunately is pretty far off storywise.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get back to playing the ever addictive Touhou games before resuming Black Cyc's EXTRAVAGANZA, quite possibly the longest eroge I've ever played through.


	4. Chapter 4:Partnership and Reunion

AN: Well here's Chapter 4. Enjoy! R and R please.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own MGS, FoR, or WK. The only thing I own is my character, Riku, and the story.  
  
Chapter 4: Partnership and Reunion  
  
Somewhere in Tokyo: 2 Days Later  
  
Brad Crawford calmly stepped over the bullet-ridden corpse of a FOXHOUND agent. He and his teammates had ambushed the group that had been protecting the girl minutes before. The agents had been well trained in the art of combat; however, their skills were useless in the face of Schwartz's power. Farfarello and Schuldich slaughtered them within seconds; unfortunately, one surviving agent had managed to escape with the girl.  
  
Crawford looked over at Farfarello, who was covered in the blood of the dead soldiers, and at Schuldich, who wasn't covered in blood at all, since he had simply shot the ones he had killed. Crawford then held up an insignia patch that he had previously torn from one of the dead soldier's uniforms for the both of them to see.  
  
"This insignia was the one used by FOXHOUND," he said. "Does that name mean anything to either of you?"  
  
"I'm a killer, not a military expert." Farfarello answered. "Why are you asking me?"  
  
"Well I know," Schuldich answered. "It's the name of that organization that was involved in the Shadow Moses incident. There was quite an extensive write up on them in "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses"."  
  
"Yes, and it was also the name of a group soldiers under the command of the world's most famous soldier, Big Boss." Crawford added. "The remnants that were on Liquid Snake's side during the Shadow Moses incident weren't so different from us, really."  
  
"So which one do you think it is that's protecting the girl?" Schuldich asked. "I doubt that it's the one you just told me about, they're all dead. But it couldn't be the ones that the legendary Solid Snake was with during the Shadow Moses incident. They disbanded right after it."  
  
"Unless they've reformed," Crawford said. "From what the spokesman for our top employers told me, there have been rumors about a recent reformation under the name of the anti-metal gear organization Philanthropy."  
  
"Spokesman?" Schuldich asked. "You mean that Russian cowboy wannabe? Why would you trust anything he says? That guy's as untrustworthy as he is dangerous, besides, you know he hates you."  
  
"Well, we're rivals. What can you expect?" Crawford said with a shrug. "Regardless, I have checked and confirmed the rumors to be true."  
  
"So what if they are?" Schuldich asked. "It just means fighting a bunch of soldiers. It wouldn't be the first time that we've taken down commandos. It's not like they're going to sic the legendary Solid Snake on us to replace those guys we just killed, he died when he sank that tanker in the New York Harbor."  
  
"Maybe," Crawford answered. "But I've heard that the star of the S3 project on the Big Shell is part of that group."  
  
"Solidus Snake's son?" Schuldich assumed. "The White Devil?"  
  
"The very same," Crawford said. "If they do send him-."  
  
"Then we'll finally have a real fight," Farfarello finished with a predatory grin on his face. "I can't wait."  
  
"I'd have to agree," Schuldich added. "After all, it's not everyday that one is given the opportunity to fight the one who killed Dead Cell."  
  
"Then it's settled," Crawford said. "We allow the girl to get to her next bodyguard, and then we set the trap. Then we will see what FOXHOUND has to offer us. Whether it turns out to be the White Devil or not."  
  
Hanabishi Residence:  
  
"So what did you think of the training, Nagi?" Riku asked as he lay down on the couch to rest. "Not as easy as you thought, huh?"  
  
"You can say that again," Nagi replied as he eased into the recliner. Whatever suspicion he'd had about Riku had long since gone after they had trained together for a full week. "How exactly do you go through with this every month? I've never gone through training like that before."  
  
"Compared to my uncle's training, what you went through was nothing," Riku said. "Don't get me wrong, spending time with my uncle and his friends is fun. But the training is what's intense."  
  
"Remind me not to come with you when you go to train with him, then." Nagi said and he lay back in the recliner. "There is no way I'm getting up from here. I think I could just lie here for days."  
  
"I completely agree with you, Nagi." Riku said and he stretched out onto the couch to rest. Suddenly, Riku's codec rang and he answered it.  
  
"This is Riku Hanabishi," he said. "AKA Drakken, how may I help you?"  
  
"I'm afraid that you'll have to cancel whatever plans that you have at the moment, Drakken," Col. Campbell answered. "I have an assignment for you that requires your immediate attention."  
  
Riku immediately sweatdropped, his face a mask of reluctance.  
  
Why me? Why? He thought.  
  
"OK colonel," He said reluctantly. "What's the job?"  
  
"A young girl came to Tokyo Headquarters requesting protection from an unknown assassination group," Col. Campbell answered. "That was two days ago. Earlier this morning, the assassin group ambushed and killed a whole squad of our agents sent to protect her until you got back. Fortunately, one of them survived and escaped with the girl, who you're now supposed to protect."  
  
"So the mission is bodyguard duty." Riku said. "Any details on the guys who I'm supposed to protect her from?"  
  
"I'm afraid not," Col. Campbell answered. "Other than the fact that there are at least three of them."  
  
"Great, a mission where I go in blind." Riku said. "What about the girl? Do you know why she's being targeted?"  
  
"From what she's told us, they're after her because she was a witness to one of their assassinations," Col. Campbell answered. "The name that she gave us was Tot, and she's seventeen years old. Aside from that, we don't know anything else about her. Just get to the rendezvous point as soon as possible, here are the directions."  
  
Riku listened to the encoded message and then wrote it down.  
  
"I've got it." He said. "I'll be there as soon as I can."  
  
"Good," Col. Campbell replied. "When you have the girl with you, notify me immediately."  
  
"Of course, colonel." Riku said and then reached over to turn off his codec.  
  
"Hold on!" Col. Campbell said suddenly.  
  
"Yes, colonel." Riku said. "What is it?"  
  
"It's about the assassins that you'll be up against." Col. Campbell answered. "The agents that were killed by those three were slaughtered in a matter of seconds, and it was only two out of those three that did it."  
  
"Then that means that these guys would have to be-." Riku began.  
  
"At least as dangerous as Dead Cell was." Col. Campbell concluded. "Be on your guard, especially since you're doing this alone."  
  
"I understand," Riku replied. "Don't worry, consider this girl to be in good hands."  
  
"Just make sure to keep the "good hands" to yourself while you're on this mission." Col. Campbell commented.  
  
"Oh come on," Riku said. "You know I'm not that kind of person. Anyway, talk to you later. Bye!" And the transmission ended.  
  
Riku got up and looked at Nagi, who looked back at him.  
  
"What was that all about?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Nothing," Riku answered quickly. "Well, I'd better go."  
  
"It was a mission wasn't it?" Nagi asked, and Riku nodded. "Well, it's time for you to keep that promise you made to me."  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea," Riku said. "This mission will probably involve me taking on an assassination group. You'll just be a target for them."  
  
"I can take care of myself in a battle," Nagi said. "I've used my powers to fight before, so don't be worried about me."  
  
"A little combat experience won't cut it in this mission," Riku replied. "The guys that I'm going to be up against are professionals."  
  
"All the more reason for you to take me along," Nagi said. "And my combat experience is far from "a little"."  
  
"Whether that's true or not," Riku said. "It still isn't a good enough reason for me to take you with me on this mission. Unless you can give me a good enough reason-."  
  
"I have one." Nagi said, interrupting Riku.  
  
"Alright, tell me." Riku said, his arms crossed and his expression serious.  
  
"Before I met you and your family, I was an assassin myself." Nagi answered.  
  
Riku could see in Nagi's eyes that he wasn't lying.  
  
"Alright," he said calmly. "Wait for me in my car, I need to tell Mom and Dad about this, and I also need to get my gear. I'll provide you with some of my spare essentials."  
  
"Of course," Nagi replied, and then turned to go. He then turned around. "One last thing, now that I've told you about my old job-."  
  
"I'll tell you about mine on the way there." Riku answered. And with that, Nagi left the room.  
  
Later:  
  
It had taken Riku twenty minutes to get into his sneaking suit, which he wore under a shirt and pants, and grab his gear. Which were two USPs, two M9s, ten rations, and five chaff grenades.  
  
His parents hadn't been too keen on the idea of him bringing Nagi along, but they agreed that he might need help so they had no objections. Riku hadn't told them what Nagi had told him about being an assassin, he decided to wait till he got back.  
  
Nagi was waiting for him when he got to his car and Riku got in and they drove off.  
  
Hanbishi Household:  
  
"Do you really think that it's a good idea to let Riku take Nagi with him for this mission?" Yanagi asked her husband.  
  
"If you ask me, then I don't really think so," Recca answered. "You see, Roy called me earlier today about Riku's assignment, and it sounds like it has a very big chance of becoming a very dangerous one. But I think Riku knows what he's doing, bringing Nagi along. In the past few weeks, those two have gotten along like brothers, and I'm sure that neither of them will let the other come to harm."  
  
"I hope you're right Recca," Yanagi said hopefully.  
  
"Of course I'm right," Recca replied. "He's our son after all."  
  
"That's why I'm worried," Yanagi said. "He's just as reckless as you were when you were his age."  
  
"Fortunately, he's gotten all of the dragons to obey him except for the last one," Recca replied. "Don't worry, he'll be fine."  
  
"Yeah, you're right." Yanagi agreed. "Those two will come back."  
  
"Well, now that that's out of our system," Recca said. "Why don't we discuss some more important matters."  
  
"Like what?" Yanagi asked.  
  
" Oh, it's just that since we have the house to ourselves and all," Recca answered. "I was thinking that maybe we could."  
  
Riku's Car:  
  
"I don't know why," Riku said. "But I'm suddenly glad to be out of the house."  
  
"Well, aren't you going to tell me about who you work for?" Nagi asked. "And also what we're supposed to be doing."  
  
"I'll start with telling you about the mission." Riku answered. "Basically, we're bodyguards for a girl being targeted by a bunch of bad guys."  
  
"Bodyguards?" Nagi asked.  
  
"You got it." Riku answered. "By the way, I put two items in the front storage bin for you. You'll probably need them in case your powers run out."  
  
Nagi opened the compartment and pulled out two black handguns. One of which had a silencer attached to it.  
  
"This is an M9 semi-automatic pistol, it's fully loaded and fires tranquilizer darts. It also has a laser sight equipped to it to increase accuracy." Nagi said as he examined the M9. He then put it back in the compartment and examined the second gun. "And this is a USP handgun, also semi-automatic and fully loaded and it fires bullets. Like the M9, it also has a laser sighting for accuracy."  
  
"You know your guns, kid." Riku commented. "And you're holding them like you know how to use them. That confirms that what you said about being an assassin was true."  
  
"Just who do you work for anyway?" Nagi asked. "These weapons are standard military issue."  
  
"Well, I guess I have no choice but to tell you." Riku answered. "After all, a promise is a promise. The group that I work for is called FOXHOUND, but you'd know it better as Philanthropy."  
  
"The anti-metal gear organization?" Nagi asked, and Riku nodded. "And by FOXHOUND, do you mean that group involved in the Shadow Moses incident?"  
  
"The very same," Riku answered. "And I take it that you've read "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses", right?"  
  
"Yes," Nagi replied. "But I thought FOXHOUND was disbanded. It happened right after Shadow Moses."  
  
"You're right, it was disbanded." Riku said. "But it was reformed a few months after the Big Shell incident two years ago."  
  
"Are you talking about what happened in the New York Harbor with the giant metal gear?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Yes," Riku answered. "And a lot more happened there besides that and the 44th president of the United States being assassinated."  
  
"What happened?" Nagi asked.  
  
Riku opened his mouth to say something and then stopped, as if he remembered something. He then pulled the car into a park and stopped it.  
  
"This is where you get off," he said to Nagi.  
  
"What?!" Nagi half-shouted. "I thought you said that I was in this mission with you."  
  
"Whoa now, I didn't mean it like that." Riku said. "What I meant was that this is where I'm dropping you off to wait for me so I can go get the girl we're supposed to protect and then pick you up. Bringing you along with me wouldn't sit well with my boss, you know."  
  
"Oh." Nagi said, his face red from embarrassment. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."  
  
"That's no problem," Riku replied. "Just try to trust me more. That's what partners do."  
  
"Partners?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Why not?" Riku replied with a careless smile. "We're working together, after all. So what do you say? Partners?" And he extended his right hand towards Nagi.  
  
Nagi looked at Riku.  
  
(Crawford and the others were never this friendly with me.) He thought. (Not unless they wanted something from me in return. And Riku seems to be an OK guy. A little lazy, but an OK guy. Maybe I should give him a chance.)  
  
"Sure," Nagi answered as he shook Riku's hand. "Partners."  
  
Then he opened the car door and got out. Riku nodded at him as the door closed, and then drove off.  
  
Later: At the Rendezvous Point:  
  
The rendezvous point had turned out to be an abandoned warehouse near the Tokyo Harbors.  
  
(Well, maybe this mission has its perks after al)l, Riku thought as he regarded the girl he had been assigned to protect.  
  
She was a pretty girl with light blue hair, wearing a red and pink dress; she was also carrying an umbrella with her. There was also this almost child-like innocent look on her face that, for some reason, made her seem cute as well.  
  
(And she's seventeen), Riku thought. (My age, give or take a few months. If I do the whole bodyguard thing right, maybe she'll go out with me after all of this.)  
  
"So you're Tot," He said to her. "Please allow me to introduce myself."  
  
Suddenly, Riku's face seemed to turn noble and dashing.  
  
"My name is Riku Hanabishi," he said dramatically. "I am here to protect you from whatever harm that seeks to harm you."  
  
Tot took one look at Riku and started to giggle.  
  
"Mister, you're funny." She said, causing Riku to fall over (anime style).  
  
(Looks like that didn't work), he thought as he got up.  
  
"Well," Riku said, recovering his composure. "I'd better get you to the safe haven. Please follow me."  
  
Riku then turned to the FOXHOUND agent who had accompanied Tot.  
  
"I'll be taking it from here," he said to him. "Good work on your part."  
  
"Thank you and good luck on your mission." The man replied and then he turned to leave the warehouse by another exit.  
  
"Wait." Riku said, causing the man to turn around. "Be careful, those assassins might be nearby."  
  
"Don't worry about me," the man said. "I've got my protection right here." And he pointed to an M4 assault rifle strapped to his back.  
  
"You just be careful yourself," the man continued. "I saw how those guys took out my buddies, and believe me it was like fighting some kind of bad dream."  
  
"Alright, I'll do that," Riku said, and then he turned to Tot. "Let's go then." And they exited the warehouse.  
  
The man watched the two of them enter the car and drive off. He suddenly heard a sound behind him and he turned and saw Crawford standing behind him.  
  
"Well, there goes our quarry." Crawford noted. "Fortunately, I got a good look at the car, so I'll know where it's headed. However, I believe that knowledge of where the predetermined destination of that vehicle is necessary."  
  
The agent pulled out his M4 and pointed it at Crawford.  
  
"You should've brought your two partners with you," he said. "I happen to be a very fine shot with this firearm." And then he opened fire.  
  
Crawford merely shook his head and calmly stepped aside from the bullets that had been aimed at him. The agent fired another round and Crawford easily sidestepped the bullets just before they hit him.  
  
"What the hell?!" The agent said in frustration, then reloaded the M4 and fired again. Crawford stepped aside from the bullets once again.  
  
"It's useless." He said. "I know exactly where the gun is going to be pointed, when you will pull the trigger, and how many bullets you are going to shoot at me. All before you even fire that rifle. I could dodge your shots blindfolded."  
  
"Then dodge this!" the agent shouted and then started firing the bullets in multiple directions.  
  
Crawford then went through a series of ducking and sidestepping, all the while having a bored look on his face. This continued until the M4 ran out of bullets. Then Crawford pulled out an M9 and pointed it at the agent in front of him.  
  
"Consider yourself lucky," Crawford said. "I happen to need you alive." And then he pulled the trigger.  
  
Riku's Car:  
  
"Um, excuse me." Tot said to Riku as he drove.  
  
"Yes, Miss Tot." he said.  
  
"Could you do two favors for me?" She asked.  
  
"If I can," Riku answered. "Go on."  
  
"Well first," Tot began. "Could you just call me Tot? Everyone else that I know does."  
  
"Alright, Tot." Riku said. "Next?"  
  
"Well, when this is over, could you help me find someone?" Tot asked. "You see, I lost track of him and I want to see him again."  
  
"Of course," Riku answered. "This guy obviously means a lot to you, from the look on your face and the tone of your voice. Is he your boyfriend?"  
  
Tot blushed, but nodded.  
  
"All right then," Riku said. "We'll talk about this later. Now, before we head to the safe haven, I need to make a detour to pick up my associate, who's waiting at a park. Don't worry, it won't take long."  
  
(Damn! She's already taken!) Riku thought.  
  
Later: At the Park:  
  
The two of them got out of the car and walked over to where Nagi was sitting.  
  
"Hey, Nagi!" Riku called, causing him to get up from where he was sitting and walk over to them. "This is the girl who we're protecting, so- ." Riku stopped talking when he noticed that Nagi had stopped walking and was standing where he was. He was staring at Tot with a bewildered expression on his face.  
  
"Hey Nagi," Riku said." I know she's cute and all but-." And then he noticed that Tot was staring back at Nagi with a similar expression on her face.  
  
The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Tot broke the silence and ran towards Nagi, and threw her arms around him.  
  
"Nagi." She said softly as she held onto him. "I knew that you wouldn't go through with all of this. So you came to protect me. I'm so happy!"  
  
(I'm not dreaming), Nagi thought as he felt Tot pressed against him. (She's actually here, with me.)  
  
"Tot," he said as he wrapped his arms around her. "I never thought I'd see you again; I thought that you were." He couldn't finish; Nagi just kept holding her, tears of joy flowing from his eyes.  
  
"Don't worry, Nagi," Tot said. "I'm here, and I won't leave you ever again."  
  
Then the two of them looked into each others eyes and their lips met as they kissed for the second time.  
  
All the while, a clueless Riku watched as his housemate was making out with the girl they were supposed to protect.  
  
"You two know each other?" he finally asked as them as their kiss ended.  
  
The two reunited lovers looked at Riku, as if they just noticed him, before quickly parting, the both of them blushing furiously.  
  
"Well, yes." Nagi answered. "You see."  
  
"Nagi is my boyfriend and I'm his girlfriend," Tot finished. "Thanks for finding him, Mr. Hanabishi."  
  
"The two of you!" Riku shouted, still in shock from what had just happened. He then looked at Nagi critically. 'Is this true?"  
  
Nagi's face reddened even more.  
  
"Yes." He answered.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Riku asked.  
  
"I didn't know that we were going to be protecting her!" Nagi answered. "I thought she was dead!"  
  
"Dead?" both Riku and Tot asked, in comical unison.  
  
"It's a long story," Nagi explained. "I'll tell you later."  
  
"You'd better," Riku said, and then looked up at the sky. "Now how am I supposed to explain all this to the colonel? There's no way I can cover this up now. I am so screwed."  
  
AN: Well, that's Chapter 4 I hope you all liked it. Anyway, I have bad news and some good news. The bad news is, that I won't be updating for a while, I'm going on a trip for the rest of Winter Break. Don't worry, I'll update as soon as I get the chance to. Now for the good news, COE's author, the great ShardclawKusanagi, has accepted my characters into his COE/Soldier X fanfiction series! Which means all you fans of COE, who are reading this fanfiction, can look forward to seeing the characters show up sometime. Well, that's everything I've got to say. Please R and R. And have a merry Christmas! 


	5. Chapter 5: Truth and Confrontations

AN: I'm back! Now here's chapter 5! Oh yeah, I apologize for a paragraph problem that's appeared in previous chapters of my fanfiction, but I've found a way to fix it so don't worry about seeing that problem again.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own MGS, FoR, NGE, or WK. The only thing I own is my character, Riku, and the story (I guess I also own Schwartz's employer, Hazashi, but he won't be in the story for very long (big hint as to his life expectancy). Also, Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki belong to ShardclawKusanagi, and Lt. Reese and James Masterson belong to RuneKnightPictures. Don't expect to see them in this chapter of the fanfiction, for now they'll only be mentioned.  
  
Chapter 5: Truth and Confrontations  
  
"What do you mean?" Nagi asked Riku, who turned to Nagi to answer him.  
  
"Like I told you before," Riku answered. "That bringing you along wouldn't sit well with my boss. There are two reasons, one: I'm not supposed to involve civilians in my missions, even if you are a former assassin, two: my powers are to be kept a secret even in FOXHOUND."  
  
"Why is that?" Nagi asked.  
  
"I'll tell you about it later," Riku replied. "Right now, I'd better call the colonel and face the music. That way we can be on our way as soon as possible; after all your girlfriend's safety is our top concern."  
  
With that, Riku activated his codec and selected Col. Campbell's frequency.  
  
"Drakken, I trust that you've met with our client?" Col. Campbell asked.  
  
"Yes, colonel, I have," Riku answered. "But there's a bit of a problem."  
  
"A problem?" Col. Campbell asked suspiciously. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, you see." Riku began and he explained the situation to Col. Campbell.  
  
"You did what?!" he shouted as soon as Riku finished his story. "You got a civilian involved in all of this?"  
  
"Well, not exactly," Riku answered. "The kid says that he's a former assassin so-."  
  
"He's an assassin?" Col. Campbell interrupted. "Of all the-! Do you realize how much hell Reese is going to give me over this? What the hell were you thinking? Not even an amateur would have- urgh!"  
  
"Colonel, are you alright?" Riku asked as soon as he heard the man's grunt of pain. A horrible thought came to mind. (Oh God! I've given the man a heart attack!)  
  
"We'll talk about this later," Col. Campbell answered suddenly. "Rosemary will take over from here; her frequency is 140.96, she'll save your mission data. That will be all." And the transmission ended. Riku quickly selected Rose's frequency.  
  
"So how's the colonel?" Riku asked as soon as he heard Rose pick up the frequency. "I didn't give him a heart attack, did I?"  
  
"No, the colonel's just been under a lot of stress lately," Rose answered. "Reese has been giving him a hard time again. When the colonel left the room, just now, he was carrying some kind of stomach medication."  
  
"So I've just given him an ulcer instead." Riku assumed. "I really hope the colonel blames Reese for that, I'm screwed enough as it is."  
  
"Well, I heard everything," Rose replied. "And by the way it sounds, I do admit that what you did was stupid, but at least you made two people happy."  
  
"Yeah, they get to make out in the backseat of my car and I get yelled at by my boss. Perfect deal." Riku said sarcastically. "Well, I don't mean to change the subject, well actually I do, but how are things over in America? You know, with everyone."  
  
"Well, Mei-Ling's on vacation right now," Rose answered. "Snake and Hal are trying to find Ocelot as well as Olga's child; I don't know where they are now, Greg and Linn are off on their own mission as well as James, and the colonel is, well you know how he is right now."  
  
"Please don't remind me?" Riku said. "So how are Jack and your son doing?"  
  
"They're doing fine," Rose replied. "Jack's training in VR right now and Charlie's being taken care of by a babysitter."  
  
"Must be tough, being a father with this kind of job," Riku assumed. "Well, have Jack call me as soon as he can. There's something that I need to ask him."  
  
"Alright," Rose answered. "Talk to you later." And the transmission ended.  
  
Riku then turned to Nagi and Tot, and then pulled out two spare codecs from his pocket. He handed one to each of them and explained how to use them.  
  
"Basically, just enter the frequency to call," Riku finished. "My frequency is 107.89, Nagi, yours is 111.76, and Tot, yours is 152.48. Oh, and one more thing, until further notice, call me Drakken."  
  
"The German word for "dragon"?" Nagi asked. "Why would you want us to call you that?"  
  
"It's my codename," Riku answered. "When we get to our destination, you can go back to calling me Riku."  
  
"Alright, Drakken." Nagi replied. "Is there anything else that you need to tell us?"  
  
"Yeah, you and Tot are to sit in the back of the car." Riku then stopped when he saw his two companions faces redden. "No, I don't mean to make out or anything! What I mean is, since I'm driving the car, I'm more vulnerable to a surprise attack from the enemy. Though they'd have to use some pretty powerful stuff, since the glass for the windows is bulletproof and the car's made of stuff that could withstand a small explosion. But still, in the unlikely event that I get taken out, you, Nagi, are to protect Tot in my place."  
  
"You can count on me to do that." Nagi answered.  
  
"Alright then," Riku said with a nod of approval. "Now let's get going; where we're headed may only be a few hours drive from here, but I don't want to take any chances. Let's go."  
  
They quickly got into the car and it pulled out of the parking lot and into the street to be lost among the other cars.  
  
Meanwhile:  
"Well, were you able to get the information from our guest, Schuldich?" Crawford asked as he gestured toward the crumpled over FOXHOUND agent who, minutes before, had been in charge of escorting Tot to the rendezvous point.  
  
"Of course, Crawford." Schuldich answered. "I wrote it down while I was reading his mind." And he handed a slip of paper over to Crawford, who read it and frowned.  
  
"Next time write it in either English or Japanese." He said. "You know I can't read German very well, especially if it's in your handwriting."  
  
"The translation is on the other side." Schuldich said with a snicker as he watched his partner glare at him before turning the slip over and reading it.  
  
"Well, I believe we should be going then." Crawford said when he finished reading. He then turned and regarded the FOXHOUND agent in front of him. "Now what to do with our guest, who has provided us with such valuable information?"  
  
"That would be my job." Farfarello (who had been standing in the corner of the room the whole time) said.  
  
"Unfortunately, you would take too long in disposing of our guest," Crawford replied and he pulled out a pistol and walked over to the fallen agent.  
  
"I believe that custom requires that you be given both a last request as well as some last words," Crawford said. "Do you have either?"  
  
"Yes," the agent answered as he spat out some blood coming from his mouth. "May I have the knowledge of who it is that's killing me?"  
  
"Of course," Crawford replied. "I am Brad Crawford, the leader of the assassination group Schwartz. Now, do you have any last words?"  
  
"Just to say that I'm glad that you won't be able to pull off a complete ambush on Drakken." The agent answered with a grim smile.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Crawford asked as he positioned the gun in between the agent's eyes.  
  
"While you and the orange-top were talking, I activated my codec and set it so that your conversation could be heard by my pals over at headquarters." The agent replied. "They heard everything, and now they know who you are."  
  
Crawford simply smiled.  
  
"Clever till the very end," he commented. "You're my kind of person. Too bad we couldn't have a longer chat." And he pulled the trigger.  
  
Riku's Car: 15 minutes later:  
  
Riku had just reached the outskirts of Tokyo when his codec started to ring. He quickly answered it.  
  
"Drakken here." He said, expecting the caller to be Rose or Col. Campbell.  
  
"Drakken, the guys who are after the girl that you and the civilian are protecting know where you're going." The voice of a young man, who Riku knew, said.  
  
"Jack!" Riku said in recognition. "What do you mean that they know where I'm going?"  
  
"The FOXHOUND agent that you met at the rendezvous point was captured by the ones tracking the girl." Raiden explained. "They were somehow able to find out where you're headed from him. Fortunately, our agent was able to activate his codec and send what those guys were saying over to us. That was shortly before they killed him."  
  
"Those bastards!" Riku swore. "Alright, I'll head over to my uncle's house instead. That place is at least as safe as the intended destination."  
  
"Good idea." Raiden said. "I think even Dead Cell would have thought twice before messing with your uncle, Kurei, and his group."  
  
"True enough," Riku replied. "By the way, why are you calling me using your wife's frequency?"  
  
"She was the one who received our agent's last transmission," Raiden explained regretfully. ""And she's pretty shaken up after hearing him get killed like that."  
  
"That's understandable," Riku said. "Oh yeah, there's something that I need to ask you."  
  
"What is it?" Raiden asked.  
  
"Have you ever heard of anyone with powers similar or even identical to those of Psycho Mantis'?" Riku asked in reply. "And I don't mean Greg."  
  
"It's funny that you should ask," Raiden answered. "You see, the guys that are after you have a member who might have those abilities."  
  
"Are you sure?" Riku asked. "Who are these guys?"  
  
"An assassination group known as Schwartz," Raiden replied. "The German word for "black"."  
  
AN: Flashback Time: Random pictures of Schwartz as a group (with their faces hidden by shadows) are shown as this conversation takes place.  
  
"Schwartz. An assassination group based in Japan." Raiden said. "There are four known members. Each one is said to have abilities that some would call supernatural."  
  
"You mean like Mantis, or Dead Cell's Vamp and Fortune?" Riku asked.  
  
"Yes," Raiden answered. "Schwartz is very famous in the underworld. There have been over a hundred known cases in Japan involving crime syndicates, drug groups, corrupt politicians, and most of all assassinations that Schwartz was believed to have been involved in."  
  
"These guys must be very good at hiding themselves if they're that famous." Riku said.  
  
"You've got that right." Raiden replied. "Even our files on them have next to nothing about the members. These guys don't leave anything behind that can be traced to them. No witnesses, no pictures, or anything like that."  
  
"You think that they might have connections to the Patriots?" Riku asked.  
  
"Maybe," Raiden answered. "It might explain why they're so elusive. Snake might know more about it though."  
  
"Maybe if I run into these guys I'll ask them." Riku suggested. "Before I beat the living crap out of them."  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea, and I mean the first part." Raiden said. "Just focus on protecting the girl for now. I'll be sure to ask Snake and Hal about this when they get back. In the meantime, stay on your guard. These guys just might be worse than Dead Cell."  
  
"Don't worry, I won't risk someone else's life just to satisfy my own curiosity." Riku replied. "I'll be in touch as soon as I get to my uncle's. Drakken out." And the transmission ended.  
  
Riku looked back at Nagi and Tot while keeping one eye on the road.  
  
"I'm afraid our pursuers have found out where we're headed," he said to them. "So I'm changing our destination."  
  
"Where are we going?" Nagi asked.  
  
"To my uncle's house," Riku answered. "It's about time I went to see him, Aunt Neon, my cousins, and the rest of the Uruha anyway. Come to think of it, I haven't seen them since New Years."  
  
"Hold on a minute," Nagi said sweatdropping at Riku's casual answer. "Is that really a good idea?"  
  
"Trust me," Riku answered with a confident smile. "Anyone who tries to come after us where we're staying will soon wish they hadn't. No one in their right mind would try to attack the Uruha mansion without an army behind them. And even then, the odds would be against them."  
  
"I guess I'll just have to take your word for it." Nagi said and then he looked over at Tot. He could see that she was trying to relax but it was obvious that she was worried about something.  
  
"What's wrong, Tot?" He asked. "If you're worried about those people after you then don't be. I said that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you and I meant it."  
  
Tot blushed after hearing what Nagi said to her and then turned to him. "That's not what I'm worried about, Nagi." She said. "What I'm worried about is that you'll get injured or even killed trying to protect me, and if you're gone then."  
  
"Tot, don't worry." Nagi replied, placing his hand onto hers. "I promise you that it won't turn out that way."  
  
"I can vouch for that," Riku added. "This kid's gotten stronger thanks to training with me. There's no way he'd go down easily."  
  
"Thanks Mr. Hana- I mean Drakken," Tot said gratefully.  
  
"Please don't call me mister, that's for my Dad or my grandfather." Riku replied.  
  
"Hey, you never mentioned your grandfather before," Nagi said. "How come?"  
  
"That's because he was killed in Second Impact as well as my grandparents on my mother's side." Riku answered. "My grandmother on my dad's side is my only living grandparent."  
  
"I'm sorry." Nagi said.  
  
"I don't remember it anyway." Riku replied. "So there's no need for apologies. Oh yeah, it seems I interrupted your whole romantic moment. Don't worry, if the two of you are going to make out that's just fine. After all, you are boyfriend and girlfriend; just don't get too intimate."  
  
"We weren't going to do that!" Nagi shouted his face completely red. "So get your mind out of the gutter!"  
  
"What exactly did he mean by intimate?" Tot asked Nagi, which caused his face to redden even more.  
  
"Oh, you know," Riku said. "The whole birds and the bees thing."  
  
Tot had a clueless look on her face.  
  
"I still don't understand." She said.  
  
Riku sweatdropped after hearing that.  
  
"You mean you really don't know what I meant?" He asked.  
  
Tot shook her head.  
  
Riku looked over at Nagi.  
  
"Good luck in explaining the concept to her, my friend." He said as if he were offering condolences.  
  
"You explain it to her!" Nagi replied. "You're the one who brought it up!"  
  
"Forget it.." Riku said and then focused the rest of his attention on driving.  
  
As they headed down the road, Riku glanced back at Nagi but said nothing.  
  
(So Schwartz has a member with powers like Mantis'), Riku thought. (I wonder, was the assassin group that Nagi was with before.no. It couldn't be.)  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"They will be changing course soon." Crawford said causing Schuldich and Farfarello to turn towards him.  
  
"Do you know where they're going?" Schuldich asked.  
  
"Yes," Crawford replied. "They're headed for a secluded road that leads into the wilderness. Probably attempting to shake us off; unfortunately they've as good as fallen into our trap. Schuldich, get the helicopter ready so we can properly greet our FOXHOUND friend."  
  
Riku's Car:1 Hour Later:  
  
"Are you sure this road will take us to this mansion of your uncle's?" Nagi asked as the car headed down the road. Which was an extremely old and worn cobblestone path that obviously hadn't been used in years.  
  
"Of course it will." Riku answered. "I've driven this way before many times."  
  
"For some reason, I don't think that's very reassuring." Nagi replied.  
  
"Well, unless you want to walk, this is the only-." Riku stopped talking as he saw a small object land on the ground in front of the car. He immediately recognized it as a grenade and turned to Nagi and Tot and shouted in warning. "Brace yourself!"  
  
A large explosion suddenly caused the car to flip over with a loud crash.  
  
Riku quickly turned to see if Nagi and Tot were all right and saw that neither of them had been injured. He quickly took off the clothes that he was wearing over his sneaking suit before speaking to them.  
  
"Both of you stay in the car." He ordered. "I'm going to go and see just how strong these Schwartz guys are. If I'm beaten, head out the back door behind you and run."  
  
"Hold on, did you say Schwartz?" Nagi asked as soon as he heard Riku mention the name.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I should have asked you about these guys when I first heard that they'd be the ones we would probably fight," Riku said. "Oh well, wish me luck."  
  
"Hey wait a minute!" Nagi shouted but Riku had already gone. He then turned to Tot. "Why didn't you tell me it was Schwartz that was after you?"  
  
"I thought that you already knew." Tot answered. "I thought that you'd left Schwartz to protect me."  
  
"No. But I would have if I were still with Schwartz. A month ago I was separated from Schwartz," Nagi explained. "They had left me for dead and Riku found me. His mother healed me and I decided to start over and live with Riku and his family. Eventually, I found out that Riku worked for some organization and decided to join him as his partner. Now Riku's gotten in way over his head, and I've got to stop him before he gets himself killed." And Nagi headed toward the door to follow Riku, but Tot's hand stopped him.  
  
"He told us to stay in here unless he was beaten," Tot said. "I think we should do that and help him if he is."  
  
"Riku might be able to beat Farfarello and maybe even Schuldich but he'll be helpless against Crawford," Nagi said.  
  
"Then we'll help him then," Tot replied. "Why don't we just let's see how Riku does? Who knows, he might win."  
  
"Maybe." Nagi answered.  
  
(And maybe it's also a good idea to stay in the car for now after all.) Nagi thought to himself. (I don't want to fight the people who raised me.)  
  
Outside:  
  
As Riku took a few steps away from the remains of his car, he saw a man in his early twenties with black hair, wearing a white business suit and glasses.  
  
"So you're the guy FOXHOUND sent to protect the girl." The man noted. "It's too bad, we were expecting the White Devil."  
  
"Unfortunately, my friend, Raiden, couldn't make it. You Schwartz guys would probably just been a waste of his time" Riku replied. "You are a member of Schwartz, right?"  
  
"That's correct." The man answered. "My name is Brad Crawford, I am Schwartz's leader."  
  
"The leader, huh?" Riku said and then he swiftly pulled out his USP and pointed it at Crawford. "So where are your partners?"  
  
"They'll be arriving soon," Crawford replied calmly despite the fact that a gun was being pointed at him. "Don't bother trying to shoot me; those bullets won't even touch me."  
  
"Are you a betting man?" Riku asked and then he fired his gun repeatedly sending a bullet at his target with absolute accuracy.  
  
Crawford quickly stepped out of the way from each shot until Riku ran out of bullets.  
  
"Well now," Crawford noted with amusement. "Your gunmanship is most impressive; far better than that last agent's pitiful skills; you actually made me have to quicken my pace to dodge those."  
  
"Technically, I did hit you." Riku said as he lowered his now empty USP. "Take a look at the haircut I gave you."  
  
Crawford looked at his shoulder and noticed some strands of hair that had been cut off by the bullets Riku had shot at him.  
  
"Interesting." Crawford commented. "That would make you the second person to come this close to hitting me."  
  
"And who was that, pray tell." Riku said casually as he tossed the empty gun onto the ground and pulled out a kunai shuriken.  
  
"A Russian man named Shalashaska." Crawford answered.  
  
"Shalashaska? Are you talking about Revolver Ocelot?" Riku asked, his voice now serious.  
  
"You've heard of him, I see." Crawford noted. "It seems my rival is more well known than I thought."  
  
"Cut the crap!" Riku said making as if to throw the shuriken in his hand. "Tell me, are you with the Patriots?"  
  
"Maybe." Crawford answered. "But since you seem to be so full of questions, I'll make a deal with you. For each member of my group that you defeat, I'll answer three of your questions. Your first opponent shall be Farfarello."  
  
Suddenly a man also in his early twenties with orange hair, wearing a black suit and a white bandanna, stepped out from behind a tree.  
  
"Alright then, Mr. Farfarello," Riku said as soon as he saw the man. "Let's begin."  
  
The man with the orange hair smiled and spoke with a German accent.  
  
"You've got the wrong guy." He said. "My name is Schuldich."  
  
Riku then noticed two knives coming straight at him from behind; he quickly jumped out of their way and spun around to face his attacker. Who turned out to be a horribly scarred young man with pale skin and hair and an eye patch over his left eye. He also had a large amount of knives strapped to the front of the vest he was wearing.  
  
"You must be very good." The man commented with an Irish accent. "Most people aren't able to dodge those. You'll be much more entertaining than those fools I killed who were protecting that girl."  
  
"Thanks for reminding me to pay you back for them." Riku said as he pulled out a second kunai shuriken. "Why don't we see which of us is better with blades."  
  
"I couldn't think of a better way for us to fight." Farfarello said with a chilling smile on his face as he took out a knife from his vest with each hand. "I'm going to enjoy cutting you into shreds."  
  
"Actions speak louder than words." Riku said and he dashed towards Farfarello, both blades ready to strike.  
  
Farfarello parried the attack and then swept both of his knives downward at Riku's neck. Riku jumped back away from the incoming blow before jumping into the air and stabbing his blade downward at Farfarello's right arm. The points of the shuriken struck flesh, causing blood to spurt from the newly inflicted wounds. Riku jumped away from his opponent and drew out two new kunai shuriken to replace the ones that were sticking in Farfarello's arm.  
  
Farfarello looked at the wounds on his arm as if they were nothing and then pulled out the shuriken protruding from his arms without as much as a flinch of pain.  
  
"If you're planning on still fighting me then I don't think it's a good idea to use that arm of yours." Riku advised. "There is of course the option of giving up while you still can, though."  
  
Farfarello sneered at Riku.  
  
"Don't underestimate me, boy." He said. "I can still fight using this arm since the weakness of pain doesn't affect me."  
  
"I see," Riku said. "So you're unable to feel the pain inflicted by my blows. Fine then, I'll just have to use one of my trump cards so I can finish this fight."  
  
"Ha! Use whatever you feel like using." Farfarello said. "But it won't save you."  
  
"Don't be so sure." Riku replied and he held out his right arm. For a minute, nothing happened. Then a large flame suddenly engulfed his arm, causing the right sleeve of his sneaking suit to melt off to reveal a Tekkou with a picture of a flame on it that encased his forearm.  
  
"Allow me to introduce my secret weapon, the Drakkenfire." Riku announced. "As well as one of my partners."  
  
A small flame suddenly appeared at the tip of Riku's index finger, and he drew a Japanese kanji in the air with it.  
  
"Homura!" He called and a fiery whip appeared and coiled around Riku's wrist. He then charged at Farfarello who quickly made as if to parry the attack, but this time, when the blades met, Farfarello's knives shattered from the force of Riku's attack .  
"What!?" Farfarello shouted in surprise before Riku tackled him and knocked him against a large tree behind him.  
  
Riku quickly lifted up Farfarello's injured right arm with a free hand, and then drove one of his kunai shuriken in through it and into the tree. Farfarello snarled at Riku, his eyes filled with rage, and Riku simply looked back at him and pulled out his M9 pistol, pressing the barrel against Farfarello's forehead.  
  
"Consider this to be your lucky day, Scar-face." Riku said. "I already used up all of my USP's bullets." And he pulled the trigger. Farfarello gave a single jerk before going limp from unconsciousness.  
  
Riku took one last look at his fallen opponent and then turned back towards Crawford.  
  
"You didn't kill him, I see." Crawford said as soon as Riku turned to him. "I don't know what your power is, but you probably could have easily finished off Farfarello with it."  
  
"I don't like wasting energy, that's all." Riku replied. "Now will you answer my questions?"  
  
"Of course," Crawford answered. "Ask away."  
  
"Before I do," Riku said. "Tell your fourth member to show himself. I know that there's four of you, so don't think that you can fool me again with that trick that you used on me with Scar-face earlier."  
  
"Unfortunately for us, our fourth member was killed about a month ago." Crawford replied. "A pity really, I was grooming him to become the next Psycho Mantis, and we went to all that trouble to keep him loyal to us shortly before his untimely demise."  
  
"What do you mean keep him loyal to you?" Riku asked.  
  
"There goes your first question." Crawford noted. "Well, a few months ago we were assigned to kill off a fellow assassination group that the girl that you're protecting was with. Unfortunately, our fourth member had taken a fancy to that girl earlier on, and I knew that he would probably turn against us if he knew about the mission objective, so he was kept in the dark about it until of course Farfarello shot her. But apparently Farfarello's aim was off and the girl lived, but let's get back to the present subject now. Afterwards, I had Schuldich brainwash our member into believing that it was one of our enemies who killed the girl. A way to insure that his loyalty not only remained with us, but also increased through motivation."  
  
"You sick bastard!" Riku cursed at angrily Crawford. "How could you do such a horrible thing? And to your own teammate no less!"  
  
(I guess I was right after all.) He thought. (Nagi was part of Schwartz, and they used him like a puppet under the guise of friendship. They even tried to kill the one he loved just so they could control him even more.)  
  
"All's fair in love and war," Schuldich commented. "And love has no place in war."  
  
"Enough of this." Crawford said. "Now tell me your next-." He then stopped as a vision entered his mind and he looked over at the remains of Riku's car.  
  
The back of the car suddenly blew open from a large force and Nagi stepped out of the car with Tot behind him. Tears of rage were pouring down his face.  
  
"Crawford, you bastard!" He shouted as his power began to tear up the ground he was standing on. "How could you betray me like that? I trusted you, I respected you, I even thought of you as an adopted father! So why? Why did you betray me?"  
  
Crawford looked at Nagi and shook his head in disappointment.  
  
"Isn't it obvious." Crawford answered calmly. "That girl was nothing but a distraction to you; a distraction that had to be removed. As I said before, I was grooming you to be the next Psycho Mantis, and in order for that to happen that girl would have to be eliminated. Now, come back to your senses and rejoin us, Nagi. The girl does not matter, she was only-."  
  
"Stop referring to Tot as if she were just a thing!" Nagi shouted. "Her name is Tot and I love her! And I'm also going to kill you and the rest of Schwartz for what you tried to do to me and her!" Then Nagi reached out as if to grasp something and a large blue ball of energy appeared in his hand.  
  
"Consider this my resignation from Schwartz!" He said as he prepared to throw it at Crawford.  
  
"Hold it." Riku said suddenly, causing Nagi to pause before his attack. "I still have one last question for your old leader. Is that alright?"  
  
"Fine by me." Nagi said as he lowered his hand. "Just be quick about it."  
  
"No problem, partner." Riku said with a smile, and then he turned to Crawford. "Now tell me, are you with the Patriots or not?"  
  
"Yes and no." Crawford answered. "Yes, since the Patriots happen to be our top employers, but no we are not officially part of their group. We just happen to be one of their favorite assassins."  
  
"That's a good enough answer for me." Riku said. "One last thing, you wouldn't happen to know where the Patriot's are right now, would you?"  
  
"No." Crawford answered.  
  
"Then let's begin our fight!" Riku said and a flame appeared in the palm of his right hand.  
  
Nagi looked back at Tot.  
  
"I think you'd better step back a little, Tot." He said. "This might get a little rough."  
  
- - - - - - - - AN: And that's Chapter 5 ending with a cliffhanger! Don't worry, I'll update as soon as I can write up the next chapter! In the meantime, please review and thank you. Now stay tuned for an omake scene by yours truly.  
  
Omake: DF sits back comfortably in a chair listening to soundtracks from various anime when suddenly the door opens, and Schwartz's Crawford storms in.  
  
Crawford: Fusion, how dare you make Nagi part of FOXHOUND and betray me! He is supposed to be my minion!  
  
DF: Not anymore four eyes. From here on, he's with FOXHOUND as a good guy. Which he deserved to be all along. Now go away, I only bash wanker men and not sinister glasses dudes.  
  
Crawford: That's only because you're afraid that my fangirls will flame you if you do bash me!  
  
DF: No, actually not. Allow me to prove it.  
  
DF snaps his fingers and Crawford disappears. Nagi walks in.  
  
Nagi: What exactly did you do to him?  
  
DF: Nothing much, I just teleported him to a Star Wars convention.  
  
Nagi: That doesn't sound like much.  
  
DF: It is if he's wearing a Jar Jar Binks costume without a zipper.  
  
Nagi: That's harsh. Oh well, I've got a date with Tot to get to, see ya.  
  
End of Omake. 


	6. Chapter 6: Reinforcements

AN: Here we are with Chapter 6! Thank you to everyone who's read and/or reviewed, especially to the two most recent reviewers RuneKnightPictures and TempestDynasty. Now back to business, one, I'm sorry for spelling Greg's last name wrong (I can be a bit dyslexic at times with names), two, so readers won't get confused, I will now include a recap note before each story and three, since italics don't come out on fanfiction.net, I will now have the characters' thoughts in parenthesis. Now that all of that is out of the way, let's begin.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own MGS, FoR, NGE, or WK. The only thing I own is my character, Riku, and the story. Also, Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki belong to ShardclawKusanagi, Garland Durev belongs to TempestDynasty, and Lt. Reese and James Masterson belong to RuneKnightPictures. Don't expect to see them in this chapter of the fanfiction either, for now they'll still only be mentioned.  
  
Recap: Last time, Schwartz, Nagi's former teammates, ambushed Riku and co. Riku fought and defeated Farfarello, one of Schwartz's members, with ease using his powers. Afterwards, a conversation with Schwarz's leader Crawford revealed their horrible betrayal to Nagi and now both he and Riku prepare to challenge the rest of Schwarz.  
  
Chapter 6: Reinforcements  
  
"The two of you must be very confident if you think that you can take us on." Crawford said to Riku and Nagi as he pressed his glasses back. He then turned to Schuldich. "You handle the ninja; I'll take care of Nagi."  
  
"That's fine with me." Schuldich replied with an arrogant smirk. "I take it you want me to erase Nagi's memory of all of this after we've killed his new friend as well as the girl?"  
  
"Of course, Schuldich." Crawford answered and he directed his gaze toward Nagi. "After all, the membership of Schwartz is not so easily thrown away."  
  
"Well today the rules change!" Nagi shouted as he prepared to throw the energy ball, that he had previously formed, at Crawford. "I'd rather die than join up with you again."  
  
"That is not for you to decide." Crawford replied. "You are and always will be my minion until I say otherwise. After all, I took you in when no one else would; when you were begging for food and shelter on the streets. You owe me and the rest of Schwartz your life."  
  
"After what you did, I'd say that I've long paid that debt off, Crawford." Nagi said. "Listen up. From here on, I quit! I don't work for you anymore! My powers are mine to do with for what I truly want, and that is to protect the people dear to me!"  
  
"You mean you wish to use your powers to help people?" Crawford scoffed. "What a waste of power, though the idea seems to run in the minds of telekinetics. From what I heard, Psycho Mantis said almost the same thing before he died. Too bad, he fought like a true psychic but in the end died like a fool."  
  
"It sounds more like he died a good man." Nagi said. "And as for using my powers to help people, I think it actually sounds like a good idea. A better idea than using it to murder people."  
  
"This, coming from one who was rejected by people for who and what he was." Crawford said scornfully. "Everyone, including your own family, shunned you because you were different. Do you really think people like that even deserve to live?"  
  
"So what?" Nagi asked in return. "People are people; they fear and reject what they don't understand by nature. Yeah, I admit that people rejected me because of my powers, and in return I rejected them. Which eventually led me to believe that the whole world had rejected me, but now I see that I was only fooling myself. It wasn't the world that rejected me, I rejected the world. But after I met Tot as well as Riku and his family, I've finally found a reason to accept the world."  
  
"And what would that be?" Crawford asked.  
  
"There's no point in me telling you something that you can't understand, Crawford." Nagi answered. "Now let's settle this!" And he threw the energy ball at Crawford.  
  
Crawford effortlessly dodged the incoming attack by stepping aside from it.  
  
"Very well," he replied. "If that is the way you wish, then fight me."  
  
And he watched as Nagi charged up another energy ball and then rush towards him with the hand holding the ball thrust forward. Crawford easily sidestepped from the attack and then jumped away just before Nagi struck out at him using the invisible force of his mind.  
  
Meanwhile, Schuldich and Riku observed the fight, both watched as Nagi sent out one psychic attack after another at Crawford, which he easily dodged.  
  
"Your new friend will wear himself out soon, FOXHOUND." Schuldich commented to Riku. "You can see that by how much energy he's putting behind those attacks."  
  
"Well, I guess that's all the more reason for me to defeat you quick so I can give Nagi a hand." Riku replied and then formed a fireball, the size of a beach ball, in his right hand. He smirked at Schuldich before hurling the fireball at him as hard as he could.  
  
Schuldich took one look at the incoming fireball, shook his head, and then dodged it. The fireball flew a few yards away before crashing into the ground with a deafening explosion, which caused a giant flame to flare up into the sky. Both Nagi and Crawford paused to look at the destruction caused by Riku's attack before continuing their fight.  
  
Schuldich, who had also taken time to see the results of Riku's attack, looked back at Riku with a disappointed look on his face.  
  
"That was a terrible waste of energy." He said. "Were you even trying to hit me?"  
  
"I had a good enough reason for doing that." Riku replied. "Now that I know that projectile attacks are useless against you, I know to fight you using close range attacks."  
  
A small flame appeared at the tip of Riku's index finger, and he drew the kanji for "break".  
  
"Saiha!" He called, and a long sickle like blade of fire appeared out of the side of his tekkou.  
  
"Nice looking trick." Schuldich commented. "The only question is, can you hit me with that thing?"  
  
"Let's put it to the test." Riku replied, and he swung the blade at Schuldich with astonishing speed.  
  
Schuldich's eyes widened slightly from surprise at the quickness of Riku's attack, but he quickly dodged the blade.  
  
"You're pretty quick." He commented to Riku.  
  
"Thanks, so are you." Riku replied. "But you'll have to be a little quicker to fully dodge this."  
  
Schuldich then noticed a thin cut on his left cheek with a small trickle of blood coming out from it.  
  
"Well, this is interesting." He said as he wiped away the blood from the cut with his thumb. "Even if you only gave me a paper cut. So how were you able to do that? I was way out of the blade's range."  
  
"That would be from the air that followed the blade's cut." Riku answered. "That, plus the intense heat of the flame, which gives it an extra edge."  
  
"If that's the case, then I guess I should get serious now." Schuldich said. "By the way, don't think that just because you defeated Farfarello without getting as much as a scratch that you'll beat me. You only won because you managed to surprise him, if the two of you had continued to fight toe to toe, you'd be dead."  
  
"But I still beat him." Riku replied. "Now are we going to talk or fight?"  
  
"Why don't we talk while we fight?" Schuldich suggested. "I find it entertaining to get to know my opponents before I kill them."  
  
"Then you have one sick idea of what's entertaining." Riku commented before dashing towards Schuldich, swinging the fire blade right at him. Suddenly, Schuldich vanished from where he was standing.  
  
Riku paused and then glanced to the right from the corner of his eyes. Then he quickly jumped back, just before Schuldich fired a gun that had just been aimed at where Riku's head had been.  
  
"You're fast." Riku said looking at Schuldich. "Tell me, are all of you guys, besides Nagi, a bunch of psychos, or is it just me?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know." Schuldich replied, suddenly appearing behind Riku. "It depends on your definition of "psycho" really."  
  
Riku quickly spun around in attempt to hit Schuldich, but only succeeded in cutting down a tree that had been behind him.  
  
"I admit that your skills are very impressive for someone your age." Schuldich commented, appearing at Riku's side. "But in the end, we're on two completely different levels."  
  
"Don't be so sure." Riku said. "I've got a few more skills up my sleeve with your name on them."  
  
"That may be true," Schuldich said. "But don't you think that you should keep an eye on unconscious opponents. There are a lot of assassins that have immunities or resistance to most poisons and chemicals."  
  
Riku instantly realized the meaning behind Schuldich's statement and looked over at the tree that he had pinned Farfarello to, only to find a bloodstained shuriken at the foot of the tree and no Farfarello. Riku then directed his gaze to where the remains of his car were, which was also where Tot was standing to watch the fight. What Riku saw confirmed his suspicion.  
  
"Tot!" He shouted in warning. "Behind you!"  
  
Tot looked back and jumped out of the way of Farfarello's descending knife. He snarled in frustration and then rushed towards Tot, brandishing the knife in his right hand. Suddenly, an invisible force struck him head on, knocking him over.  
  
Riku turned and saw Nagi standing a few yards away with his right hand outstretched in the direction Farfarello laid. He was breathing heavily from exhaustion but looked ready to unleash another attack on Farfarello, who was already starting to get up. Nagi didn't bother to notice Crawford coming up behind him.  
  
"Hold on Tot, I'll-." Nagi's eyes widened in surprise as Crawford suddenly struck him from behind. Nagi gave a grunt before crumpling to the ground in a heap.  
  
Crawford, who looked like he had just been injured recently, stood over Nagi with an angered expression.  
  
"To think that he was actually able to hit me." Crawford said as he lifted Nagi's head up by the hair. "But as I said, the girl was a distraction to him. A distraction that would and did lead to his defeat."  
  
Tot ran towards Nagi, only to be blocked by Farfarello.  
  
"You're business is with me, girl." He said menacingly.  
  
Tot looked over at Riku.  
  
"Drakken, don't worry about me." She shouted. "Help Nagi, I can take this guy."  
  
"Alright." Riku replied, though he doubted Tot would last long against Farfarello. "You hold on, Nagi and I will help as soon as we can." And he turned dashed over to where Nagi was, but Schuldich suddenly appeared in front of him.  
  
"Now, now." Schuldich chided. "We aren't finished with our fight yet."  
  
"Get out of my way!" Riku shouted and he swung Saiha's fire blade at Schuldich's head.  
  
"No can do." Schuldich said as he ducked. "Don't blame us, blame yourself for underestimating Schwartz, FOXHOUND." And he started to pummel his fists into Riku's stomach at a rate quicker than the eye could follow.  
  
Riku coughed up blood from the force of the blows, but was able to fend off Schuldich by swinging his blade at him.  
  
Schuldich quickly jumped away from the blow and looked at Riku, who was clutching his stomach with his left hand and breathing heavily. Schuldich took a step toward his now injured opponent before he noticed another small cut on his left cheek just below the first one.  
  
"Not bad at all, FOXHOUND." He commented. "Tell you what, I'll give you a minute or two to catch your breath. In the meantime, why not see how your friends are doing."  
  
Riku looked over at where Crawford was, and saw him holding a barely conscious Nagi up by the hair.  
  
"Don't fall asleep yet, Nagi." Crawford said. "Consider witnessing the girl's death as well as the death of your FOXHOUND friend the penalty for your betrayal."  
  
Riku almost ran towards Crawford, but not before looking over to where Tot was and saw her struggling in vain to fight off Farfarello.  
  
Tot hit Farfarello in the face and stomach multiple times, but he didn't seem to notice them. He simply reached over with his left hand, grabbed Tot by the neck, and lifted her up as if she didn't weigh anything at all.  
  
Riku looked and saw the pleading look in Nagi's and then dashed over to where Tot was as fast as he could. Suddenly he felt something hit him hard in the stomach.  
  
As Riku collapsed onto his knees, coughing up more blood, he looked up and saw Schuldich standing over him.  
  
"I think that was a long enough break, don't you?" Schuldich said with a cocky grin on his face.  
  
"Damn you!" Riku said as he looked up at his opponent. (I guess I'll have to use Setsuna.)  
  
"Good work, Schuldich." Crawford said, and he looked down at Nagi and shook him to be sure that he was awake. "Now it's time for you to fully realize the consequences of your betrayal, even though you won't remember it soon." He then looked over at Farfarello and nodded. "Do it. Kill the girl, and this time make sure she stays dead."  
  
"You don't have to worry about that." Farfarello replied and then looked at Tot with a sadistic grin on his face as he pulled out a knife with his free hand. "This time I'll cut out your heart, and we'll see if you can come back after that."  
  
Riku saw Nagi struggle in vain to get free of Crawford's grasp and he quickly lifted his right hand. But he suddenly felt the barrel of Schuldich's gun pressed against his neck.  
  
"Nice try, FOXHOUND." Schuldich said. "If you so much as wiggle that finger of yours, you die. Well, you're going to die soon anyway, but don't be in such a rush. You'll be the little lady's escort to the afterlife. Look at it as a final favor to Nagi as a friend. Now let's relax and enjoy."  
  
Farfarello raised his knife to strike, but before the blade descended, a purple flame suddenly enveloped the hand that held it. Which caused the knife to melt.  
  
Farfarello looked at his burning hand and then dropped Tot. He then began to beat his hand against the ground in attempt to put out the flame.  
  
"That will be quite enough, thank you." A voice stated calmly.  
  
Everyone turned and looked in the direction that the voice had come from, and saw a black haired man in his forties standing a few yards away from them. He was wearing a red robe and had a strange looking burn on the left side of his face.  
  
"Who are you?" Crawford asked. (I wasn't able to see him coming; my powers must be starting to reach their limit now. This is not good.)  
  
"I'm not going to give my name to lowlifes like you." The man replied. "Now if you value your lives, release my nephew and his companions, and get off my property."  
  
"Don't count on it, mister." Schuldich said. "If the FOXHOUND boy is your nephew, then we've got a hostage."  
  
"Really?" A new voice said from behind Schuldich. "I guess I'd better do something about that then."  
  
Schuldich turned around, keeping his gun pointed at Riku's head, and saw a man in black and white armor, carrying a strange spear-like weapon, standing behind him.  
  
"I don't know who you are, but don't come any closer or I'll-." Schuldich stopped and noticed that his body wasn't moving. "What the hell?"  
  
"I'm afraid gravity is on my side now." The armored man said and he looked at Riku. "Yo, Drakken, you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, thanks for the help, Uncle Joker." Riku said to the armored man as he got up. He then turned to the red robed man. "And you too, Uncle Kurei. Don't worry about me, I've just gotten a couple of nasty bruises; nothing the nanomachines can't fix."  
  
"I'm glad to hear it." Kurei replied and then he turned to Crawford. "You heard me the first time, now release my nephew's companions now."  
  
Crawford looked over at Farfarello, who had finally put out the flame that had burned his hand, and made a gesture at him. Farfarello glared at Kurei and spat on the ground before he walked over to Crawford, all the while clutching his burnt hand.  
  
Crawford then looked back at Kurei.  
  
"The boy stays with us." He said, indicating Nagi. "He's part of our group, so his fate is not your concern."  
  
"Need I remind you, assassin, that you are on my property and I make the rules here, not you." Kurei replied. "Besides, the boy obviously doesn't want anymore to do with you. Now release him before I lose my patience."  
  
"I'd listen to him if I were you." Joker advised. "Look at it from this point, this can be done the easy way or the very easy way."  
  
Crawford glared at Joker and Kurei angrily before letting go of Nagi's hair.  
  
"Go." He said. "And enjoy your momentary freedom from us, while you're still alive."  
  
"Goodbye, Crawford." Nagi said angrily and then he walked over to where Tot was without looking back.  
  
Crawford nodded at Schuldich and Farfarello and the two of them turned and vanished into the forest. Crawford then looked at Riku.  
  
"What's your name?" He asked.  
  
"Drakken." Riku answered. "Remember it."  
  
"A fitting code name for one like you." Crawford replied. "You've managed to capture my interest; I look forward to our next meeting, dragon boy." And he turned and vanished into the forest.  
  
Kurei looked in the direction in which Schwartz had departed until he heard the sound of a helicopter taking off in the distance. He relaxed and then turned to Riku.  
  
"Well, nephew, you've certainly gotten yourself into quite the situation." Kurei said with some amusement in his voice. "So why not tell me who your new friends are?"  
  
"No problem, Uncle Kurei." Riku replied. "The guy wearing the high school uniform is Nagi and the girl that he's with is Tot. Tell you what, I'll make a more proper introduction." He then turned to where Nagi and Tot were. "Hey guys, could you-." Riku stopped and sweatdropped when he saw his two friends locked in a passionate kiss.  
  
"Could you two save the make out session for later?" He shouted, causing the two of them to beak apart. "I'm trying to introduce you to your rescuers."  
  
"You sure that you're not just jealous because they're in a relationship and you're not?" Joker asked slyly.  
  
"Of course not!" Riku answered. "Why would I be jealous?"  
  
"Well, considering that by the time Recca was your age, he and your mom had already started dating." Joker said with a smile at Riku's obvious discomfort. "I was thinking that you'd be frustrated at not finding any girl who'd be your girlfriend."  
  
"Well, Dad just happened to be luckier than I am!" Riku replied some veins on his forehead starting to show. "Besides, you met Aunt Menou at that Urabutosatsujin tournament twenty or so years ago and you were, what, twenty-two?"  
  
"True, but I was in a few relationships beforehand." Joker said.  
  
"And they all ended rather quickly because the women all thought he was weird." Kurei added calmly, causing Joker to fall over.  
  
"That was cruel, Kurei-sama." Joker said tragically as he got up.  
  
"Cruel but true." Kurei replied. "And for the last time, stop calling me Kurei-sama. You've been my friend for over twenty years and the Uruha's more of a family gathering these days anyway. Neon stopped calling me that when we got engaged and her sisters did shortly after. You and Raiha are the only ones who keep that up."  
  
"Raiha does that just because he's Raiha." Joker said. "I just do it for the fun of it."  
  
"Um, excuse me." Nagi said suddenly, causing Joker and Kurei's attention to turn to him. "Tot and I would like to thank you for helping us."  
  
"Yep, thank you, Riku's uncles." Tot said in agreement.  
  
"You're welcome." Kurei replied.  
  
"Yeah, no problem." Joker said. "But I'm not really Riku's uncle by blood, he just calls me that."  
  
"We're practically family anyway." Riku said and then turned to Kurei. "So how are Aunt Neon and the twins?"  
  
"Just fine." Kurei answered. "They've already started walking and Neon's already trying to get them to call her "mama". By the way, they both seem to have the power of flame."  
  
"Which one?" Riku asked. "Yours, or Dad's and mine?"  
  
"Mine." Kurei replied. "It's odd that two would be born with the same power, but then again those two are the first twin flame masters."  
  
"Yeah, one boy and one girl." Riku said. "So are you planning on training them to use their power?"  
  
"Only just to control it." Kurei said. "And that's for when they get older. As for if I'll train them any further than that, I won't unless they ask me to. I want my children to lead a normal life, the kind of life that I was unable to have."  
  
"Well, don't think a normal life will take the sense of adventure and all that out of them." Riku said. "After all, my life was pretty normal and now I'm with FOXHOUND."  
  
"Only time will tell." Kurei said. "By the way, you're lucky that I saw your signal when I did. If I hadn't, you and your friends probably would have died unless you had some sort of last minute backup plan."  
  
"Signal?" Nagi asked and he turned to Riku. "When did you send out a signal?"  
  
"When I threw that fireball at orange-top, of course." Riku answered. "That explosion was the signal."  
  
"Hold on, are you telling me that you missed Schuldich intentionally?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Sort of." Riku replied. "I was only half serious about hitting him. If that Schuldich guy had been stupid enough to let himself get hit, well. . ."  
  
"Why don't we talk more when we get to the mansion?" Kurei suggested. "The three of you look like you could use some rest, anyway."  
  
"Thanks, uncle." Riku said gratefully. "Finally, some good old fashioned R and R. The sole purpose of summer vacation." And with that the group walked down the path towards the mansion.  
  
Later:  
  
After a few minutes of walking, Nagi looked back where they had come from, and spoke to Riku.  
  
"Hey, what about your car?" He asked. "We're not just going to leave it there are we?"  
  
"No, we'll just pick it up later." Riku answered. "By the way, are you alright? I saw how much energy you were using in your fight with Crawford and I'm worried that you may have used too much of it."  
  
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Nagi replied. "I'm a little sore from that punch that Crawford gave me, but I'm sure I'll survive."  
  
"Well that's good to hear." Riku said and then turned his attention back to the path.  
  
A few minutes later, Nagi started to feel a sudden wave of dizziness overtake him, but he ignored it and kept on walking.  
  
"Nagi, are you okay?" Tot asked, concern showing on her face. "You look a little pale."  
  
"I-I'm fine Tot, I'm probably just a little tired." Nagi said, his tone of voice starting to weaken and then he started to stumble. (What the hell is wrong with me?)  
  
"Nagi!" Tot shouted and then ran over to him to try and support him. She quickly turned to Riku and called out to him. "Riku, wait! There's something wrong with Nagi. I think he might be sick."  
  
Riku immediately turned around and ran over to Tot, followed by Kurei and Joker. They could see that Nagi was struggling to stay conscious.  
  
""Wh-what the hell's going on?" Nagi asked his voice getting weaker. "I-I can't-."  
  
"Save your strength, Nagi." Riku said. "We'll get you to the mansion ASAP."  
  
Nagi didn't seem to hear him. He turned to Tot and lifted his right hand to caress the side of her face. He smiled at her, then his eyes closed and his hand dropped away.  
  
"Nagi?" Tot said and then she started to shake him awake and her voice became more panicked. "Nagi!"  
  
"Calm down, Tot." Riku said in attempt to calm her down. "Nagi's just unconscious, he isn't-." He stopped talking when he saw that Tot was starting to cry.  
  
"It looks like you were right, Riku." Kurei said. "Your friend, Nagi, did use up too much of his energy." He then turned to Joker. "Joker, you're the fastest one here. I want you to take Nagi to the house as quickly as you can."  
  
"Right away, boss." Joker said and he picked up Nagi without any effort and ran down the road and out of sight.  
  
Riku turned to Tot, who was drying her eyes, deep concern showing on her face.  
  
"Don't worry, Tot, I'm sure Nagi will be fine." Riku said. "I may have known him for about a month, but I can tell that kid's strong. It'll take a lot more than a little dizzy spell to keep him down."  
  
"Really?" Tot asked hopefully.  
  
"Of course." Kurei said. "He just used up too much of his power. It's like if you overwork yourself; the end result is you collapse from exhaustion."  
  
"See." Riku said. "Nagi will probably wake up in few hours. So let's hurry up and get to the mansion."  
  
And the three of them continued down the cobblestone path.  
  
Later:  
  
When Nagi woke up, he noticed two things, One, he was lying in a bed inside a large bedroom; and two, he had the worst headache ever.  
  
As he lifted his head up from the pillows, Nagi turned and saw Tot at the side of the bed, resting her head on the mattress, fast asleep.  
  
(So what happened wasn't a dream after all.) Nagi thought. (I may not be part of Schwartz anymore and I have the worst headache I've ever had, but at least I'm with the one I love.)  
  
It was at that moment that Tot woke up and looked at Nagi when she saw that he was awake. She then smiled at him lovingly.  
  
"Nagi, you're finally awake." She said and then she threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so happy!"  
  
"Hold on Tot, I-." Nagi was cut off as Tot kissed him.  
  
Suddenly Riku walked in.  
  
"Well, it sure took you long enough to-." Riku stopped when he saw the position that Nagi and Tot were in, and his face reddened slightly.  
  
"Aha! I had a feeling this would happen." Riku said. "Even though I can't blame the two of you. Getting a chance to be alone together, after over a month of separation, I'm sure anyone would take advantage of the situa-owch!"  
  
Tot had walked over to Riku and hit him on the head with a harisen.  
  
"Hentai!" She shouted at him. "Stop saying dirty things about Nagi and me."  
  
"So I guess Aunt Neon explained the concept of sex to you." Riku said as he rubbed the spot where the harisen had hit him, and he smiled when he saw Tot's face redden. Then he turned to Nagi. "You know, you're a lucky kid, Nagi. Tot's hardly left your side since you've been out. Not that I haven't been around to check on you, it's just that we had to bring Tot's meals and all over here."  
  
"You really did that?" Nagi asked and Tot nodded as her face reddened more. He then smiled at her before turning to Riku. "How long have I been asleep?"  
  
"Five whole days." Riku answered, causing Nagi's eyes to widen in surprise. "By the way, do you have a headache right now?"  
  
"Yeah, the worst one ever." Nagi replied. "Just what the hell happened to me anyway?"  
  
"You used up way too much of your mind's energy while fighting Crawford." Riku explained. "The fact that you've got a major headache, even after five days of sleep, shows that you used your power more than your body and mind could take. Which is why you collapsed like that. Seriously, though, you're lucky that it was just that. Since your powers are supplied the most by your brain than any other part of your body, you need to be more careful when you use them. If you don't, a number of things could happen to you; you could lose your mind, fall into a permanent coma, become a vegetable, or even die from brain damage."  
  
"I'm aware of the dangers involved in the use of my powers." Nagi replied. "Crawford told me the same thing before. That was probably the truest thing that bastard ever told me."  
  
"Yeah, but it was still true." Riku said. "So the bottom line is, be more careful."  
  
"Nagi, please listen to him." Tot said. "For me."  
  
"Alright." Nagi replied. "I'll be more careful, but I can't promise that I won't use my powers that way again."  
  
"Then could you at least promise me that you won't unless you don't have any choice?" Tot asked.  
  
Nagi hesitated for a minute before nodding. "Okay, I won't use my powers to that extent unless I absolutely have to."  
  
"Well, now that that's settled, we can get to more important matters." Riku said and then he turned to Tot. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to borrow your boyfriend for a bit. Is that alright, Tot?"  
  
"No problem." Tot replied and then she turned to Nagi. "Could you and I talk later? It's important."  
  
"Of course, Tot." Nagi said, a little surprised at the seriousness in her voice, and he watched her leave the room.  
  
"She sure is different from before." Nagi said, thinking out loud.  
  
"What do you mean?" Riku asked.  
  
Nagi then realized what he'd said.  
  
"Well, she had some kind of mental illness that made her have the mind of a little girl." He answered. "But somehow, it seems to be gone now."  
  
""I don't know how that's possible, but I'll take your word for it." Riku said. "Which reminds me, what exactly did you mean when you said that you thought Tot had died? I'm pretty sure that you could tell if a gunshot wound was fatal or not, and by the way that Farfarello guy looked, he didn't seem to be the kind to screw up at shooting someone. So could you tell me what exactly happened then?"  
  
"The way that Crawford described it to you is basically what happened." Nagi replied. "But the reason, that I thought that Tot had died is because I was the one who caught her as she fell from that wound. At that time I was more concerned about her than the fact that I had just been betrayed by the people that I had considered to be my comrades. I saw the wound and the bullet had passed right through her heart."  
  
"Then how did-?" Riku asked.  
  
"I don't really know." Nagi answered. "All that I can remember was holding her dieing body in my arms and wishing that she wouldn't die, after that I blacked out and had a bunch of weird dreams. That was before Schwartz found me and then Schuldich used his powers to brainwash me into thinking that it had been Weiss that killed Tot."  
  
"Hold on a minute." Riku said. "You said that before you blacked out, you wished that Tot would live, right?"  
  
"Yeah, that's right." Nagi replied. "I hadn't wished for anything that badly before in my life. Why are you asking?"  
  
"There's a chance that you may have used your powers to heal her wound." Riku said.  
  
"I don't know if I can use my powers for that or not." Nagi said in reply. "Even if I could, I don't think I could have used my powers quick enough to save someone from a gunshot wound to the heart."  
  
"You can move things using your mind, right?" Riku asked.  
  
"Yes, that's what telekinesis is." Nagi answered.  
  
"Then it's possible that you used your powers to keep her heart beating while you healed her." Riku suggested. "What do you think?"  
  
"Riku, if I did that, then that would mean that I did two completely different things at the same time." Nagi replied. "That's not a very easy thing to do, especially if that includes using my powers to do something I've never done before."  
  
"One's power tends to rise and fall dramatically with their emotions." Riku said. "So you probably were able to do what you did. Take for example how normal people can suddenly lift heavy objects like a car or bus when they get an adrenaline rush or something like that. Usually, the person's emotions are involved."  
  
"Now that you mention it, that does make sense." Nagi said. "Which means that I was able to use my powers to protect Tot after all."  
  
"Good for you." Riku said. "Now I-." Then Riku stopped as if he had remembered something. "You said that she had a mental illness before, do you know what caused it?"  
  
"I remember Tot telling me that her father wasn't very nice to her as a child." Nagi said. "Maybe that's what caused it to happen."  
  
"Childhood trauma from abuse, huh?" Riku said regretfully.  
  
"Yeah, and when I heard that from her, I was dead set on finding that guy and try out some new, and very painful, killing techniques on him." Nagi said bitterly. "Unfortunately, Tot's group had already killed him."  
  
"And I'm sure they made him regret what he did." Riku said. "Now, could you tell me what those dreams you had, while you were unconscious from healing Tot, were about?"  
  
Nagi stopped to try and remember them and, after a few minutes, answered.  
  
"The one I remembered the most was one about Tot when she was a little girl." Nagi answered. "In that dream, I saw her father mistreat her. He would get drunk and then take out his frustrations on her by hitting her and saying awful things to her. In the dream, I watched until I couldn't stand it anymore. I killed her father and then comforted her and eased her pain. It all felt so real, almost as if it actually happened, but it couldn't have been. I was only a little kid at the time, and I didn't even know that I had my powers then."  
  
"You probably dived into her mind." Riku said.  
  
"What did you say?" Nagi asked.  
  
"This is only a theory," Riku began. "But, I think that while you were unconscious, you were using your powers to dive into Tot's mind. Maybe when you comforted her in that dream, you were repairing the damage caused by her illness."  
  
"Is that even possible?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Considering that your powers are almost identical to Psycho Mantis'," Riku answered. "It probably is. You see, Mantis also had the ability to dive into other people's minds; even though he used it the way Schuldich uses his powers."  
  
"If what you say is true," Nagi said. "Then that means that I-."  
  
"Probably used three different aspects of your power; two of them at the same time and another right after." Riku finished.  
  
Nagi shook his head. "This is way too much for me to handle. Let's change the subject for now."  
  
"Alright." Riku said. "Why don't you tell me how the you and Tot met? Assassin groups usually don't interact with each other much, unless they're working for the same employer."  
  
"Well, that's how we met." Nagi said. "Tot and I were both the youngest members of our groups, kind of like the kids of the group. It was during a meeting between my group and hers. Crawford called it a "business" discussion."  
  
"Some kind of joint operation?" Riku asked.  
  
"I guess." Nagi replied. "I wasn't really paying much attention to the details at the time."  
  
"Too focused on Tot, I presume." Riku said with a smile. "It kind of suits the two of you, though. The whole "love at first site" thing."  
  
'It wasn't exactly that." Nagi said, blushing from the memory.  
  
"You don't have to go into details." Riku said. "I won't pry into your personal life. Anyway, let's get to what I needed to talk to you about. Could you tell me about the members of Schwartz? Those guys obviously have powers similar to ours, so-."  
  
"You need to know what they can do." Nagi finished. "Alright, I'll tell you."  
  
Flashback Scene: Black and white profile pictures of each member of Schwartz are shown as they are described.  
  
"Well, you obviously know about me." Nagi began. "So I'll start with Farfarello. He's more or less, the main killer of our group. As you saw, his skill with knives is unparalleled and his gunmanship is very good. His ability is not to feel pain that's inflicted by wounds, but I think you already know that."  
  
"Yeah, he told me that while we were fighting." Riku replied. "So how did he get all those scars?"  
  
"Either from fighting or he did it to himself. I'm not sure what goes on in that psycho's head and I don't want to know."  
  
"So he's a masochist who can't feel pain and a bloodthirsty killer to boot." Riku noted dryly. "What about the others?"  
  
"Schuldich is a mystery to me. He talks a lot but the only thing that I do know for sure about him are his powers."  
  
"Let me guess. Speed?"  
  
"That and hypnosis." Nagi answered. "He also says that he can read minds, but that could be just a trick he uses while hypnotizing people."  
  
"With powers like that, even without the one he claims to have, this guy sounds like he could be the most dangerous of your group. But then again, I haven't heard about that Crawford guy. What can he do?"  
  
"A lot of things." Nagi replied. "Crawford might not look very formidable at first, but he's a master at several forms of martial arts. He was the one who recruited me into Schwartz and taught me everything I know in the field of assassination. At first, I didn't trust him, but I eventually started to respect him greatly. He used his powers for whatever he wanted and without a single care for what others thought of him and he only did something if he wanted to. I've not really had very many older people to look up to and I thought I'd found a father in him. But in the end he was just using me for his own ends."  
  
Flashback Ends.  
  
"I'm sorry." Riku said. "Even if I can't even begin to understand what you're going through."  
  
"Thanks. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about Crawford's ability, which is to see into the future."  
  
"You mean like those characters in that old anime "X"?"  
  
Nagi sweatdropped slightly from hearing that comparison.  
  
"If you mean like Hinoto or Kakyou, then no. Crawford can see into the future while he's awake, but it's only about ten minutes or so into the future."  
  
"If he can do that, then how come my uncles were able to surprise him?" Riku asked.  
  
"Probably because his powers have their limits. After all, I was able to hit him."  
  
"Well that's a relief. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to fight that guy if his powers were limitless." Riku said and then he stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm done asking you questions, why don't you and Tot get caught up?"  
  
"Thank you." Nagi said gratefully and he turned to leave.  
  
"By the way, Nagi." Riku added with a sly grin on his face. "Remember to use protection."  
  
Nagi's face reddened and then he focused his powers and yanked out a strand of Riku's hair with his mind.  
  
Riku gave a painful yell and clutched his head.  
  
Nagi tried not to laugh as he closed the door behind him.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"Let me get this straight." Hazashi said angrily to Crawford, who was standing in front of his desk. "You show up requesting medical attention for your walking corpse of a hit man; medical treatment that has cost me a considerable sum of money, and you have the gall to tell me that your mission was a failure!"  
  
"I apologize, Mr. Hazashi." Crawford said. "My group and I shall leave to complete your request as soon as Farfarello has recovered."  
  
"See that you do." Hazashi said. "Now tell me why you failed your mission, and you had better have a good reason since you claim to be the best."  
  
"We had a little problem with someone from FOXHOUND." Crawford replied. "It was a young boy with the power to manipulate fire. We were able to subdue him, but another with the same ability arrived to give him back up and we had to retreat."  
  
"Fire." Hazashi said as he lapsed into deep thought. "Describe both fire users."  
  
"The boy was around seventeen. He had long black hair and was wearing some sort of sneaking suit. The other was a man in his forties with black hair and he was wearing a red robe."  
  
"Did he have a strange looking burn on his left cheek?" Hazashi asked, his tone turning fearful.  
  
"Yes, he did."  
  
"Then your mission has been cancelled!" Hazashi said quickly. "The last thing that I need is trouble with Kurei of the Uruha."  
  
"Uruha?" Crawford asked. "Do you mean that pre-second impact assassin group? Why should we-?"  
  
"You weren't at the Ura Batsoujin, so you wouldn't know what one such as him is capable of." Hazashi answered. "Now get out of my office and be glad that I'm still keeping you and your lot in my employ."  
  
Crawford left without saying a word.  
  
(It seems Hazashi is becoming more of a nuisance than a source of income, now.) He thought. (Once Farfarello has recovered, we might just have to deal with Hazashi permanently. But now, onto more important matters.)  
  
Crawford took out a cell phone and dialed in a number. He waited until the line was picked up.  
  
"What is it, boss?" Schuldich's voice asked. "Did the old man cancel our job?"  
  
"I'm afraid so." Crawford answered. "Now, I need you to head to America to try and recruit a possible replacement for Nagi. A man named Garland Durev, also known as "Bloody Hands"."  
  
"The one known in battle as the demon?" Schuldich asked. "Why him? We could just go and try to get Nagi back. My powers should work on him."  
  
"We can always find another psychic like him. Besides, it would be harder to control him, now that he knows the truth. Just find Durev and see if he's as good as they say he is. If he passes your test, then recruit him, if you can.  
  
"No problem." Schuldich answered. "Since we've got a few weeks till Farfarello recovers, I need something amusing to do. Bye."  
  
1 Day Later:  
  
"And that's everything." Riku reported to Col. Campbell over the codec. "So far, Schwartz hasn't tried anything else. So maybe they've given up."  
  
"I doubt that, Drakken." Col. Campbell said. "Don't let your guard down until you're absolutely sure about Schwartz. By the way, how are things going with the girl and that former assassin you picked up?"  
  
"Well enough." Riku answered. "By the way those two act, it's hard to believe they used to be assassins, and it's even harder to believe Nagi used to be with Schwartz. Oh yeah, how did Reese react when he heard about my getting a civilian involved in this mission? And I hope you didn't tell him about the whole former assassin thing."  
  
"Don't worry, he doesn't know about that, and as for the part about hearing you exploits, he didn't take it very well, I'm afraid." Col. Campbell replied. "He's already requested that you be dropped from FOXHOUND, or at least demoted and retrained."  
  
"Well, doesn't that just make things perfect." Riku said sarcastically. "Can he really make that happen?"  
  
"I don't know." Col. Campbell answered. "I hope not, because then it would be harder to keep your powers a secret from Reese."  
  
"Yeah, I know." Riku said. "Well, I'll talk to you later, Drakken out."  
  
Riku then noticed that Nagi and Tot were standing in the room with him.  
  
"It sounded like you were in some kind of trouble." Nagi said. "What happened?"  
  
"Oh, one of the higher ups wants to make my life miserable for taking you along with me on the mission." Riku answered. "He also happens to be the reason my powers are a secret in FOXHOUND; apparently he doesn't like people like us very much."  
  
"Oh." Nagi said, disgust in his voice as he remembered the people who had treated him as if he weren't human because of his powers. "One of those."  
  
Tot didn't seem to hear what Nagi said.  
  
"Is there anything we can do to help?" She asked.  
  
"Nope, I'm afraid not." Riku replied and then he noticed Kurei enter the room. "What is it, uncle?"  
  
"Good news for your friends." Kurei answered. "Schwartz has sent a message of surrender to us. In other words, they won't be targeting either Nagi or Tot."  
  
"You're sure that it's genuine?" Nagi asked.  
  
"I've looked it over twenty times." Kurei replied. "It's genuine and if Schwartz violates the surrender, they violate the assassin's code, and of they do that no one would hire them."  
  
"Alright! We're free!" Tot shouted happily and then hugged Nagi. "Isn't that wonderful, Nagi?"  
  
"It sure is." Nagi said, his face reddening, but at the same time he felt a sense of relief. (I no longer have to stand in Crawford's shadow again.)  
  
"Well, I guess this means that we can go home and finally enjoy summer vacation." Riku said. "The first place I'll be heading to is the beach and then-."  
  
"Actually." Nagi said. "There's something Tot and I have to tell you."  
  
"What is it?" Riku asked.  
  
"Well, you're obviously in trouble because of us, so Tot and I have found a way to help you." Nagi answered.  
  
"Unless you plan on doing something like diving into Reese's mind and make him resign from his position in FOXHOUND, I doubt you'll be able to do anything." Riku said. "But thanks for offering."  
  
"Could you hear us out first?" Nagi asked. "Anything's better than getting fired."  
  
"Okay." Riku said. "So what's your plan? "  
  
"Tot and I want to join FOXHOUND." Nagi replied. "As your partners."  
  
"That's a pretty quick decision." Riku noted. "Are you sure? Your powers, as well as details on your life as an assassin, will probably have to be a secret too, Nagi. The same applies to you too, Tot."  
  
Both Nagi and Tot nodded.  
  
"Alright." Riku said. "But before I contact the colonel and tell him that we've gotten two new recruits, there's something that the both of you need to do."  
  
AN: And that's the end of Chapter 6 and boy was it a long one. Don't worry; I've just started writing the next chapter. I'm sorry that I didn't have time to write an omake scene. Well, please review and thank you for reading this story.  
  
PS: The joke in the omake was a reference to something I saw on TV where a guy went to the premier of Stars Episode Two dressed as Jar Jar, and got the crap beaten out of him. 


	7. Chapter 7: Joining FOXHOUND

Disclaimer: I don't own MGS, FoR, NGE, or WK. The only thing I own is my character, Riku, and the story. Also, Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki belong to ShardclawKusanagi, Garland Durev belongs to TempestDynasty, and Lt. Reese and James Masterson belong to RuneKnightPictures 

AN: Well here's chapter 7 and I want to thank everyone who has reviewed my story so far. I also want to thank ShardclawKusanagi, TempestDynasty, and RuneKnightPictures for sending me info one their characters so I don't make any mistakes with crossing them into my story. BTW, to RuneKnightPictures, don't worry your guy will appear soon; after the next three or four chapters or so, and I plan to give him a brief fight with Farfarello just like you requested. By the way, Nagi and Tot are not my OCs, they're characters from the anime Weiss Kreuz. And now for an opening omake and recap:

Omake:  
DF holds up a large sign that says "I'm Sorry".

DF: To those of you who have been reading this story, I must apologize for a minor error. You see, Tot's hair isn't blue green, it's actually light blue. The problem is, my TV has this weird way of screwing with the color of things so that's why I thought it was green.

Tot appears and whacks DF on the head with a harisen (paper fan).

Tot: How could you get my hair color wrong, you big meanie?

DF rubs the spot and turns towards Tot with a peeved look on his face.

DF: I said I was sorry. Now give me that fan!

DF grabs the fan and he and Tot engage in a tug of war over it. All the while Nagi and Riku watch from a safe distance.

Riku: Hey, Nagi you do the recap since I'm an OC.

Nagi: What does that have to do with anything?

Riku: It's usually best if an anime character does it. It's kind of like a famous person hosting a show, I guess.

Nagi: All right.

Omake end

Recap: Hosted by Nagi:  
Nagi: Okay, in the last chapter, Riku and co. escape from Schwartz thanks to the help of the Uruha. After a while of settling in, they receive a message from Schwartz canceling the mission that target's Tot as well as Nagi's membership from Schwartz. Nagi and Tot then ask Riku if they can join FOXHOUND as his partners; Riku agrees as long as they do a task that he asks of them.

Chapter 7: Joining FOXHOUND

"What do we need to do?" Nagi asked. "And why do you want us to do this?"

"Before I call the colonel and tell him the good news, so you can be interviewed for the job, you need to pass my test so I can know for sure if the two of you are the stuff for FOXHOUND." Riku answered, his expression and tone of voice serious. "And to do that, you must answer two questions that I ask you correctly."

"Alright." Nagi said.

"Okay!" Tot said cheerfully.

"The first question is, what is your reason for joining?" Riku said. "Think about this before you answer. If your reason isn't a good one, then you've failed my test and there are no retakes."

The room was silent for a few minutes as Nagi and Tot contemplated their answers. Finally, Nagi answered first.

"The reason I want to join is so I can use my powers to help people." He said. "I've thought about this for a while, and I think I now know how I can use my powers for the way that satisfies me the most."

"Your reason sounds good so far." Riku commented. "But could you please explain it?"

"All my life, ever since I discovered my powers, I hated them." Nagi began. "I saw them as the reason people rejected me and treated me like I wasn't human. It got even worse when I started to use my powers for assassination when I joined Schwartz. While I only used my powers to kill in self-defense, I knew that my using then for missions with Schwartz would contribute to the death of people who didn't deserve to die. As a result, that hatred for my powers soon turned into self-hatred for what I was starting to become. Then I met Tot, and that was when I first used my powers to help another person."

"I remember that." Tot said, smiling at the memory. "That was when you cheered me up with that pretty show with the cherry blossoms."

Nagi blushed slightly before looking back at Riku and continuing.

"Later on, I used my powers to help Tot escape from a collapsed building. That was when I started to wonder if maybe I could use these powers, that were finally starting to seem more like a blessing than a curse, to protect the people dear to me."

"So you want to join FOXHOUND to help people and also so you can use your powers to protect your loved ones." Riku finished. "Right?"

"Yes." Nagi replied. "Also, there's one more thing that I want to tell you. It's about my thoughts on the psychic soldier Psycho Mantis. I've noticed that a lot of people compare the two of us. Though it's not surprising, given the fact that our powers and our pasts are similar."

"Go on." Riku said.

"Well, Mantis was the reason why I read "In the Darkness of Shadow Moses" in the first place." Nagi explained. "That was because his powers were so similar to mine and I wanted to know more about him. After doing some research on him, I found that our pasts were as similar as our powers. Mantis was also rejected by the people around him because of his powers and I thought that I had found a kindred spirit in him. But there was one part about him that confused me, and that was the part that concerned the last few minutes of his life. I couldn't understand why he would help the man who had killed him, nor could I understand the last thing he said; that using his powers to help some one felt "kinda nice". But now that I know what it's like to care for someone else, and others, I see what he meant about how good it felt to help people and I want to use my powers for what Mantis could only wish he could do more of before he died."

"Your answer's good enough for me, then." Riku said. "Congratulations, you pass part one." And then he turned to Tot. "Now, can you tell me what your reason is for joining FOXHOUND?"

"Well, my first reason is so I can help Nagi." Tot answered. "And the second reason is because I don't want anyone to lose their families to people like Schwartz, like I did."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked, not expecting that answer.

"You see, the assassin group that I was with, Schrient, was practically my family." Tot explained. "There were four of us, and I was like their little sister. They were the ones who raised me, and they were always nice to me, even when I made mistakes. When Neu, one of our members, died I didn't fully understand what death was, but I knew that she wasn't coming back. I felt sad. Nagi tried to console me, but I ended up pushing him away."

"You were confused from your grief." Nagi said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I knew that you didn't mean what you said to me."

"Nagi." Tot said, looking into his eyes adoringly. "Thank you."

"I hate to break up your romantic moment and all." Riku said. "But could the two of you please focus on the task at hand?"

"Sorry." They both said at the same time.

"As if having to deal with my parents being like this wasn't enough; now my partners are going to be like this too." Riku grumbled to himself, and then he turned to Tot. "Your answer passes too. So you both pass the first part of my test, now for the final question. Are the both of you ready for it?"

Nagi and Tot both nodded.

Riku then looked at them with a completely serious expression on his face.

"The question is a simple yes or no question." He said. "The question is: Can the two of you follow any order that is given to you, even if it means doing something that you don't want to do?"

"Why are you asking us that?" Nagi asked.

"This is something that you'll both need to be prepared for if you're going to join FOXHOUND." Riku replied. "I'll give you some time to think about what your answer will be. When you've both made your decision, come to my room and tell me." And then he calmly walked out of the room.

Kurei looked at the door Riku had just exited from and then at Nagi and Tot.

"I don't know what your answer will be, but I hope it turns out to be the right one." He said. "Flame masters should never fight alone, so maybe having the two of you as his partners will help him. Riku may seem lazy and even reckless, but he's really a very responsible person, that and a kind boy. Just remember this, whatever decision he makes, he'll make the decision fairly. He's not the kind of person that would hold out on a friend." And with that, he left the room, leaving Nagi and Tot alone to decide what their answer would be.

Later:

Riku looked at the door to his room as it opened and Nagi and Tot walked in. He then put down the book he was reading to pass the time.

"Have you come to a decision?" He asked.

"Before I give you my answer, I need to ask you something." Nagi said in reply. "Would the order to kill someone, even if it's someone we don't want to kill, fall into the category of orders we'd have to follow?"

"Yes." Riku answered calmly. "I'm afraid that it would."

"Then, I'm sorry, Riku, but I can't join FOXHOUND." Nagi replied. "Look, I'm sorry if I got your hopes up about all of this, but if joining FOXHOUND means that I'll end up being like I was when I was in Schwartz, then I can't join."

"And I don't want to end up doing anything that I don't want to do." Tot added.

"Is that your answer?" Riku asked and they both nodded. Riku then grinned triumphantly. "Congratulations, you've passed my test with flying colors."

"Huh?" Nagi and Tot said in comical unison, both with stunned looks on their faces.

"Do you really think that I'd let people who would willingly let themselves be pawns join FOXHOUND?" Riku asked with a smile. "Especially people with talents like yours? Please. In most people's opinions, one who can't follow orders is scum, but, in my opinion, one who just follows an order to do something that they know fully well is wrong, is much worse than that."

"Then that was a trick question all along?" Nagi asked.

"Hey, it's not a real test if some of the problems don't make you stop and think." Riku replied. "Anyway, now that you've as good as gotten yourselves into FOXHOUND, I think it would be best if you tell me what your weapon specialty is."

"Are you just trying to change the subject?" Nagi asked in reply.

"Actually, yes." Riku answered, causing both Nagi and Tot to sweatdrop. "But what I'm asking is important so could you please answer me."

Alright." Nagi replied. "I'm good at using handguns, at least the ones that don't have too big of a recoil, and I can use a sniper rifle well enough."

Riku looked at Nagi gratefully.

"You, my friend, are a true godsend. You have no idea how much our team would need a good sniper." He said. "I must confess that I'm terrible at that field of gunmanship. So bad that, when the best of FOXHOUND's snipers, James Masterson aka Silent Scorpion, saw my scores he nearly died laughing."

"A friend of yours?" Tot asked.

"Yeah,James isa prettygood friend once you get to know him and he's also a bit younger than you are, Nagi." Riku answered. "He's alsoclose friends withanotherone of my friends, Gregory Kinezono." Then Riku turned to Nagi. "I'm sure that you'd make friends with Greg pretty quick; especially since-." Riku paused for a moment. "Well, let's just wait till you two officially become members." Then he turned to Tot. "So what's your weapon specialty?"

"An umbrella." Tot answered, causing Riku to sweatdrop.

"You're joking, right?" Riku said.

"Nope." Tot replied. "It was a customized umbrella made specifically for beating up bad guys, and I definitely beat up a ton of bad guys with it."

"Do you still have it?" Riku asked. "Or do you have any idea how it was made?"

Tot thought about the question long and hard before stating matter-of- factly, "No." Causing Riku to fall over.

"You could have just told me that from the start." Riku said as he got up. "Well, I guess we'll have to make due with a katana unless you'd rather use a different weapon, Tot."

"I guess I can use a sword." Tot said. "It can't be too different from an umbrella, right?"

"I really wouldn't know." Riku answered. (But I do know that a sword looks a lot cooler than an umbrella in terms of weaponry.) "Well, I guess since we've taken care of the whole weapons deal, you guys can start packing your things. We'll be leaving for the Japanese headquarters of FOXHOUND and then we'll take a flight from there to the main headquarters. Now I'd better call the colonel and tell him the good news so he can arrange our flight."

"Hold on." Tot said. "Since you said flight, where exactly are we flying to?"

"America, of course." Riku answered. "The main headquarters is in Washington DC. Well, why don't you two go check out the rest of the mansion, while I call the colonel."

Later:

"Well, there you have it." Riku finished as he spoke to Col. Campbell over the codec. "I gave them my test and they passed, colonel. So will you interview them?"

"If you think that those two have what it takes, then I will." Col. Campbell replied. "However, both Nagi Naoe's powers as well as his and Tot's past as assassins will have to be kept secret."

"Reese, huh?" Riku said dryly.

"I'm afraid so." Roy answered. "If he were to find out about your friends' secrets-."

"Then Reese would probably make their lives hell." Riku finished. "Don't worry, both Nagi and Tot have agreed to having all of that kept secret."

"Very well then. I'll have your flight to headquarters scheduled for tomorrow."

"No problem, colonel." Riku said. "See ya then, Drakken out."

Riku then switched the codec frequency to Recca's.

(Might as well tell the rest of the family about this.) He thought to himself. (Look's like Dad will have to make a couple of calls. One to old man Todo to tell him that Daimon's got two new students, and then one to Uncle Tokiya and Aunt Fuuko to tell Uncle Tokiya he's got a pupil.)

Meanwhile: Somewhere in the outskirts of Seattle-II:

"So all we need to do is ambush this guy out in the countryside and kill him?" The hit man asked Schuldich. "And for that we get fifty million bucks?"

"Precisely." Schuldich answered. "I trust that you and your men will do the job efficiently, without any witnesses, of course."

"You don't have to worry about that." The man replied. "Just be sure to have the money ready for when my boys and I finish the job." And the man walked away.

Schuldich smiled in anticipation. (Now we'll see how good you are, Garland Durev, and whether or not you're worthy of joining Schwartz.)

The Next Day: On the Plane:

"Well, what do you think?" Riku asked Nagi and Tot. Who were sitting in their seats across from him. "This flight has everything except for a movie, and they serve much better food then airport flights."

"I guess it's alright." Nagi said as he looked out the window and at the ocean far below. "I haven't been on very many flights on planes."

"Neither have I." Tot said and she turned to Riku. "So who is it that's going to interview us?"

"A man named Roy Campbell." Riku answered as he eased the seatback of his chair back as far as it could go. "He's a great leader and a decent fellow, you'll like him."

"That reminds me." Nagi said suddenly and he turned to Riku. "Riku, there's something that I need to ask you."

"Ask away, Nagi." Riku said. "We've got a ton of hours to kill and I doubt I'll be able to pass the whole flight from sleeping."

"It's about that conversation you had with Crawford before." Nagi said and Riku lifted up his head in interest. "Could you tell me who or what the Patriots are?"

Riku had not been expecting that question.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "I thought Crawford said they were Schwartz's top employers."

"I guess Crawford kept me in the dark about them." Nagi replied. "Not a big surprise, huh?"

"I guess not, now that I think about it." Riku said. "Maybe Crawford mentioned them in conversation at one time. Can you remember that? Or maybe when he did, he mentioned them by their other name. The La-li-lu-le-lo."

"I recognize that one." Nagi said. "Crawford mentioned it before we were given an assignment to assassinate a group of psychics that we used to work for, though that group was more like a cult than anything else, called Eszet."

Flashback: Two Months Before:

Nagi looked over from his laptop computer at his three teammates, Crawford was about to brief him about the mission. Nagi didn't really care, all he wanted was to get back to what he was doing on the computer to try and lose the feeling of loss for Tot that was still fresh in his heart.

Schuldich, who easily sensed his emotions, looked over at him.

"Are you still grieving for that girl?" He asked. "When are you finally going to drop that whole moping crap and just forget about her? There's plenty of other girls out there, and if you want to have a bit of fun with them, I'm pretty sure that you've got the money to pay for it."

"Shut up." Nagi said angrily. "Do you want to die?" And he raised his hand towards Schuldich to show that he wasn't kidding.

"That's enough form the both of you!" Crawford said. "Schuldich, while it's amusing to see you play mind games with Farfarello, I'd rather that you didn't try it on Nagi. The last thing I need is a quarrel between the two of you. And Nagi, if you're going to brood on that girl's death then use that to fuel your need for vengeance; I don't need a grief stricken psychic for a student."

"Whatever." Nagi said. "Just tell me about the mission."

"Our mission is simple." Crawford answered. "The objective is the assassination of Eszet."

"So we finally get to off those old geezers." Schuldich said with a smile and he turned to Farfarello. "I bet you're happy about that."

"Just as long as I get a fight with plenty of blood and the screams of the dieing." Farfarello replied as he tested the sharpness of his knives on his arm.

"By the way, boss," Schuldich said as he turned back to Crawford. "Who gave the order for this mission?"

"Our top employers, of course. They feel that Eszet has outlived their usefulness to them and are long overdue for retirement." Crawford replied. "It's nothing much, just a simple request from the La-li-lu-le- lo."

"The who?" Nagi asked suddenly. "I don't ever remember you telling me about this group, Crawford. Who are they?"

Crawford turned to Nagi.

"I'll tell you about them, soon enough." He replied. "They happen to be quite interested in you, and when you have completed your training, I doubt that they will be disappointed."

Flashback Ends.

"And that was the only time Crawford ever mentioned them." Nagi finished. "So, could you tell us who these guys are?"

"Of course." Riku answered. "But I will warn you, in order to fully explain all of this, I'll have to tell you guys the whole story about what happened in the Big Shell two years ago, and that will be a very long story."

"I'm curious enough about what really happened there, anyway." Nagi said with a shrug. "Not very much information was released to the public and the Internet wasn't very helpful either."

"Besides, I like stories." Tot added. "So come on, tell us."

"All right, where to begin," Riku said and he sat there for a few minutes before speaking again. "I guess I'll start with that incident with the tanker sinking." He then turned back to Nagi and Tot. "You two know who Solid Snake is, right."

"Riku, everyone knows who he is." Tot said. "He's the hero of Shadow Moses."

"Just checking." Riku replied. "Anyway, the whole thing started four years ago, when Snake and his partner, Hal Emmerich, discovered information on a new type of Metal Gear being developed by the US Navy..."

Later:

"And after Arsenal Gear crashed into that part of New York, Raiden fought and killed Solidus Snake, ending the whole problem with the Sons of Liberty and Dead Cell. FOXHOUND was then reformed shortly afterwards." Riku finished. "And that's the whole story behind the Big Shell incident, as well as the info you wanted on the Patriots. So, what do you think?"

Both Nagi and Tot were completely speechless after hearing all of that; the truth behind the American country, the purpose for Arsenal Gear, Dead Cell, and everything else.

Nagi was the first to speak.

"All of that really happened?" He asked and Riku nodded. "I always thought something happened during the Big Shell incident, besides what was released to the public, but I never thought it would be anything that big."

"Yeah." Tot said in agreement and then she turned to Riku. "So why did you join FOXHOUND and when?"

"I joined about a year after the whole Big Shell incident." Riku answered. "As to why I joined, I guess I'll have to explain a little about my family. You see, I come from a long line of shinobi; my father's side of the family being gifted with the power of flame. My ancestors were the chieftains of a ninja clan known as the Hokage. They possessed what you'd call magic items called madogou, and it was the duty of Hokage clan to guard the madogou from those who would use them for their own purposes. Eventually, the Japanese warlord, Oda Nobunaga, found out about the madogou and wiped out the Hokage clan and the madogou were eventually scattered throughout many parts of the world. Fortunately, shortly after the Ura Batsujin tournament, my father, uncle, and grandmother were able to gather all of the missing madogou, and it seemed as if the problem was solved. Since few people knew about the madogou, we assumed that we could hide them without much effort, but we were wrong."

"Let me guess." Nagi said. "The Patriots found out about them?"

"I'm afraid so." Riku replied. "Six months after the Big Shell incident, the Patriots sent their men to try and attack my family and take the madogou. Fortunately, we were able to defeat them, but more of them came after we beat each group. This probably would have gone on for a while if we hadn't captured one of the soldiers alive. When we did, we were able to discover where the soldiers were coming from and decided to attack them there. I had to beg my father and uncle to let me come and help them and the rest of the Uruha, but they let me come as long as I guarded the entrance from possible reinforcements, and that's when I met someone I definitely didn't expect."

Flashback: One year and a half before:

Riku remained hidden in the entrance to the enemy base, waiting for possible reinforcements. But so far, not even a bug had come by.

(Man. This is so boring.) Riku thought. (I've been waiting here for three damned hours and no one's come. This really sucks.)

Suddenly, Riku heard the sound of footsteps approaching the entrance. He looked from his hiding place and saw a man dressed in a green sneaking suit. Riku couldn't get a good look at the man's face, except he could see that he had dark brown hair and a mullet hairdo.

(This guy sure doesn't look like one of their guys.) Riku thought and he took out two senbon needles. (I guess I'll just knock him out with these and then question him later.) He then made sure to aim for the correct spot on the neck and then threw the needles, which silently flew towards their target.

The man suddenly turned around, pulled out a USP and shot the needles out of the air without a single miss.

Riku's eyes widened from surprise. (This guy is really good, and his shooting skills are way better than mine. One thing's for sure, he's not with the guys that we're after.)

"Alright." The man said pointing the gun in Riku's direction. "Come out right now, unless you've got some other trick up your sleeve besides that needle trick."

Riku calmly stepped out of his hiding place with his hands up; as he did, he was able to see the face of the man. Somehow, it looked familiar to him.

(Where have I seen this man's face before?) He thought. (I'm sure I should know, but I just can't place it.)

(A kid?) The man thought. "Who are you?"

"No one, really." Riku answered. "Just your average everyday ninja." And then Riku suddenly seemed to vanish , however the man could tell where Riku was going to be next and he turned around quickly to find a kunai shuriken pointed at his head.

Riku was in a similar situation, only much worse since the man's USP was pointed directly between his eyes.

With a sigh, Riku put away the kunai shuriken. "Alright, mister, you win."

"What?" The man asked, not expecting an opponent to give up that easily.

"Well, it's obvious who's got the better skills." Riku answered. "If I kept on fighting, you'd probably have ended up shooting me, and since you didn't shoot me when you first saw me, I decided to take my chances and surrender."

"First throw away your knife." The man said, still pointing the USP at Riku. "Slowly."

"No problem." And he casually threw the kunai shuriken off to the side. "As you can see, I'm unarmed. So what do you want to ask me?"

"First tell me who you are." The man replied. "And then tell me what you're doing here. You don't look like one of the soldiers stationed here."

"My name is Riku Hanabishi. I'm here because the guys over here have been harassing my family for a while, so my family and I decided to put a stop to it."

"How many more of you are there?"

Riku looked at the man and smiled. "First tell me your name, mister, and who you're with. Then I'll decide whether or not I should tell you anything else."

The man could see that Riku obviously didn't want to endanger the lives of his family. "Alright, my name is S-. My name is Pliskin. Iroquois Pliskin. I'm here under orders from a UN group."

"So far you're not lying." Riku commented. "Or your telling something close enough to the truth. Fine I'll tell you..."

Later:

"So you and your family are just some people who ended up having bad luck with the Patriots." Pliskin said as soon as he heard Riku's story. "Tell you what, I'll wait with you here until the rest of your group shows up."

"It's better than just staying here alone." Riku said with a shrug. "By the way, who are the Patriots?"

"I think that's something the rest of us would like to know as well." Kurei said as he came through the door, followed by Recca.

"Dad, Uncle Kurei." Riku said as soon as he saw them. "What took you guys so long, and where are Aunt Neon and the others?"

"They're making sure that the rest of the enemy troops have been taken care of." Recca answered and he looked over at Pliskin. "Hey who's this? He kind of looks familiar." Suddenly his eyes widened in recognition. "No it couldn't be."

"I'm afraid it is, little brother." Kurei said and he looked at Pliskin. "So tell me, what's a dead man doing here?"

"So you know who I am, huh?" Pliskin said with a smile. "By the way, that kid called you Kurei. You wouldn't happen to be Kurei, the leader of the Uruha assassin group.

"I'm afraid I am." Kurei answered with an amused smile. "So tell me what you're doing here and who are the Patriots?"

"Do you guys know this Pliskin guy, or something?" Riku asked.

"This Pliskin is a lot more than he told you he was." Recca answered. "So why don't you tell us what you were probably going to tell my son, Solid Snake."

"Solid Snake?' Riku asked and he looked over at Pliskin. "So that's where I've seen you before. But I thought that you died when you sank that tanker."

"Well, it looks like I've got to explain this all over again." Snake said. "Alright, here's what happened..."

Flashback Ends

Present:

"You mean, you actually met THE Solid Snake?" Nagi asked, completely shocked. "The legend; the guy who took out three metal gears in three separate incidents?"

"The very same." Riku replied and he looked over at Tot, who was too shocked to say anything. "But that doesn't answer your question. Anyway, to make a long story short, I ended up being inspired by Snake's story to join FOXHOUND; plus I figured that if I joined I might be able to keep the madogou and my family protected from the Patriots. And I was right, the attacks stopped shortly after I joined FOXHOUND."

Then Riku noticed the ETA on the screen in front and then looked at his watch.

"Well, it looks like we're going to be at our destination soon." He said. "Hope you guys are ready for the interview."

Later: FOXHOUND/Philanthropy Headquarters: Col. Campbell's Office:

"So these two are the ones that you want me to interview?" Col. Campbell asked as he looked at Nagi and Tot. He then turned to Nagi. "According to what Drakken has told me, you Mr. Naoe, have a form of psychic powers. Is that correct?"

"Yes sir." Nagi answered, "It is. I'll even show you." Nagi then looked over at Roy's desk and then focused on a pen that he saw lying on it. The pen was slowly lifted into mid air and then it floated over to a post it note and then wrote "Nagi Naoe" on it.

Roy nodded in approval and then turned back to Nagi and Tot.

"Would the two of you please follow me?" He asked and then he turned to Riku. "Drakken, you wait in the lobby, I'll notify you when the interview is over."

"Of course, colonel." Riku replied and he looked at his two friends. "Good luck." And he exited the room.

One Hour Later: In the Lobby:

(I am so bored.) Riku thought. (To make things worse, I didn't even bring anything to read. Maybe I should just head over to the VR area and blast a ton of targets to pass the time. Anything's better than this.)

Suddenly, Riku noticed a man in his forties wearing a military uniform. He immediately recognized the man as the one he despised the most in FOXHOUND; Lt. Matthew Reese. The reason his powers were kept a secret.

(But then again, there are plenty of worse things.) Riku thought, and he quietly got up to leave. (Maybe if I leave quietly and don't make any eye contact, he won't recognize me.)

Unfortunately, Riku was soon to be proven wrong.

"Hanabishi." Reese said in an obnoxious tone of voice. "I've been looking for you; I believe that a discussion regarding your conduct as well as actions is in order."

(Well, either way I'll get a lecture from this shit head.) Riku thought as he looked at Reese as if he'd just seen him. (Might as well piss him off a bit.)

"Do I know you?" Riku asked and he fought to keep from smiling at the angered expression on Reese's face.

"Don't pretend that you don't know me, Hanabishi." Reese said threateningly. "Now sit down and explain yourself."

"Explain myself?" Riku asked innocently. "Whatever do you mean? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Really? I suppose that distasteful habit of yours for burning down enemy complexes doesn't count, but involving a civilian without the proper authorization does."

"Oh, so you heard." Riku said. "Don't worry, he won't be a civilian for long."

"Recruiting that civilian into FOXHOUND just to cover your mistakes isn't going to excuse you, Hanabishi." Reese snapped. "And don't bother telling me that wasn't what you were planning, because I know your type."

"You're wrong!" Nagi's voice said from behind. "Tot and I joined FOXHOUND out of our own choice, Riku didn't force us into doing this."

Reese turned to regard Nagi and Tot, who had just entered the lobby with Col. Campbell in tow.

"If I want your opinion, civilian, I will ask for it." Reese said.

"Civilian?" Nagi asked. "Tot and I have just been accepted into FOXHOUND, so don't you go and treat us or my friend like crap just because- ."

"That's enough!" Roy said. "Crow, like it or not, Lt. Reese is your superior, remember that." He then turned to Reese. "Lt. Reese, Drakken has already been cleared of the consequences of his previous actions, so this conversation between the two of you is over."

Reese shot a hateful glance at Roy and then turned towards Nagi and Tot.

"You, boy, had better learn some respect. If not, your career in FOXHOUND will not last for very long, I assure you." He said threateningly. "And you, girl, can you talk?"

Tot looked at Reese angrily.

"Yes, and my name is Tot, not girl." She answered. "And who are you?"

"Lt. Matthew Reese. You'd do well to remember it." Reese replied. "Now get out of my way, I have much more important things to do then waste my time with you people."

Nagi stepped aside to let Reese pass, all the while looking at the man with unmasked contempt. Reese ignored him and then walked out. Tot stuck her tongue out at him as he left.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that." Roy said. "I also apologize for the lieutenant's rudeness. Well, I'll let the three of you talk before I need you two to come back to my office so I can verify a few things."

"We'll be there soon, sir." Nagi replied and Roy left.

"So I take it that the two of you are now recruited." Riku said with a smile. "So how was the interview?"

"Not bad." Nagi answered. "I can see how FOXHOUND has done so well, since that Col. Campbell seems to be a very capable leader."

"Yeah." Tot agreed. "He's also a nice man. But that Reese guy was a complete scumbag; I don't like him one bit."

"No one does." Riku said in agreement. "Believe me, that guy tries to make everyone's life at FOXHOUND miserable. I wonder, why doesn't somebody assassinate that man?" He then noticed the looks Nagi and Tot were giving him. "What? I was only joking."

"Never mind." Nagi and Tot said at the same time.

"Well, I guess from here on we're official partners." Riku said. "So what are your codenames? I heard the colonel call Nagi "Crow", so what's the rest of it."

"Mystic Crow." Nagi answered. "I picked the crow because it's associated with the supernatural, that and death. I thought it was fitting for a former psychic assassin. I was going to pick "Psychic" as the first part, but apparently it's already taken."

"I'll explain that later." Riku said, and then he turned to Tot. "And what's yours?"

"Usagi Ninja." Tot answered.

"Rabbit Ninja or Ninja Rabbit." Riku said. "Let me guess, the rabbit is your favorite animal."

"Yep, it sure is." Tot replied.

(I bet the colonel made it the code name in Japanese so it wouldn't sound stupid.) Riku thought. (If he hadn't it probably would have been the most ridiculous codename since Coward Duck.)

"Well, with that done with, let's move on." He said, and then he turned to Nagi. "Now, about the guy who has "Psychic" as part of his codename. The reason is, obviously, because he's a psychic too."

"Do you know him?" Nagi asked, excited from hearing that he wasn't the only FOXHOUND recruit with psychic powers.

"Yes, he was the guy I mentioned to you yesterday, Gregory Kinezono." Riku answered. "He's a psychic that has abilities very similar to yours. Have you ever seen the movie "Akira" or read the manga series?"

"Yeah, of course." Nagi answered. "That's one of my favorites, I also think that the writer made a very believable character out of Tetsuo, and that's coming from a real psychic."

"Well, it should interest you to know that Greg's powers are pretty similar to "Akira"'s Tetsuo." Riku said. "That and the tribute character in King of Fighters, K9999."

"You mean your friend can use that drill move too?" Nagi asked. "Riku, you have got to introduce me to this guy."

"Don't worry, I'll introduce you guys to him when I get the chance." Riku said and then he reached into his pocket and took out a large group picture. "This was a group picture taken of the FOXHOUND recruits and personnel about a year ago, there's me and over here is Greg Kinezono and his girlfriend Linn Aramaki."

Nagi looked at the people Riku was pointing to and saw a young man with light brown skin and short and thick black hair standing next to a woman with a light tan skin tone and black hair, Nagi's face reddened slightly when he saw that the uniform that she was wearing did little to conceal a very generous figure.

"So this guy is Gregory Kinezono, FOXHOUND's best psychic." Nagi said. "He sure doesn't look like one though. He looks more like that fighting game character, Kyo Kusanagi, then my idea of a psychic."

"Trust me, appearances are deceiving." Riku said in reply. "I remember when I first met him, he took down a tank at extreme mode using his powers and a few grenades."

"Just how strong is he?" Nagi asked.

"Way stronger than you." Riku answered. "And he's also stronger than me; even if I used Kokuu, one of my strongest attacks."

"I'll see how strong he is when I meet him." Nagi said. "And I hope I meet him soon." And then he turned to Tot. "Well, I guess we should head back to the colonel's office and get all of that paperwork signed."

"The sooner we get that done, the better." Tot replied and then the two of them left the room.

Riku smiled as he watched his two friends leave, and then activated his codec. (Time to call Greg and tell him the good news, and I'm sure he'll be very interested in hearing about Nagi.)

FOXHOUND Headquarters in Saudi Arabia:

Gregory Kinezono carefully inspected the bullet holes that were imbedded in the left side of his Harrier.

"Man, I can't believe those terrorists were actually able to do this much damage with those anti-aircraft guns of theirs." He said. "I guess I'd better quit underestimating these guys, even if they are a bunch of weaklings." And then he turned to Linn, who was also checking the damage to the Harrier. "So how long do you think it will take to repair this?"

"It shouldn't take too long." She replied. "Maybe just a couple of hours at the most, but it should be as good as new by the time I'm done with it."

"Well that's good to hear." Greg commented and then looked at Linn with a sly look on his face. "You know, if we can finish this up quick enough, we'll have plenty of time for-." Suddenly he heard his codec ring.

"Now who could be calling me at this time?" He asked himself, before answering. "This is Panther."

"Hey, Greg." Riku said as his face appeared on the codec screen. "Nice to see you again, even if it isn't exactly face to face."

"Riku." Greg said in recognition. "Why are you calling? You know that Linn and I are in the middle of a mission."

"I talked to the data analyst at the headquarters that you two are at, and he said that you'd come back to repair that Harrier of yours." Riku explained. "So I figured that I might as well call and tell you something important."

"Important, huh? So what is it?"

"I'm pleased to announce that, as of now, I have two partners." Riku answered. "A boy named Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend Tot."

"Well that sounds good." Linn said as her face appeared on the codec screen. "So why are you calling about that?"

"Oh, just to tell Greg that he's no longer the only psychic in FOXHOUND anymore." Riku replied, smiling as he saw the reactions of his two friends. "Nagi is a psychic with powers very similar to yours, Greg, even though he's nowhere near as powerful as you are."

"Nani?" Both Linn and Greg exclaimed at the same time.

"Are you serious?" Greg asked. "This kid actually has psychic powers like mine?"

"Dead serious." Riku answered. "Nagi can move things with his mind, for starters; he can also create energy balls, and enter people's minds, but they have to be unconscious or asleep for it to work. He does have the ability to heal people's wounds, but so far, he doesn't exactly know how to do it."

"What do you mean?" Greg asked. "Do you mean he did that on impulse?"

"Yeah, his girlfriend, Tot, got seriously injured and Nagi was able to use his powers to heal her." Riku replied. "He could probably become pretty strong if he has the right training."

"Hold on a minute." Linn said. "How did you meet those two, especially this Nagi kid? People with powers like Greg's aren't exactly commonplace, ya know."

"She has a point." Greg said in agreement. "So how did you meet them?"

"I found Nagi half drowned in the Tokyo Bay." Riku explained. "A bit of an accident had happened and Nagi was in the middle of it. After I found him, I had my mom heal him and Nagi ended up moving in with the family. To make a long story short, I ended up getting him back together with his girlfriend, and they ended up joining FOXHOUND, which brings us to the present."

There was a minute of silence before Greg spoke.

"Alright, Riku, what are you hiding from me?" He asked.

"Hiding?" Riku asked in reply. "What do you mean?"

"Riku, you may be good at deceiving your enemies, but you're terrible at keeping things from a friend." Greg answered. "So what aren't you telling me? Does it involve your partners?"

"Am I really that obvious?" Riku asked before giving a sigh of defeat. "You're right, on both counts. I'd like to tell you, but...Look, Nagi hasn't had the most attractive of pasts and neither has Tot, but their both good kids. It's not that I don't trust you guys with knowing my friends' secrets, but I don't want give them a bad impression on their entry into FOXHOUND."

"Okay, I understand. I won't press the issue." Greg said. "Just promise me that you'll introduce me to this Nagi sometime."

"Will do, Greg." Riku replied. "Good luck to both of you on the rest of your mission." And he logged off.

Linn then turned to Greg.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" She asked. "I trust Riku, but I'm not sure if he made a good decision about not telling us about his friends."

"I'm sure he has a good reason for doing that." Greg replied. "Riku's usually pretty honest about things, and he has a good sense of judgment. Besides, I have a feeling that I'll find out about whatever it is he's keeping from us sooner or later."

"I hope so." Linn said and then she turned to the damaged Harrier. "Now to start fixing this thing."

Later: FOXHOUND/Philanthropy Headquarters:

"So, how'd the whole part with the paper work go?" Riku asked as soon as he saw Nagi and Tot enter the lobby.

"Boring." Tot answered. "We had to sign and fill out a bunch of stuff that I couldn't even understand."

"A necessary evil, I'm afraid." Riku said. "Just be glad that it's over and you don't have to do any of that ever again. Well, let's get going; I've already gotten the flight home arranged."

"Home." Nagi said, the sense of the word feeling right. "Yeah, let's go home." And then he turned to Tot. "I think you're going to like where we'll be staying, Tot."

"As long as it's with you." She said with a smile.

And the three partners headed for the plane hangar.

Meanwhile: Fifty miles Outside of Seattle-II

"Very impressive." Schuldich commented as he saw the outcome of the battle between Garland Durev and the hit men. "That guy took out all of them without even getting a scratch, and without turning into his fabled berserker mode. This man is definitely worthy of joining our ranks."

He calmly walked over to a man in his thirties, with shirt jet-black hair. The man was standing over the corpses of the men sent to kill him and he turned around when he heard Schuldich approach.

"Very well done, Mr. Durev." Schuldich congratulated, speaking German. "A truly excellent display of power."

Garland regarded the man standing in front of him suspiciously, before answering him, also in German.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"My name is Schuldich. I am a representative of Schwartz."

"Schuldich. German for "guilty" and Schwartz; German for "black"." Garland commented in English. "I've also heard rumors about your group, so what does an assassin group want with me?"

"I have a proposition for you." Schuldich answered. "A proposition that is given to very few people, you being the first in years."

"A proposition?" Garland asked. "What is it?"

"A simple one, really." Schuldich replied. "I am offering you a place in our group, Schwartz."

Meanwhile: Somewhere in Japan:

Brad Crawford stood in the darkened hallway, waiting for the arrival of Schwartz's newest client. A brief vision, as well as the sound of approaching footsteps, told him that his client had arrived. Crawford looked and immediately recognized the man.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise, old man." Crawford commented to the man who had just walked in. "So what job do the rulers of my homeland have for me, Shalashaska?"

"Don't call me old man again, Crawford." Ocelot warned. "I don't think the Patriots would be very happy if they suddenly lost their favorite assassin. Now then, to business. Have you ever heard of the conglomerate, Mikage International?"

"Yes, they happened to be one of the few businesses that came through Second Impact unscathed." Crawford answered. "The work of the Patriots, I presume."

"Partially." Ocelot replied. "But there were a few more key elements involved besides them."

"Hold on." Crawford said before Ocelot could continue speaking. "Before, we discuss the assignment, I have a small favor to request of you."

"A favor?" Ocelot asked suspiciously. "Why would I grant you any favors?"

"Consider it repayment for helping you and Solidus obtain that arm of yours." Crawford replied. "Now here's the problem, I happen to be having a difficult time with my current employer."

"So you want me to get rid of him for you." Ocelot finished. "Why don't you just kill him yourself, like you did to Eszet and Reiji Takatori?"

"Takatori's death was Weiss' doing, not mine." Crawford answered. "And my group and I killed Eszet under the Patriot's orders. To kill off one's former employers without being under the employ of someone else can be bad for business, you see."

"Fine." Ocelot said. "I'll make sure your problem is taken care of. When do you want him out of the picture."

"Two weeks from now should be fine." Crawford replied. "Now, what was this about the Mikage conglomerate?"

"I'll explain the details later." Ocelot answered. "For now, here is what you must do."

AN: And that's Chapter 7, folks. I hope you like it, and I also hope that I got the characters from ShardclawKusanagi, TempestDynasty, and RuneKnightPictures right. Anyway, if you were paying attention, then you'll notice that I'm planning on crossing over Real Bout High School (the manga series) and Ceres: Celestial Legend (or Ayashi no Ceres) with my story. RBHS will only be a minor crossover though, while Ceres will be a major one, since I need to give my guys a mission as a group. I'll update as soon as I can, for now please R and R. Thank you!


	8. Chapter 8: School and Training Begin

AN: I'm glad that I've gotten good reviews for this story so far and here I am with another chapter! Thank you to everyone who's reviewed my story so far, it's helped in keeping me from falling into writers' block. Well, enjoy chapter 8!  
  
Disclaimer: I only own Riku and the story, everything else belongs to either the guys who made the anime that crosses over into the story, or ShardclawKusanagi, RuneKnightPictures, and TempestDynasty.  
  
Recap:  
  
Last time, Nagi and Tot joined FOXHOUND as Riku's partners. They also found out, from Riku, the true story behind the Big Shell incident as well as why Riku joined FOXHOUND. But as this was going on, Schwartz has also been busy. Just outside of Seattle-II, Schuldich has gone to meet with Garland Durev to try and recruit him into Schwartz as Nagi's replacement, and back in Japan, a meeting between the infamous Revolver Ocelot and Brad Crawford occurs.  
  
Chapter 8: School and Training Begin  
  
Fifty Miles Outside of Seattle-II:  
  
"No thanks." Garland answered simply. "I'm a mercenary, not an assassin. There's a difference, you know."  
  
"Now let's not be too hasty, my friend." Schuldich replied. "I can assure you that, if payment is the problem, you will always be paid very handsomely; much more than you would as a simple mercenary."  
  
"I told you already that I didn't want the job." Garland said. "Now leave before I start to get irritated."  
  
(This one's pretty stubborn.) Schuldich thought. (I guess I'll have to use my special form of persuasion.)  
  
"Are you sure about this?" Schuldich asked. "Surely, if you think about it, the life of an assassin is much more preferable to that of a mere mercenary, that and one's name becomes much more famous. Why don't you think it over before you decide?"  
  
Garland blinked a few times and then touched his forehead as if he was having a sudden headache. He then looked over at Schuldich with an annoyed expression on his face.  
  
"Whatever it is that you're doing, quit it." Garland said. "I really don't like it when people try to mess with my mind. Also, I advise that you stop for your own safety. If you keep this up, who knows, I might slip into my berserk state, and you know what will happen then."  
  
(He could be bluffing.) Schuldich thought, starting to feel a little nervous. (But I'd better not chance it. If he can do what he did to those hit men without going into his berserk state, then I don't want to know what he can do in it.)  
  
"Alright." Schuldich said. "I'll stop; though I must admit that you've amazed me. You're the third person I've met that was immune to my ability." As he was talking, Schuldich reached into his back pocket to take out his pistol. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his the moment it touched the concealed weapon.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Garland warned, suddenly appearing behind Schuldich. "Not unless you have a death wish."  
  
(This guy, he's almost as fast as I am, even at top speed.) Schuldich thought. (If I tried to take him on with the equipment that I've got, I'd definitely get killed.)  
  
"Alright, buddy, I'll leave." Schuldich said.  
  
""Drop your gun first." Garland commanded, keeping a firm grip on Schuldich's arm. "If you try anything, consider this arm broken."  
  
Schuldich slowly let go of his gun and it fell to the ground. At that moment, Garland quickly shoved him forward and picked up the weapon that Schuldich had just dropped.  
  
Schuldich then looked over at Garland with a smirk, but his eyes were filled with interest.  
  
"You're a very interesting fellow, Mr. Durev." He commented. "Trying to penetrate your mind is like trying to poke a hole into a steel wall with only a needle. Too bad you decided not to join us, you would have been an interesting teammate." And suddenly, Schuldich was gone.  
  
Garland looked around suspiciously to see if Schuldich had truly left.  
  
"Quick little weasel." He commented and then he looked at the bodies of the hit men he had killed. "Now to get this mess cleaned up."  
  
Later: Seattle-II Airport:  
  
"Well." Crawford's voice said over the cell phone. "Were you able to recruit him?"  
  
"I'm afraid not." Schuldich answered. "Mr. Durev passed the test, but he refused to join us. Too bad, he would have been an excellent addition to Schwartz."  
  
"Regretful, but now we have more important matters at hand." Crawford said. "I need you to get back to Japan as soon as possible."  
  
"I'm taking the next flight back to Japan, and it leaves in a few hours." Schuldich replied. "So why the urgency?"  
  
"Ocelot contacted me earlier about a job from the Patriots." Crawford answered. "He also volunteered to get rid of a small bother of ours in the bargain, so I couldn't refuse."  
  
"Would this "small problem" happen to be old man Hazashi?" Schuldich asked.  
  
"Indeed. Now as for the details on the job, I'll gladly tell you when you get back. Also, Farfarello is recovering quicker than I expected. So we can begin the operation sooner."  
  
"Glad to hear that, boss. It means that I won't have to be bored when I get back."  
  
The Next Day: Japan Headquarters of FOXHOUND:  
  
"Sheesh, that flight was long." Tot said as they got off the plane. "I don't remember the last flight being that long."  
  
"That was because you were too engrossed by the story I was telling you to notice the time." Riku said. "I hope the two of you don't get too much jetlag from all that. School starts in two weeks."  
  
"School?" Nagi asked. "Since when-? Riku, did you have us enrolled somewhere without telling us?"  
  
"Sort of." Riku answered. "I was going to tell you, but it kind of slipped my mind."  
  
"In other words, yes." Nagi said with a sigh. "Alright, where did you enroll us and what grade level are we in?"  
  
"My school of course. The same grade level as mine." Riku replied. "The school's name is Daimon High School and it's got a very interesting extra curricular activity open to all of the students."  
  
"Hold on." Nagi said. "How were you able to get us into the same grade level as you?"  
  
"I had the colonel take care of that when I called him over the codec while you two were taking a snooze on the plane." Riku answered. "I just had it put that the two of you were home schooled and you decided to transfer to Daimon. Don't worry; you'll like the place. Anyway, I'd better explain a few things to you about your training later."  
  
The three of them stopped at an elevator and then Riku pushed the down button. The doors opened and they stepped in. Riku then pushed the button that would take the elevator down to the garage, and when it did they found Riku's car, which apparently had been repaired waiting for them.  
  
"Looks like Uncle Kurei had it dropped off here yesterday." Riku commented as soon as he saw the car. And then he turned to Nagi and Tot. "Well, let's get going."  
  
Later:  
  
"Hey, what was it that you said about training?" Tot asked as Riku drove towards his house.  
  
"Oh that." Riku said in reply, as if he just remembered it. "Well, I'll be training Nagi in how to use his powers for fighting. I should be able to get the principal's permission to use one of the old buildings on campus as a training hall. As for you, Tot, I've had my dad talk with my Uncle Tokiya about taking you on as a pupil. He's agreed to train you in swordsmanship."  
  
"I thought we would just stick with VR training." Nagi said. "Not that I don't mind the real thing."  
  
"That's because the real thing offers more aspects of training than VR can." Riku replied. "It's usually best to balance the two. Don't worry, it won't be as hectic with your schedules as you think."  
  
"When will I meet the person who's supposed to train me?" Tot asked.  
  
"You'll meet him next week." Riku answered. "For now, just use this week as time to relax and enjoy the summer break. You know, to go out on a date, go see a movie, that kind of stuff. I'm definitely going to enjoy the small bit of vacation I've got left."  
  
"Why am I not surprised?" Nagi asked. "Oh, by the way, how will your parents react to all of this?"  
  
"You don't have to worry about that." Riku assured. "I told them about this over the codec a while back, so you don't have to worry about anything. There's one thing though, Nagi, you'll have to move your stuff to my room; since we're going to be roommates from here on."  
  
"Why?" Nagi asked. "What's wrong with sleeping in the guestroom?"  
  
A sly grin appeared on Riku's face.  
  
"Oh, I see." He commented. "So you're already thinking of taking your relationship with Tot to that level already. Well, I don't have any problems with that, but I don't think either Mom or Dad would approve, so I'm afraid you'll just have to stick with dating until you turn eighteen."  
  
"Alright, you've made your point!" Nagi shouted, his face completely red.  
  
"So what was the question about?" Tot asked.  
  
"Oh, um, nothing. Just a little discussion on living arrangements." Nagi answered quickly. "It's just that Riku and I will be sleeping in the same room and you'll have the guest room all to yourself."  
  
"You and I could just share the room, you know." Tot suggested, causing Nagi's face to redden even more. "Why? Is there something wrong with that?"  
  
"Yeah, kinda." Nagi replied nervously. "You see, if a guy and a girl, who aren't siblings, share the same room, well, it's considered inappropriate."  
  
"But back when you were unconscious from you're fight with Schwartz, I stayed in the room that you were in until you woke up." Tot said. 'No one said that there was anything inappropriate about that."  
  
'Well, that was different." Nagi said. "You see, well, uh." Then he turned to Riku. "Riku, help me out, please?"  
  
"Oh it's not all that hard to explain." Riku said in reply. "You see, Tot, if a guy and a girl are alone in some place private for a while, most people assume that they're doing this and that. You know what I mean."  
  
"What do you mean by "this and that"?" Tot asked with a clueless expression completely clueless.  
  
"You remember that conversation you had with Aunt Neon about the birds and the bees?" Riku asked, obviously trying hard not to laugh.  
  
It took Tot a few minutes to connect the two conversations and when she did, her face reddened considerably.  
  
Riku suddenly felt something hit him hard on the head, and he looked up and saw Tot holding a paper fan above his head.  
  
"Hey, I'm driving here!" Riku said as he rubbed the spot where the harisen had hit him.  
  
"Serves you right, hentai meanie." Tot said.  
  
(Where the hell does she get those things?) Riku wondered as he drove on.  
  
One Week Later:  
  
"And here we are." Riku said to Nagi and Tot as they stood in front of a two-story house. "This is Uncle Tokiya and Aunt Fuuko's house, which is where Tot will be receiving her swordsmanship training; the major parts anyway. Well, let's see if they're home."  
  
And then Riku pressed his finger against the doorbell button and then kept it on the button so that the chimes kept playing continuously until the door was answered by a woman in her thirties with purple hair and wearing a tight sleeveless shirt and shorts that did little to conceal anything, and she had a really peeved look on her face.  
  
"Riku, how many times have I told you not to do that?" She asked angrily. "Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"  
  
"Why yes, auntie dear, and that's precisely why I do it." Riku answered with a smile. "So, is Uncle Tokiya home? I'm here to introduce him to his new pupil."  
  
"Yes, he's home." The woman answered. "And don't call me "auntie dear", you make me sound like an old lady." She was silent for a few minutes before going over and hugging Riku. "You big idiot, how have you been?"  
  
"Just fine, Aunt Fuuko." Riku replied. "By the way, I've heard that you and Uncle Tokiya are finally going to have a baby. That puts you almost a month behind Kaoru and Ganko. Congratulations."  
  
"Thanks." Fuuko replied. "But I bet you're going to wish you hadn't said that after a few months; when Tokiya has to draft you and Recca for help."  
  
"Hopefully, FOXHOUND will have a big mission for me to do by then." Riku said. "After being the helpful nephew to Uncle Kurei when Aunt Neon was having the twins, I'd say I wouldn't want to be in that position again. But I was proven wrong, when I had to do it again for Uncle Domon and Aunt Aki a few months later. Maybe since Kaoru and Ganko were formally part of the Uruha, Joker and Raiha could take over for me and Dad."  
  
"Don't count on it." Fuuko said with a smile. "And I bet Joker's going to wish that he had thicker armor when he gets Menou pregnant." And then she turned to Nagi and Tot. "So these two are your partners in FOXHOUND, huh? Kind of reminds me of how Recca, Yanagi, Domon, Tokiya, Kaoru, and I were twenty years ago. Ah well, I guess I'd better introduce these two to Tokiya, follow me."  
  
And the three of them followed Fuuko into the house. They then went up the stairs and then stopped at a door. Fuuko opened it to reveal what looked like a small dojo. Standing in the middle was a man in his late thirties swinging a strange looking sword with a blade that looked like it was made of ice. He was dressed in the standard outfit for swordsmanship training and had long brown hair. He then stopped, and the blade suddenly turned into water and fell to the ground leaving only the hilt in his hand. He then walked over to where Riku and co. were.  
  
"Well, it's about time you arrived, Riku." The man said and he looked at Nagi and Tot. "So which of these two am I supposed to train?"  
  
"Always quick to get to the point, typical you, Uncle Tokiya." Riku said in reply and then he pointed to Tot. "She's the one who you're going to train. Her name's Tot and she might have a talent for swordsmanship."  
  
"Might?" Tokiya asked. "What makes you think she does?"  
  
"Before I met her, Tot says that her weapon of choice was an umbrella." He then saw the curious look on Tokiya's face. "Don't ask me, ask Tot. Anyway, I figured that an umbrella couldn't be all that different from a sword so-."  
  
"You want me to train her." Tokiya finished. "Fine, but first let me see if she has the talent for it." And then he turned to Tot. "Would you please head to the middle of the room?"  
  
"Alright." Tot replied and then walked there. As she was doing this, Tokiya walked over to one of the racks on the wall and took down two bokutos (wooden swords). He then walked over to where Tot was and handed one of them to her.  
  
"Now grip the sword like it was your original weapon." He instructed, and Tot did. "Now swing it. Once." And she did.  
  
(Well, judging from that, I'd say that she does have the ability.) Tokiya thought. (That girl might actually have some talent.)  
  
"Well, did she qualify?" Riku asked.  
  
"With the right training, I should be able to make a competent swordswoman out of her." Tokiya replied. "Now swing the sword around like it was your old weapon."  
  
"Okay." Tot answered. And then she swung the sword around in a series of quick arcs until she finally stopped and held it in place. "Well, what do you think?"  
  
"I admit the quickness of your movements are impressive." Tokiya replied as he lifted his sword. "However." And he seemed to only lightly knock his blade against Tot's and hers clattered to the floor. Causing Tot to sweat drop as she looked at the fallen blade.  
  
"This may take a little work." Tokiya finished. "Tell me, Tot, what do you know about swordsmanship?"  
  
Tot had a clueless look on her face as she answered.  
  
"Um, the sharp end goes into the enemy?" She asked hopefully, causing everyone in the room to sweat drop.  
  
"I take it back." Tokiya said, putting a hand to his forehead with a sigh. "This is going to tale A LOT of work." And then he turned to where Riku was. "Alright, I'll start the training now. The rest of you please leave for now, I'll tell you when this is over."  
  
"Have fun, dear." Fuuko said with a smile and then escorted Riku and Nagi out.  
  
Outside the Training Hall:  
  
"Let me guess." Fuuko said to Riku as soon as they left the room. "You want to borrow the basement to use to train your friend, right?"  
  
"I'm afraid so." Riku answered, rubbing the back of his head. "It's important."  
  
Fuuko simply shook her head.  
  
"Alright." She replied. "Just don't blow it up like you did last time."  
  
"I didn't exactly blow it up." Riku said in attempt to defend himself. "The place just got badly burned."  
  
"Badly burned would be an understatement." Fuuko said flatly. "Look, just promise that you won't destroy the basement, please?"  
  
"I promise that the basement will be intact when we leave." Riku said as he held up his right arm. And then he turned to Nagi. "Alright, Nagi, let's begin the first phase of your training."  
  
"Did you really blow up the basement?" Nagi asked warily.  
  
"That was an accident." Riku replied. "Now come on, and don't worry, we won't be fighting just yet. Right now, these will simply be exercises in learning how to focus your powers."  
  
The Basement:  
  
"Now to begin the first part of your training." Riku said as he walked over to a bag of charcoal. He then opened it, took out a piece, and handed it to Nagi.  
  
"What do you want me to do with this?" Nagi asked.  
  
"I want you to float that thing in the air." Riku explained. "And when I tell you to, I want you to focus as much of your energy as you can on that piece of coal, as if you were going to crush it. Except I want you to be sure that it doesn't get crushed."  
  
"I can do that, though it's going to be hard since I'm doing two things at once." Nagi replied. "But it wouldn't be training if it wasn't hard, and I need to learn to use different aspects of my power at the same time so I can protect my friends and loved ones. So what exactly is the point of this?"  
  
"Oh it's simple." Riku answered. "We're going to try and turn this piece of charcoal into a diamond. As you know it takes a large amount of pressure and heat to do that. I'll supply the heat with my powers and you supply the pressure with yours."  
  
"You can't expect me to do this on my first try!" Nagi exclaimed.  
  
"Of course not." Riku said. "But I do expect you to be able to do this eventually."  
  
"One question. Do you think that this Gregory Kinezono could do this?"  
  
"Most definitely." Riku answered. "So, shall we begin?"  
  
"Ready when you are." Nagi replied. "Let's do this!"  
  
One Hour Later: Mikagami Mini-Dojo:  
  
"I think that's enough for now." Tokiya said to Tot, who was breathing heavily from exhaustion. "The next lesson will be tomor-."  
  
"I want to keep going, sensei." Tot said. "For at least another hour."  
  
"Don't be ridiculous." Tokiya replied. "You shouldn't overwork yourself on your first lesson."  
  
"But I need to get stronger so I won't be a burden to Nagi." Tot declared, while firmly gripping her bokuto. "I may not have special powers like him or Riku, but I will get strong enough so that I can help them. Last time, I couldn't defend myself against one of the members of Schwartz, and both Riku and Nagi nearly got themselves killed trying to protect me. I won't let that happen again. I won't be a burden to my friends!"  
  
Tokiya could see that Tot obviously wanted to keep going no matter how tired she got.  
  
(Well, at least this girl has the right motivation.) He thought. (Better motivation than I had for becoming a swordsman.)  
  
Tokiya then raised up his bokuto into a fighting stance.  
  
"Alright then." He said. "If you really want to continue, then come at me again!"  
  
Meanwhile: The Basement:  
  
"Damn it!" Nagi swore as the twentieth piece of coal turned to dust. "This is even harder than I thought it would be!" And then he looked at Riku. "Are you sure that this is even possible?"  
  
"I did something a little similar to this when I first started to train to use my powers." Riku said in reply. "I was given a whole block of titanium, and my task was to focus my power on that block until I successfully melted the thing."  
  
"And how long did that take?" Nagi asked.  
  
"A little over a year." Riku answered. "And it took me a whole month until I actually was able to get the metal to redden, and three more months for me to start melting the sides."  
  
"How long do you think it will take for me to do this?"  
  
Riku shrugged.  
  
"I really don't know." He replied. "Probably several months, but don't let it discourage you. Now let's continue." And he reached over to the charcoal bag and took out another piece.  
  
"So what are we going to do with the diamonds once I succeed in making them?" Nagi asked. "Don't tell me we're going to sell them."  
  
"While the idea is tempting, I'm afraid not." Riku answered. "I'll let you keep the first one you make, but the rest are going to be part of the second phase of training where you'll use your powers to grind those diamonds into powder."  
  
"That sounds like a real waste, if you ask me." Nagi said.  
  
"Look at it this way, Nagi." Riku explained. "Diamonds are valuable because of their rarity, right? And a lot of countries depend on diamonds as a major source for their economy. Now, if the two of us started making diamonds out of plain old coal and sold them, eventually, the value for diamonds would start to decrease dramatically."  
  
"I suppose that does make sense." Nagi said and then he rolled up his sleeves. "Alright, let's start again, if this will help me get strong enough to protect my friends, then I don't care how much I'm going to have to try till I get this right."  
  
Hours Later:  
  
It was nighttime by the time Riku, Nagi, and Tot had finished their training. Riku walked out of the house looking a little tired, but Nagi and Tot trudged out of the house looking like zombies.  
  
"Good night." Fuuko called to them. "And thank you for not destroying the basement."  
  
"Your welcome." Riku answered and the three continued to Riku's car.  
  
"My poor arms." Tot moaned. "And I have to do this every weekend too."  
  
"I know how you feel." Nagi said in agreement as he put his arm around Tot. "My head probably feels just as bad as your arms, and I don't even want to know what the combat training will be. Tell you what, Tot, when I succeed in that focusing training, I'll be sure to give you the first diamond I make as a present."  
  
"Oh Nagi." Tot said as she hugged him. "I really do love you."  
  
"I certainly hope so." Nagi replied and he looked over at Riku. "Now if only a certain partner of ours would do us a favor to compensate for our troubles."  
  
"Alright, I heard you." Riku said sarcastically. "To compensate for your aches and pains, I'll treat you to dinner. So where do you guys want to go?"  
  
"I think I've got an idea of where we should go." Tot said with a sinister smile on her face. "I hope you brought a lot of money."  
  
Later:  
  
"I hope you're satisfied." Riku said as they walked out of the Korean BBQ restaurant. "The both of you practically cleaned my whole wallet out."  
  
"You really shouldn't talk, Riku." Nagi said. "You ate just as much as we did."  
  
"I still feel like I was taken advantage of." Riku replied. "Oh well. Let's head home."  
  
One Week (and Five Training Sessions) Later:  
  
"So this is Daimon High School." Nagi said as he, Riku, and Tot entered the campus. "It sure looks normal to me."  
  
Nagi had gone to a few schools before when he was in Schwartz, but was rarely there for very long, since he almost frequently had to transfer until Crawford had decided that the whole thing was just a meaningless bother and ended Nagi's school life all together. So this would be the first time he went to a school as a regular student.  
  
"You say that now, but you'll change your mind soon, I assure you." Riku said with mischievous smile on his face. "Now let's get over to the club stands and grab some grub and souvenirs."  
  
"Club stands?" Tot asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that during major school events, such as the first day of school, major K-Fights, graduation festivals, and other things, the many clubs in this school have a tendency to make school festivals out of them."  
  
As they walked to the stands, both Nagi and Tot could see the bustling activity of the apparent school festival.  
  
"Hey, what do you guys do on the official school festival date?" Tot asked.  
  
"Hmm. Good question, Tot." Riku replied, causing both Nagi and Tot to sweat drop. "To be perfectly honest, I don't even know when the official school festival is. We have so many that it's hard to tell."  
  
"This has got to be the strangest school I've ever heard of." Nagi said as he looked around. "Does the faculty even make students study?"  
  
"Of course, we just happen to have these festivals a lot." Riku answered. "Though, I must admit, it does make studying a little harder than usual. Now let's be sure to stop at the cooking club; I've heard that the cooking theme for this festival is European Cuisine." And he dashed off looking for the stand.  
  
Nagi sweat dropped as he watched his friend leave.  
  
"For some reason, I think this school fits him like a glove." Nagi said as he shook his head, and then he turned to Tot. "Well, why don't we check out the festivities, Tot?"  
  
"Sure." Tot replied happily. "I guess this kind of makes it a date for us, then."  
  
"You're right, I guess it does." Nagi said with a smile, and then he took Tot's arm and they headed down the aisle of various stands looking at each one.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Hazashi was in a bad mood as his driver drove him over to his office. He had tried several times to contact Schwartz but had not received any response from them.  
  
(Damn it, where are those three?) He asked himself. (I specifically told Crawford that I would be contacting him soon about a major assignment. So why haven't I gotten any response from him?)  
  
Hazashi then noticed that the car had made a sudden turn and was heading in a different direction than he had requested.  
  
"Are you deaf? I requested that you drive to my office so why are-?" He stopped when he saw that the driver of the vehicle was not his usual driver, and also when he saw the revolver pointed at his forehead.  
  
"I can see why Crawford doesn't like you, Mr. Hazashi." Ocelot said with a sneer. "Even I don't like you and I've only known you for a few minutes. Oh, and as for your normal driver, I'm afraid he had to take an impromptu and permanent vacation." And then he cocked the weapon and prepared to fire.  
  
"You!" Hazashi exclaimed in recognition. "No!"  
  
Then the sound of the gun going off signaled his death.  
  
"Hmph." Ocelot snorted as he put his revolver away. "What a waste of time."  
  
Back at Daimon High School: Principal Todo's Office:  
  
"So these two new students are your associates at the charity organization you work for as well as your housemates." Principal Todo said as he read the two files at his desk. "I assume that they're also attending on a scholarship from this organization, like you."  
  
"That's basically it, sir." Riku replied, he was standing in front of the desk eating the food that he had just recently gotten from the cooking club stands. "Oh yeah, there's something I need to ask you."  
  
"Don't worry, we'll get to that soon." Todo said. "Right now, there's someone who wants to see you." And then he looked at the door to the office. "Mr. Kusanagi, you may come in."  
  
Riku looked and saw a boy his own age with dark blue hair, a unibrow, and tanned skin. He was wearing a red coat over a black shirt and white pants. He was also wearing a striped bandanna on his forehead. Riku immediately recognized him.  
  
"Hey, Shizuma, good to see you." He said. "So, how was your summer and why do you want to see me?"  
  
"Oh, summer was good." Shizuma replied. "Now it's time to finish that K-Fight we were supposed to have last year, except you chickened out at the last minute."  
  
"Whoa, I didn't chicken out." Riku said. "I had something important to do for the charity organization that I work for. No lie."  
  
"Oh please, you probably just didn't want the whole school to see your ass get kicked by me." Shizuma said and then he pointed his right index finger at Riku's face. "But this time there's no way you're getting out of this fight, ninja boy! I've made sure that the bout between you and me is the first K-Fight today!"  
  
"Seriously?" Riku asked, his eyes widening in happiness. "Well, let's get started. To the K-Fight Ring!"  
  
(And besides,) Riku thought. (It's not like I can tell him the real reason I wasn't at the K-Fight. The fact that I was taking out a terrorist group in Afghanistan is top secret, and who would believe it?)  
  
Meanwhile: Campus Grounds:  
  
"So this is the drama club's stand." Nagi noted as he looked at it. He noticed that the people there were giving a miniature performance that had a story that took place in the Sengoku Era. The acting was pretty good, and both he and Tot saw that a girl with long red hair, playing the part of a samurai, was one of the best of the group when it came to acting.  
  
When the short play was over, they both applauded and then moved on to the next stand.  
  
After a few minutes, they saw the red headed girl again, this time wearing her school uniform and her hair was tied back into a ponytail. A girl with long brown hair and glasses also accompanied her.  
  
"Hey, you're that girl who was in that play back at the drama club's stand." Tot said when they walked over to her. "That was some great acting and you did the part of a samurai well."  
  
"Thank you." The girl replied and she looked at Nagi and Tot. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you two before."  
  
"Yep. We're new." Tot replied. "My name's Tot and this is my boyfriend Nagi Naoe."  
  
'Pleased to meet you." Nagi said, extending his hand to the girl, who shook it.  
  
"I'm glad to meet you too." The girl replied. "My name's Ryoko Mitsurugi and over here is my friend Hitomi. So you're new students, right?"  
  
""Yeah." Nagi answered. "A friend of ours was supposed to tell us some stuff about the school, but he's disappeared on us. By the way, he mentioned something called a K-Fight. Do you know what he's talking about?"  
  
"Oh that." Ryoko said. "Well, it's sort of like a bout between two people either for sport or to settle differences. Really big ones end up becoming school events. It's pretty weird, but you'll get used to it eventually. Speaking of which, there's supposed to be free for all K-Fight starting in a few minutes, but since Shizuma will probably be there, I doubt anyone will even come close to winning."  
  
"Your attention please." A voice on the speaker announced the first K- Fight of the year will be beginning in five minutes. And in a surprise move by Principal Todo, the free for all match will be held until after a beginning exhibition match between well known K-Fight champion Shizuma Kusanagi and newcomer to the arena, Riku Hanabishi."  
  
"Nani?" All four of them shouted at the same time, causing them to turn and look at each other.  
  
"Do you know Riku?" Tot asked Ryoko.  
  
"Well, kinda." Ryoko replied. "Riku helps out the drama club from time to time with the special effects."  
  
"The film club too." Hitomi added. "Unfortunately, he isn't at school all the time, I think it's because he has some kind of job with a charity group of some kind. I didn't think he was a fighter though."  
  
"He isn't." Ryoko said. "Or at least I've never seen him at a K-Fight before." And then she turned to Nagi and Tot. "How do you know him?"  
  
"We live in the same house as he does." Tot answered. "Still, I'm kind of worried for the guy that Riku's fighting, he's probably going to get beaten up."  
  
"And what makes you think that?" Ryoko asked, her tone of voice suddenly defensive.  
  
"Well, Riku is pretty strong." Tot answered. "Is the other guy also strong?"  
  
"Definitely." Ryoko replied.  
  
"Is he your boyfriend?" Tot asked.  
  
"Where the hell did you get that idea?" Ryoko shouted, her face slightly red. "I was just curious, that's all!"  
  
"Sorry." Tot said. "Hey why don't we go watch the fight and see who's stronger."  
  
"It's better than just doing nothing." Ryoko agreed and then she turned to Hitomi. "Hey Hitomi, could you find Megumi, Xiaoxing, Asuka, and Aoi? I think they might be interested in this."  
  
"Okay." Hitomi replied. "I'll meet you at the stadium." And with that, she left.  
  
"Well, I guess we'd better head there too." Nagi said. (Sheesh. What kind of crazy school is this?)  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. Headquarters:  
  
"I can assure you that you will not be disappointed in our employment, Mr. Mikage." Crawford said to Kagami Mikage. "My men and I are truly honored to help you in the completion of C-Project."  
  
"I look forward to seeing the outcome of the performance of your duties, then, Crawford." Kagami replied. "I hope that you and your men make good replacements of one of my top agents, who, I'm sorry to say, left our organization."  
  
"Thank you, sir." Crawford said and he bowed before leaving.  
  
As soon as he left the room, Kagami looked over at a man standing beside him. He had long dark hair and was wearing a strange fighting uniform.  
  
"Lee, I want you to keep an eye on that assassin and his group." Kagami ordered. "I suspect that the Patriots may have sent them to keep an eye on our activities."  
  
"But I thought that one of the purposes of C-Project was so you could join their ranks." Lee said. "Why would they send someone to-?"  
  
"Because they don't trust me." Kagami answered. "And they'd be fools to do so. Also, becoming one of the Patriots is only one of my goals. Just keep an eye on Schwartz for now."  
  
"Of course, sir." Lee replied and he left the room.  
  
(C-Project is far too valuable for me to let them interfere.) Kagami thought. (Whether or not I do become one of the Patriots, I will see this project through till the end.)  
  
AN: And that's the end of Chapter 8! Expect a lot of action to take place when Riku fights with Shizuma and more details on Schwartz's involvement with Mikage International will surface. Please review until then.  
  
PS: I've gone back and fixed the text for the previous chapters, so feel free to reread them if you want. I've also fixed the error with Tot's hair color, so disregard Chapter 7's omake. 


	9. Chapter 9: KFights and VR Training

AN: And here comes chapter 9! I hope you enjoy this one. Oh yeah, I'd better give some story details on FoR so those of you who have seen it won't be confused.  
  
FoR Story Details: All right, this story takes place twenty years after the events of FoR, in that time space a lot of things happen. First off, Recca and Kurei settle their differences and form a sibling relationship; even though they do disagree on a lot of things. As mentioned in chapter 7, all of the madogou are found and accounted for. Also, the whole immortality problem with Kagero is solved; I'll leave that to your imaginations for now. And that's the story detail on FoR. Sorry if it sucks.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own MGS, FoR, WK, NGE, RBHS, or AnC; I only own Riku and the story. Also, Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki belong to ShardclawKusanagi, Garland Durev belongs to TempestDynasty, and Lt. Reese and James Masterson belong to RuneKnightPictures. Don't expect to see them in this chapter of the fanfiction, for now they'll only be mentioned. By the way, some of the attacks that Riku is going to use are from the great manga/anime series Naruto.  
  
Chapter 9: K-Fights and VR Training  
  
(How much longer till the fight starts?) Riku wondered as he looked over to where the audience for the upcoming K-Fight was sitting. Riku was leaning against one of the pillars for the ring and Shizuma was doing the same right across from him. (I wonder if Nagi and Tot heard the announcement for the K-Fight, which reminds me, I should have told them what a K-Fight is. Oh well.)  
  
Meanwhile: Outside the Stadium:  
  
"Wow! I didn't think that there'd be this many people coming to see this." Tot said as she looked around. She, Nagi, and Ryoko were standing in a huge crowd waiting to be let into the stadium. Tot then turned to Ryoko. "Is this Shizuma guy famous or something?"  
  
"Sort of." Ryoko answered offhandedly. "Partially because of his fighting skills, but I think it's because that idiot enjoys showing off. By the way, what kind of fighting skills does Riku use anyway?"  
  
"He uses ninja skills." Nagi replied causing a reaction from Ryoko. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, but if your friend is anything like the ninja I know, then Riku's going to have a really hard time with fighting Shizuma." Ryoko answered.  
  
"You mean there's another ninja that goes to this school?" Nagi asked. "Who is he?"  
  
"The ninja happens to be a girl." Ryoko replied. "Her name's Asuka Kuronari, and she's one of the people I sent Hitomi to get." Then she looked over to the side. "Well, good timing they're here."  
  
Nagi and Tot turned and saw Hitomi walk up to them followed by four other girls. The first one had hair that was pink in the front and black in the back; the second one was shorter than the others with hair that was blonde in the front and black in the back, and the black part was drawn back into a long pigtail; the third one had short black hair, and the fourth one had short brown hair and the hair covered the left side of her face.  
  
The first one immediately saw them and then looked at Ryoko.  
  
"Are those two new students?' She asked and Ryoko nodded. "So what is it about the next K-Fight that's so interesting? Don't tell me the rumors are true and you've fallen for that Shizuma guy."  
  
"Of course not!" Ryoko shouted her face slightly reddened. "The reason is because the guy Shizuma is fighting is supposed to be pretty strong. At least according to those two." And she gestured towards Nagi and Tot. "In fact, the new fighter is a friend of mine from the drama club named Riku Hanabishi, and, also according to those two, he's supposed to be a ninja." This caused a reaction from the third girl.  
  
Nagi immediately saw this and looked at the girl.  
  
"I guess you're Asuka Kuronari, right?" Nagi said. Which caused the girl to turn her attention to him.  
  
"Yes, I am." She answered. The expression on her face showing interest. "So, is this Riku strong?"  
  
"Of course he is." Tot said. "Nagi can vouch for that, he's seen Riku train. In fact, he's even trained with him."  
  
"Well, I'm definitely going to enjoy watching this match." Asuka said. (And this guy might be the first real ninja I've seen since Kyoichi Kunugi.)  
  
"Oh, before we go into the stadium, I should introduce you to the others." Ryoko said and she introduced the girls in the order they arrived in. "This is Megumi Momoi, she's a fist fighter and a very strong one too; over here is Xiaoxing Huang, she's an exchange student from China, you've already met Asuka; and over here is Aoi Asahina, she works for the sponsor of our group."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Nagi said extending his hand outwards. "I'm Nagi Naoe and this is my girlfriend Tot. So, why don't we head into the stadium before the seats are filled?"  
  
"Good idea." Asuka agreed. "I definitely want to see if this Riku Hanabishi is a real ninja or not."  
  
Meanwhile: In the Stadium:  
  
"Well it's about time." Riku said as he saw people entering the stadium and taking their seats. Then he turned to Shizuma. "So, you ready for our fight, Shizuma?"  
  
"What do you think?" Shizuma asked sarcastically. "Of course I am, and I'm just as bored as you are. So tell me, why did you back out of our fight last time?"  
  
"I told you, I had some important business with the organization I work for." Riku replied. "I really didn't have any choice in the matter."  
  
"You're definitely hiding something from me." Shizuma said. "But most of what you said seems to be true." Then he looked around the stadium. "It won't be long until the stadium is full and that announcer girl starts the fight. You nervous?"  
  
"Nervous?" Riku asked smiling in anticipation. "I'm completely excited. I can tell I'm going to enjoy this fight, win or lose."  
  
In the Stadium Seats:  
  
"Well, it looks like the fight's about to start." Ryoko noted as she watched the two fighters in the ring. "Now all we need to do is wait for Natsumi to call for the fight to start."  
  
"Natsumi?" Nagi asked.  
  
"She's the announcer for the K-Fights." Ryoko explained. And then she pointed to a girl with short blonde hair walking towards the ring. "Here she comes right now."  
  
Stadium Ring:  
  
Natsumi calmly picked up the microphone and started speaking.  
  
"And now, the first K-Fight of the new school year begins with a surprise exhibition bout between Shizuma Kusanagi and newcomer to the ring, Riku Hanabishi!" She announced. "For those of you who don't know, I'm Natsumi Fujishima, the announcer for this fight! Now that that's settled, fighters, you may begin!"  
  
Both Riku and Shizuma then walked towards each other until they were facing each other with only a foot of space between them.  
  
"Well, you heard the announcer girl, let's begin." Shizuma said.  
  
"Ready when you are." Riku replied with a smile. "Just be sure to keep your eye on me." And then he suddenly vanished.  
  
(Where did he-?) And then Shizuma saw Riku descending towards him from above and quickly blocked his incoming punch. Shizuma then swung his right fist at Riku as a counterattack, but Riku dodged and then landed a kick against Shizuma's side. Causing him to falter slightly.  
  
Then, Riku suddenly felt a force hit him hard on the side of his head and went sailing a few feet back before landing on the floor of the ring. He looked and saw Shizuma standing there with his left fist raised, indicating that was what had hit Riku.  
  
Riku rubbed the area where he had just been struck and smiled.  
  
"Nice punch." He commented. "No way I could stand up to another one of those and come back for more. Time for me to change tactics." And he reached into his pocket side pockets with each hand and pulled out two long wooden blades painted black. Suddenly they separated into a four bladed wooden shuriken.  
  
Shizuma obviously wasn't very impressed.  
  
"So you're going to resort to using weapons on me, Riku?" He asked with disappointment. "Sheesh. And I thought you were a strong fighter."  
  
"Don't worry, I guarantee that you won't be disappointed." And Riku started spinning the shuriken until they were blurs. Then he drew them back.  
  
"I dare you to catch these if you can!" Riku shouted before throwing them, and they spun towards their target each making a loud "whiiirrr" as it spun.  
  
Shizuma grinned confidently.  
  
"Easy enough." He said and then thrust his hands forward and caught the incoming shuriken with ease. That was when he realized his mistake.  
  
Two more shuriken, identical to the previous ones, struck Shizuma hard in the lower chest, repeatedly pummeling him until the wooden blades finally snapped. Shizuma bent over breathing heavily from the attack.  
  
The Stands:  
  
"In a stunning display, Riku Hanabishi has somehow used a multiple shuriken attack on Shizuma Kusanagi!" Natsumi announced. "How will this affect the outcome of the fight?"  
  
"This guy must be really good if he can use the shadow shuriken technique." Asuka said causing everyone to turn to her.  
  
"Shadow shuriken?" Ryoko asked. "How does that work?"  
  
"It's a complicated illusion technique that's hard to master." Asuka explained. "In order for it to work, you need two shuriken that look completely identical. Then you need to throw them at the exact right time so the second shuriken spins in place of the first shuriken's shadow."  
  
"Could you do that?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"I don't know." Asuka answered. "I've never tried. I'm more used to regular throwing star shuriken than I am to Fuuma Clan shuriken. The fact that this guy can use a double shadow shuriken technique means that he's no amateur ninja. He might even be stronger Kunugi."  
  
"That's strong." Ryoko agreed. "But I still think Shizuma is stronger."  
  
"We'll have to see." Nagi said and then turned to Tot. "Who do you think will win?"  
  
"I don't know, they're both pretty strong." Tot replied. "It's obvious that this Shizuma has better physical strength than Riku does, which is why he's keeping his distance, but Riku is faster than Shizuma is."  
  
"So the fight will depend on who has the better skills." Ryoko finished. "There's one thing I know for sure, though. I bet those two are having the time of their lives down there."  
  
The Ring:  
  
"That was a really neat trick." Shizuma commented as he straightened up and then he looked at Riku with a smile on his face. "You may not be very strong when it comes to hand to hand fighting, but you obviously have the inventiveness to make up for it. You got anymore tricks up your sleeve?"  
  
"I thought you'd never ask." Riku replied and then he brought his hands together. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" And suddenly seven Rikus appeared in place of where one of them was standing.  
  
The Stands:  
  
"He can use a replication technique too!" Asuka exclaimed.  
  
"So what?" Ryoko asked. "It's no big thing, it's only an illusion type technique."  
  
'This isn't like a typical replication technique." Aoi said suddenly. "Take a good look, Ryoko, can you tell which one is the actual Riku?"  
  
Ryoko looked at the seven Rikus and then shook her head.  
  
"You're right." She admitted. "I can't tell. If I was closer to him, I probably could but at this distance it's practically impossible."  
  
"But that still doesn't change the fact that only one of them is real and the rest are illusions." Megumi added. "I don't think that Kusanagi will be easily confused by that trick."  
  
"That might not be what Riku's planning." Nagi said. "I think that the replicas are for a different reason."  
  
The Ring:  
  
"Trying to confuse me with illusions, huh Riku?" Shizuma asked as he looked at each Riku. "It won't work, the moment I hit one of them, or you hit me, I'll know which ones are fake and which one is you."  
  
"I wouldn't be so confidant, Shizuma." All seven Rikus said at the same time, and then they dashed towards him as one.  
  
The first one that reached him immediately jumped forward and hit Shizuma on the left side of the head.  
  
"Well it's obvious who the real one is!" Shizuma shouted and he swung at the Riku that had hit him only to have his fist pass through him and the fake Riku disappeared. And suddenly, Shizuma felt Riku's fist slam into his stomach. He then swung at Riku only to have the same result as before.  
  
Stadium Seats:  
  
"How is he doing that?" Ryoko asked as she saw Shizuma once again get hit by Riku only to take out another illusion, and she looked at Asuka. "Don't tell me those replicas are all solid."  
  
"No, they're not." Asuka replied her eyes fixed on the continuing battle. "Riku is using two techniques to pull this off. First, he's using the ninja replication technique to confuse Kusanagi, then Riku attacks him and when Kusanagi tries to counterattack, Riku simply uses a substitution jutsu to put the replica in place of him."  
  
"So basically, it's an attack and quickly get out of the way trick, huh?" Ryoko concluded then she looked at the fight and then blinked. "I think I just found a flaw in Riku's strategy."  
  
"You mean when he runs out of copies?" Nagi asked. "I don't think that's a real problem since Riku can just make more of them."  
  
"No. It isn't that." Ryoko answered. "The problem is that Riku is using an attack pattern that's too predictable. Eventually, Shizuma should be able to see through it and then Riku will have to change his strategy."  
  
The Ring:  
  
Suddenly Riku felt a large force hit him hard in the stomach, sending him back a few feet. He then looked over at Shizuma who stood there smiling at him.  
  
"So you saw through my attacks." Riku commented, also with a smile. "There aren't very many people who have been able to do that successfully, ya know. This fight has definitely been worth my time."  
  
"I'm not entirely sure if I feel the same way." Shizuma replied. "First off, your attacks are more like magic tricks than anything else, and once the trick is uncovered it's not much of a trick anymore. Secondly, you're punches and kicks aren't very much to brag about."  
  
"Ninja, remember." Riku said pointing at himself. "Anyway, you're attacks are strong, but if you can't hit me with them they count for nothing."  
  
"Don't think that I just have close range attacks. I've got one all range attack that you couldn't dodge on your best day."  
  
"Really?" Riku asked with undisguised interest. "Why don't you put it to the test then? I'd like to see this technique of yours."  
  
"Fine, but if I use this technique on you, you're going to be in for a world of hurt." Shizuma warned. "You still want me to use it?"  
  
"Why not?" Riku asked in reply. "Let's see this attack of yours, and don't disappoint me."  
  
"As long as you remember that you asked for it." And then Shizuma held his right arm to the side and suddenly a flame surrounded his right hand.  
  
Riku's eyes widened in surprise. Whatever technique Shizuma was going to use on him, this was the one Riku hadn't expected.  
  
(This is...) Riku thought. (Shizuma's a flame master too.) He looked at Shizuma's flaming hand. (It isn't a dragon type flame, so I guess I'll just have to find out which one it is when he uses it on me.)  
  
"So, what do you think?" Shizuma asked. "You sure you don't want to back out now?"  
  
"And miss an attack like this, forget it. But tell me, how did you learn this attack?"  
  
"I stumbled onto it a few years ago while I was training. I don't know what it is, but I decided to incorporate it into my fighting techniques."  
  
(So he stumbled on to it by accident.) Riku thought. (No wonder he doesn't use a tekkou to contain his powers; his flame isn't on that level.)  
  
"All right, bring it on!" He shouted.  
  
"You got it!" Shizuma replied and he swung his hand forward, sending the flame in Riku's direction. "Infernal Tiger!!"  
  
Riku watched as the incoming flame took the form of a large tiger.  
  
(So it's a tiger, a formidable one, but nowhere near as strong as the ryu or the phoenix.) And then he crossed his arms across his face and stood in a defensive position as the flame hit him with a huge explosion.  
  
There were a few minutes of awed silence before the crowd started cheering, since it seemed obvious that Shizuma had won the fight.  
  
Stadium Seats:  
  
"Sheesh! That was overkill." Ryoko said as she looked at the smoking are where Riku had been. Then she turned to Nagi and Tot, who were still looking at the stadium ring. "Well, the fight's obviously over."  
  
"Don't be so sure." Nagi replied with a confident smile. "Wait till the smoke clears."  
  
"Nagi, I've seen Shizuma use that attack before." Ryoko said. "And there's no way that Riku could still be standing after taking an attack like that head on."  
  
"Then you're in for a surprise, Ryoko-san." Tot said and then she saw that the smoke was starting to clear. "Take a look."  
  
"What the...?" Ryoko said in surprise as she looked. And the reactions from the rest of the Shinsengumi were similar.  
  
The Ring:  
  
The smoke cleared to reveal Riku standing where he was when the blast had hit him. He then lowered his arms, revealing that, aside from the fact that the front of his school uniform was badly burnt; Riku was virtually unharmed by the previous attack.  
  
Shizuma's eyes widened as soon as he saw this, but it wasn't from surprise but excitement.  
  
"Now this is where it gets interesting." He said and he looked at Riku. "You're the first person to take my Infernal Tiger like that and end up unharmed."  
  
"I wouldn't exactly say, "Unharmed"." Riku replied and he looked at his left arm and winced in pain as he moved it. "The force of impact of that attack of yours really did a number on my arm. Fortunately, my right arm was spared." And he pulled back the sleeve of his uniform to reveal his tekkou.  
  
"Protective gear?" Shizuma asked.  
  
"Nah. It's more like a lucky charm that I've had since I was a kid." As he was talking, Riku moved both of his arms behind his back and drew the kanji's for two of the ryu he needed. (Homura for the power boost and Rui for an illusion to conceal the attack.) As soon as he had finished, Riku brought his arms back in front.  
  
"Well, I guess we should decide this with one single attack." Riku continued. "I hit you with everything I've got and you do the same, and whoever can stand up after that wins. You game?"  
  
"Fine, but I hope your punch does more damage than the last ones." And then Shizuma charged forward, his fist raised to strike.  
  
Riku smirked and charged forward too.  
  
Their fists both met their opponents heads as soon as they reached one another. Time seemed to momentarily stop for a second before the two of them fell to the ground from the force of the blow inflicted upon them. They both lay there for a few minutes until finally, Shizuma started to get up, and Riku followed. They both struggled for a few minutes until Shizuma stood on his feet two whole seconds before Riku did.  
  
Riku looked over at his friend and smiled.  
  
"Well, those were the terms." He said to Shizuma. "You win."  
  
Later: Outside of the Stadium:  
  
"That was quite a fight." Nagi said as he and Tot followed Riku back towards the club stands. "So is Shizuma a flame master like you."  
  
"Not like me." Riku replied. "A flame master's flame comes in the form of some type of creature. Shizuma's happens to be a tiger. The flame of my family is a bit more complicated. The spirits of the previous flame masters of the Hokage clan reside in the ryu and Uncle Kurei's flame has at least one spirit that embodies his flame."  
  
"I'm not even going to ask how that works." Nagi said with a shake of his head. "So ghosts live in your flames."  
  
"They're not exactly ghosts." Riku replied. "Actually, I don't know what exactly to call them, but let's get back to the original topic. Yes, Shizuma is a flame master, but it seems like he came upon his powers by accident, so his flame isn't very powerful compared to mine."  
  
"Is that why his attack didn't hurt you very much?" Tot asked.  
  
"That and also flame masters can't be harmed by fire, at least not critically." Riku answered. "Anyway, we've got about half an hour until classes start so let's enjoy the rest of the festivities while there's still time."  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage International HQ:  
  
"So these are the guardinals of the Mikage conglomerate." Crawford noted as he, Schuldich, and Farfarello looked around the room at the people in the room. There were five of them, including a man of Chinese descent named Wei Fei Lee, who was apparently the commander of the group. "Very interesting."  
  
""I'm glad you think so." Lee replied simply. "The guardinals are a group of elite agents, like you and your group, that have been recruited from around the world to join C-Project. Our assignment is to capture C- Genomes and protect key personnel of Mikage International."  
  
"I see." Crawford said. "Would you introduce my men and I to our new colleagues."  
  
"Of course." Lee replied. He then gestured to a boy in his early teens with short black hair that appeared to be of Indonesian descent. "This boy is Asamu Bagte, one of our earliest recruits. A very fine gunman and a professional assassin." He then turned his attention to a group of three men standing in the corner. He started with a man in his forties with long black hair and Australian descent. He had a large boomerang strapped to his back and a large brown hawk was perched on his shoulder. "He is called Slasher Hawk. He specializes in boomerangs and other throwing weapons." Then he gestured toward a man also in his forties with long gray hair and a large mustache. He wore a fireproof outfit and had a large flamethrower attached to his back. "That is Pyro Bison, a master at explosives as well as pyrotechniques." Then he gestured to the last one; a man in his thirties with brown hair wearing a black and white sneaking suit. "This is one of our best, Black Arts Viper; he's second to me in rank among the guardinals."  
  
"So, with us as your newest additions to your group, this makes the guardinals the most impressive collection of talented agents outside of FOXHOUND and Dead Cell." Schuldich said. "This is bound to very entertaining."  
  
Lee looked over at the members of Schwartz suspiciously.  
  
(Those three are dangerous.) He thought. (Far too dangerous for me to leave them alone to their own devices. I'll have Viper keep an eye on them and report any unusual activity from those three.)  
  
Later:  
  
Crawford stood in the hallway waiting until the person he was supposed to meet arrived. He then saw Viper walk by, and as he did, he made a simple gesture towards Crawford, which was the signal to follow him. Crawford stood there for a minute, as if he hadn't been paying attention, and then followed Viper to a secluded room down the hallway.  
  
"Are you sure that no one can listen in on our conversation?" Crawford asked as soon as the door closed behind him.  
  
"Of course, sir." Viper answered. "The room has been sound proofed and I took steps to insure that the security would be a little relaxed around this point."  
  
"Good, now tell me what orders I have from the Wiseman's Committee?"  
  
"I have them here." And Viper took out a disk and handed it to Crawford. "This contains your current orders for now. I'll give you the rest when they arrive."  
  
"Thank you." Crawford said as he took the disk and put it in his pocket. "By the way, I thought there were four of your group."  
  
"Unfortunately, Owl was killed when she got in the crossfire of a battle between two C-Genomes. One of which being Mikage's primary objectives, Aya Mikage aka Ceres."  
  
"I've been briefed on this girl and her powers." Crawford replied. "So what are the Patriots' designs on this one?"  
  
"Until she regains her hagaromo, the Patriots only want data on her and the other C-Genomes." Viper replied. "Remember, for now your objective is the same as mine. Pretend to be the loyal soldier to these guys and keep an eye on Kagami Mikage."  
  
"I thought he was the next candidate to replace Patriot number seven."  
  
"Yes, but the Patriots don't trust him. Kagami's reports on C-Project so far have been far too edited for the Patriots' comfort. We're to keep an eye on him in case he tries any funny business."  
  
"Like challenge the Patriots?" Crawford scoffed. "I doubt he'd be stupid enough to challenge them with a few people unusual abilities, but my men and I will be certain to keep an eye on him just in case."  
  
"Do that." Viper said. "Now, I'd better return to my post before Lee becomes suspicious."  
  
"I trust that you won't sell us out to Kagami." Crawford said as Viper left. "I'd hate for our partnership to end like that." And then the door closed.  
  
Crawford then looked walked out of the room towards his quarters.  
  
(It's strange that Ocelot would give me an assignment that he would normally have taken himself.) Crawford thought. (I don't know what he's up to, but it would have to be bigger than this if he'd rather focus on that task and hand this one to me.)  
  
Meanwhile: Daimon High:  
  
(I wonder how Riku was able to take my Infernal Tiger like that without a single burn on his body.) Shizuma wondered as he sat down in his seat. (Not only that, his physical strength suddenly jumped up in power when he punched me.)  
  
"Still thinking about that match with Riku?" Ryoko asked. "What's the big deal about it? You won after all."  
  
"It's not that." Shizuma replied. "It's just that there were a number of things that happened during that fight that were... well unusual."  
  
"Unusual? Well, I do admit that Riku coming though that fire attack of yours unharmed was strange, but that was probably from his defense."  
  
"That's where you're wrong, Ryoko. After Riku came out of that attack, the only thing burned was his uniform. His skin wasn't the least bit burnt and neither was his hair. Not only that, but..." And he explained the whole thing with Riku's sudden burst of strength.  
  
"Are you sure he wasn't using some kind of steroid?" Ryoko asked as soon as Shizuma finished talking.  
  
"If it had been something like that, I'd have able to tell." Shizuma answered. "It was something else, but the only question is what?"  
  
"Magic, maybe?" Riku said from behind surprising the both of them.  
  
"When did you get here?" They both asked at the same time.  
  
"A few minutes ago." Riku replied simply. "I listened to a bit of your conversation, and I'm quite offended that you'd think that I would use steroids in a fight."  
  
"If it wasn't steroids then what was it?" Ryoko asked. "And why didn't you tell anyone that you were a fighter?"  
  
"You never asked." Riku answered. "And as for my power boost, well..."  
  
"What is it?" Shizuma asked. And both he and Ryoko drew in closer to hear what Riku had to say.  
  
"Well, the truth behind that happens to be..." And Riku paused.  
  
"What?" Both Ryoko and Shizuma asked in unison.  
  
"A secret." Riku finished causing the both of them to fall over.  
  
"You're enjoying this aren't you, Riku?" A new voice asked. Both Ryoko and Shizuma saw that the speaker was Nagi sitting a seat across from them with Tot seated in the seat in front of him.  
  
"Hey, aren't you two..." Ryoko said as she recognized both of them.  
  
"Yep. The new students." Tot answered. "And it looks like we're classmates now, Ryoko-san."  
  
(Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be a long year?) Ryoko thought.  
  
Later: The School Grounds:  
  
"So this is the building that you and I are going to train in?" Nagi asked as he looked at the old run down concrete building. It looked like it had been a gym at one time. "Are you sure we can train in this place without destroying it?"  
  
"Actually, Nagi, that's the general idea." Riku answered.  
  
"Huh?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Principal Todo said we could have this run down old gym if we destroyed it by the end of the school year." Riku explained. "A mutual benefit really, we get a place to train that we don't have to repair after each session and the school saves money."  
  
"Why did I agree to this?" Nagi asked. "All right let's go in."  
  
As they walked to the door Nagi noticed a large sign above it.  
  
" "Property of the FOXHOUND Club. Do Not Enter."" Nagi read and sweat dropped as he did. He then turned to Riku. "You do realize that you're practically advertising who you are."  
  
"How many people here, besides you, me, and Tot know that FOXHOUND's been reformed?" Riku asked. "Not very many." And then he opened the door. "Now let's get to training. The first thing we need to work on is your using your powers to attack and defend and how to alternate between them quickly."  
  
"All right. Let's begin." Nagi agreed and the two of them walked into the old gym.  
  
Meanwhile: Daimon High's Kendo Training Dojo:  
  
Ryoko stood in the training hall swinging her bokuto rhythmically. Usually, no one bothered her during training, so it was a surprise when someone suddenly spoke to her.  
  
"Um...excuse me, Ryoko-san." A girl's voice said. "I was wondering if you could help me."  
  
Ryoko turned around and saw that the speaker was Tot. She was wearing the standard kendo-training outfit and she was carrying a bokuto too.  
  
"So you're in the kendo club too, huh?" Ryoko said. "So what do you need me to help you with?"  
  
"I was wondering if you could train me." Tot replied. "I've heard how great a swordswoman you are and I thought that I could learn a lot from you."  
  
"Thank you." Ryoko said. "But I don't know if I can train you, I've never trained anyone actually."  
  
"Please?" Tot asked, her eyes pleading. "Pretty please?"  
  
"Fine, but don't come crying to me if you think the training's too tough."  
  
5 Days Later: FOXHOUND HQ in Japan: VR Training Room:  
  
"So, what do you think of your new sneaking suits?" Riku asked as soon as Nagi and Tot entered the training room from the locker room.  
  
Nagi's sneaking suit was a completely black version of the skull suit and Tot's was a red version of the skull suit.  
  
"It's a little tight around the torso," Nagi replied. "But I guess that's to be expected from what I read about these kinds of suits." Then he looked over at Tot and his face reddened considerably when he saw that the skin tightness of the suits did little to hide anything, especially in Tot's case.  
  
Tot noticed Nagi looking at her and then spoke.  
  
"What's wrong, Nagi?" She asked. "Is there something wrong with my suit?"  
  
"What? Uh... no nothing's wrong." Nagi stammered trying hard not to look at certain areas that the suit barely hid.  
  
"He just likes how you look in the suit." Riku said with a sly grin. "Right, Nagi?"  
  
Nagi looked over at Riku angrily.  
  
"I don't want to hear a word from you about this, Riku." He warned.  
  
"Why Nagi," Riku said innocently. "What makes you think I was going to say anything at all?"  
  
Later:  
  
After a few hours, Riku had shown Nagi and Tot the basic modes, which included sneaking mode, weapons mode, and elimination mode.  
  
"You guys sure cover almost everything when it comes to VR training." Tot noted.  
  
"Oh we cover a lot more than just these modes." Riku said. "Now we move on to my favorite mode type; the variety mode. In fact, I'll set it to one of my favorites." Then Riku pressed a few buttons and the room changed.  
  
Riku, Nagi, and Tot now stood on a recreation of the Arsenal Gear platform, where Raiden had taken down 25 of the mass-produced Metal Gear RAYs.  
  
"Watch closely." Riku instructed. "The difficulty setting is to extreme mode, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes." Nagi answered. "So what are you going to fight?"  
  
"A metal gear." Riku answered. And then he turned when he heard the sounds of the approaching enemies. "Three metal gears, to be more precise."  
  
Suddenly, three large animal like mechas appeared. They each let out a large mechanical howl as they prepared to attack.  
  
"Now to have some fun." Riku said and suddenly dashed towards the closest RAY. The metal gear instantly sensed him and fired its rail gun at Riku, who simply dodged to the side of it and then formed a fireball in his right hand. He then threw it at the metal gear's leg causing its mouth to open, and as soon as that happened Riku formed another fireball and threw it into the RAY's open mouth. The gear faltered a little before jumping up onto the platform and firing its water cannon at Riku, who threw another fireball at the RAY's head. This time the RAY stumbled before jumping off the platform and disappearing.  
  
The other two RAYs then jumped onto the platform them selves and charged towards their target. Riku simply smiled and dashed towards the closest one, all the while drawing the kanji for "break".  
  
"Saiha!" He called and the sickle like fire blade appeared at his wrist. Riku then slashed at the leg of the first RAY he reached, causing it to topple onto the ground from imbalance with a loud crash.  
  
Then Riku turned to the last RAY and made a gesture that caused the fire blade at his side to disappear. He then drew the kanji for "slide" and then the kanji for "break" again.  
  
"Nadare! Saiha!" He called and then multiple, boomerang like, fireballs shot towards the RAY, slicing it to pieces. Then the room returned to its former state.  
  
"Too easy." Riku said and then looked over at his two friends, who were gaping at him in amazement.  
  
"Riku, just how many of those can you take down with your abilities?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Last time I checked, I think it was fifteen." Riku answered. "But compared to Greg, Raiden, and Snake's scores, mine is nothing."  
  
"You're not expecting us to...?" Tot asked hesitantly.  
  
"Of course not." Riku replied. "Not until you two have gotten strong enough in my book." Suddenly a thought came to mind. "Hey, would the two of you like to try out this one special variety mode that I think you can handle."  
  
"Really?" Tot asked. "What is it?"  
  
"A surprise." Riku answered. "This will only work if the two of you do this one, so what do you say?"  
  
"Sure, why not." Nagi replied. (But why do I have a sudden bad feeling about this?)  
  
(Heh heh, this is gonna be fun.) Riku thought to himself as he exited the room and set the mode to the one he had in mind.  
  
AN: And that's chapter 9. I hope you liked it. Now before you all start sending me reviews with "canon error" written all over them, let me explain. Yes, I know the story for Ghost Babel does not exist in harmony with the MGS storyline. So I decided to just use the villains of that game for my story to make additions to it. For example, in Ceres, Lee does mention that he's one of a group of special agents hired by the Mikage but he's the only one that appears in the anime and Asamu is a manga only character. So in other words, Ghost Babel never happened and the members of Black Chamber are now members of the Mikage's guardinals. For those of you who have seen Ceres, the crossover is based primarily on the anime and I'm using a few parts from the manga to enhance the story. Well, that's all for now please review. 


	10. Chapter 10: The Return of Schwartz and t...

AN: Chapter 10 arrives! Now to start setting the story up for Riku and co.'s first mission as a group. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own MGS, FoR, WK, NGE, RBHS, or AnC; I only own Riku and the story. Also, Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki belong to ShardclawKusanagi, and Lt. Reese and James Masterson aka Silent Scorpion belong to RuneKnightPictures. Aside from Greg, who will be making a brief appearance in this chapter, the others will only be mentioned.  
  
Recap(sorry for forgetting to put one in chapter 9):  
  
Last time, Riku fought Shizuma Kusanagi in a K-Fight that ended in Shizuma as the victor. Later, Nagi and Tot begin their training in both VR and real time fighting; which brings us to the present.  
  
Chapter 10: The Return of Schwartz and the Arrival of Weiss  
  
VR Training Room:  
  
Nagi and Tot stood in a large area filled with tons of box-like obstructions; they then heard their codecs ring and answered them.  
  
"I've got the simulation all set and ready to go." Riku said as soon as his face appeared on the codec screen. "You guys ready?"  
  
"Yes." Nagi answered and he looked over at Tot and she nodded. "So what's this simulation supposed to be, anyway?"  
  
"It's really a very simple one." Riku replied. "All you need to do is take out all of the enemies that appear. The setting is extreme, of course and this simulation is called Zacko Survival mode. Your weapons are all in those boxes there; how and when you use them is entirely up to you. Enjoy!"  
  
"We'll do our best!" Tot shouted after Riku.  
  
There was a small beep that signaled the start of the simulation. Both Nagi and Tot saw a single soldier appear many feet across from them. The soldier immediately started firing at them, but Nagi deflected the bullets with his powers. He then turned to Tot.  
  
"Guess we might as well get the weapons over there." He said and they both walked over to the item boxes and they picked up their weaponry. Nagi took the PSG1 sniper rifles, the Socom, the M4, and the Stinger; while Tot took the HF Blade.  
  
"Here goes." Nagi said and he then aimed the rifles at the lone soldier and pulled the trigger.  
  
Meanwhile: Outside the VR Training Room:  
  
(Not bad at all, you two.) Riku thought as he watched the simulated fight where Nagi and Tot were now dispatching a group of six soldiers with ease. (Let's see, the next enemies they'll face are the Tengus and the soldiers. That should be interesting to watch. One thing I look forward to is when Nagi gets strong enough to fight me on the same level I fought Greg a year ago.)  
  
Flashback: VR Training Room: 1 Year Before:  
  
Riku ducked as another shot whizzed overhead. He and Greg were in a maze-like area, and they were both trying to see who could beat the other in terms of fighting in those types of areas. So far, neither one had dealt any damage to the other but that was about to change.  
  
Riku, knowing full well the advantages to fighting in areas like this, quickly used his first trick, ventriloquism.  
  
"Hey Greg!" Riku called causing his friend to turn in the direction he thought the voice was coming from. "I'm right over here! I'm defenseless!"  
  
Greg then took out his grenade gun and fired in the direction the voice had come from. Riku smiled and then jumped out from his hiding place as he prepared to throw a fireball at Greg.  
  
Greg immediately saw him and then swung his grenade gun in that direction, all the while fusing it with his nano arm. The gun then charged up, forming a large yellow energy ball.  
  
"Did you really think a simple trick like that would work on me?" Greg shouted towards Riku and then he fired the energy ball at him. "You lose, my friend!"  
  
The ball flew towards its target but instead of striking Riku, it passed right through him and he flickered and disappeared.  
  
Greg's eyes widened from surprise and he turned around and saw a fireball headed right for him. Greg quickly jumped out of the way of the incoming attack, but not before it struck his left shoulder, knocking him back a little.  
  
Greg then clutched the wound inflicted and looked in the direction that the fireball had come from.  
  
"Riku, that was one sweet trick!" He called. "Using ventriloquism, which you knew that I would instantly see through, and then a doppelganger illusion to convince me that I had seen through your trick so that you could get an opening in my defense. Not only that, you knew that I would have trouble dodging after using that attack. Am I right?"  
  
There were a few minutes of silence until Riku spoke.  
  
"Did you just read my mind, or something?" He asked suspiciously.  
  
"You know I can't do that." Greg answered. "Oh yeah, and don't expect me to fall for the same trick twice."  
  
"Of course not." Riku replied. "And don't expect me to use the same trick twice in one battle either. Repetitions are pretty boring, you know."  
  
"So what are you planning now?" Greg asked looking around to see if he could at least get a glimpse of where Riku was hiding.  
  
"Oh that's simple, I'm planning on using one of my trump cards. Hope you like it!"  
  
Greg then spotted Riku standing on a ledge on the other side of the room. Riku smiled and then drew the kanji for "vacant".  
  
"Kokuu!" He called and then a large fireball appeared in front of him. Then a large, snake-like creature made entirely of fire appeared and then blew on the fireball, causing a large red beam to stream towards Greg.  
  
"Tuski!" Greg shouted and a large crescent shaped force field appeared in front of him. Then the beam hit the barrier with a huge explosion.  
  
Riku looked down at the spot where the beam had hit, waiting for the smoke to clear. Suddenly a large yellow beam came streaming towards him.  
  
"Oh shit!" Riku shouted and then drew the kanji for "round". "Madoka!"  
  
Then a large orange barrier appeared in front of him, but the beam broke through the barrier, shattering it like glass and the beam struck Riku head on, knocking him unconscious.  
  
Later: FOXHOUND Infirmary:  
  
"Ittai (It hurts)!" Riku shouted as ointment was out onto his wounds. Then he turned to Greg, who was standing next to him looking completely unharmed. "That was some attack you used on me back there. By the way, did my attack break that barrier of yours?"  
  
"Yeah, but as you can see, it didn't do very much damage." Greg answered. "So is that your strongest ability?"  
  
"Second strongest. The other one is a multiple version of it. I could probably take down quite a lot of metal gears with that."  
  
"We could head back to the VR room and put it to the test." Greg suggested.  
  
"In this condition?" Riku asked. "You've gotta be kidding. But I will say this." And he got up and looked at Greg. "I'm definitely going to get strong enough, so when we fight again, things will be more interesting."  
  
"I look forward to that." Greg said sincerely.  
  
Flashback Ends  
  
Present: Outside VR Training Room:  
  
(Yeesh. Wonder how Kokuu would do against Greg now.) Riku thought and then he looked at the monitor and saw that Nagi and Tot were getting close to finishing their fight with the Tengus. (Better make that adjustment before "it" arrives. Then we'll see if those two can see through my little trick.)  
  
VR Training Room:  
  
Nagi waited until the Tengu was through shooting at him from a distance before he stood up and aimed the sniper rifle at his target's head and then fired. The Tengu fell to the ground and disappeared. Nagi then turned over to where Tot was and saw that she was currently fighting the last two Tengus, both of which were armed with katanas.  
  
Tot parried both of the Tengus thrust and slashes until she saw an opening in the first one's defense. She quickly thrust her blade forward, smoothly running her opponent through. Then she turned toward the second Tengu, which was charging towards her with its blade raised to strike, and then drew her sword out of the Tengu she had just run through quicker than the eye could follow slicing through her incoming enemy.  
  
There was a beep and then the current mode ended.  
  
Nagi walked over to where Tot was.  
  
"Well, that last fight was a good one." He said. "Hard to believe that Snake and Raiden actually took down an army of these guys."  
  
"You can say that again." Toy agreed as she put her sword back in its sheath. "So what do you think we'll fight next? More of these Tengus?"  
  
"Maybe." Nagi said. "Or maybe we'll end up fighting a VR version of a metal gear."  
  
Suddenly, Riku appeared in front of them.  
  
"Actually, you'll end up fighting something like that." He said and then he turned to Nagi. "Nice sniper shooting and an even nicer touch with using your powers to shield both you and Tot from enemy fire." And then he turned to Tot. "Well, I can see that you're learning your swordsmanship from Uncle Tokiya very well. That was a very good job with using a variation of Battojutsu. You were able to turn a disadvantage from running an enemy through with your sword into an advantage."  
  
"Thanks." Nagi said.  
  
"Thank you." Tot said.  
  
"You're welcome." Riku replied. "But there are a lot of aspects that you need some help with, but we'll get to that later. Anyway, would you like to try that game of mine?"  
  
"That would depend on what you have in mind." Nagi answered, instantly suspicious. "It's nothing that involves you playing any weird tricks on us, is it?"  
  
"Why Nagi, whatever makes you think that's what I have in mind?" Riku asked innocently.  
  
"Just answer the question." Nagi said.  
  
"Don't worry, you two." Riku said reassuringly. "I promise that this does not involve any weird tricks."  
  
"Well that's a relief." Nagi said then he turned to Tot. "Do you think we should try this game of his out?"  
  
"Sure." Tot answered. "Why not?"  
  
"All right then, all the two of you need to do is hit me with one of your attacks." Riku explained. "Though it won't be as easy as it sounds; all these obstacles will work fine for me as shelter. Good luck." And then he stepped behind one of the block-like obstacles and was gone.  
  
Nagi then looked around trying to find where Riku was hiding.  
  
"No wonder he picked this place." Nagi said. "Riku knew exactly how to use this field to his advantage. This is more or less a test to see whether or not we can beat an enemy in a field where he has an advantage." Then he turned to Tot. "I have an idea. Tot I want you to be ready to attack Riku as soon as he appears."  
  
"What are you going to do?" Tot asked.  
  
"I'll use my powers to blow away the obstacles, which will leave Riku without a place to hide." Nagi answered. "Then he'll be vulnerable to attack."  
  
"Okay." Tot said and then drew her sword. "The we'll take on the next enemy. I bet it's going to be tough since Riku said that it was like a metal gear."  
  
"Yeah, Tot, that's-." And then Nagi paused for a few minutes, considering what he had just heard and then walked up to Tot and kissed her. "Thanks, Tot. I don't know what I'd do without you."  
  
Tot's face reddened before she answered.  
  
"Y-your welcome, Nagi." She stammered. "But what did I do to help you?"  
  
"It's what you just told me." Nagi answered with a smile. "You just made me see through what Riku was planning. I don't even think he's in the training room anymore."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Think about it." Nagi said. "Riku made a sudden and unexpected change to the simulation. He gave us a fake goal to distract us from the real one; the next enemy. Now if that enemy is anything like a metal gear, we'll need cover from its attacks. What Riku was doing was trying to trick us into destroying our only defense from the next enemy."  
  
"Why would he do that?" Tot asked.  
  
"I'm guessing that the game he proposed was more or less a diversion." Nagi explained. "Now that I think about it, it makes more sense since diversions happen a lot during missions and you need to know how to spot them. I think that was the purpose of what he was doing."  
  
Then they both heard the codec ring and they answered.  
  
"Nagi, are you sure you're not a mind reader?" Riku asked as soon as his face appeared on the screen.  
  
"Not that I know of." Nagi answered and then he smiled at Riku. "So, since you're contacting us by codec, it looks like I was right about the whole thing."  
  
"More or less." Riku replied. "Though it was Tot that got you to realize it. Well, enjoy the next opponent, he's super tough." And then the codec went off.  
  
Suddenly, the area to the far back cleared up and then a large white, humanoid creature fell onto the cleared space from above. It looked like some kind of giant robot dressed as genome soldier and it sounded like an elephant.  
  
"What the hell is that?" Nagi asked as he and Tot both sweat dropped at the sight of the new enemy. "Oh well, looks like we'll have to take it out first." Then he formed an energy ball and threw it at the robot. It didn't even flinch.  
  
"Uh oh." Tot said as soon as she saw that Nagi's attack had no affect whatsoever.  
  
Thirty Minutes Later:  
  
Riku looked up from the manga he was reading as soon as he heard Nagi and Tot come back. They were both breathing heavily from what looked like a ton of running.  
  
"I guess that part didn't go so well." Riku said, earning angry glares from his two friends.  
  
"You try fighting a giant monster!" Tot shouted.  
  
"And what possessed you to give us that particular mode?" Nagi shouted.  
  
"Am I in trouble?" Riku asked nervously.  
  
"Oh yes." Tot answered.  
  
"How does I'm sorry sound?" Riku asked hopefully.  
  
"If sorry was enough, there wouldn't be wars!" Nagi shouted.  
  
"Why don't I try making it up to you instead." Riku said. "Let's give elimination mode a try; whoever gets the lowest score buys lunch."  
  
""You're on." Nagi replied. "And since Tot and I will be doing the simulation as a team, the odds will be against you. Prepare to literally pay for that trick you played!"  
  
(I wonder how those two would have reacted if I had tricked them into going into the streaking mode together?) Riku thought as he set the VR simulation. (They probably wouldn't stop killing me.)  
  
Three Months Later:  
  
Three months passed quickly for Nagi and Tot. Training in both VR and real time had sharpened their skills greatly. Nagi still wasn't able to turn a piece of coal into a diamond yet, and he had yet to discover how to use his powers for healing, but he had been able to master the ability to attack and defend with his powers as well as to quickly alternate between them. Tot's sword skills had improved from the combined learning from Tokiya's style of swordsmanship and Ryoko's training.  
  
In fact, Tot's skills had made her a great addition to the kendo club, and with both her and Ryoko on the team, this show of great skills had brought on the days present subject.  
  
"A tournament?" Tot asked Ryoko. They were in the school cafeteria during lunch. The two of them had become friends very quickly after a few days of training together. Eventually, Tot had gotten to know the rest of the Shinsengumi and became quick friends with them too.  
  
"Yeah, it's something the student councils from Daimon, Kita, and Houka high schools came up with." Ryoko answered. "Basically, the kendo teams from each school are going to compete with each other. The tournament is going to be in some stadium in Kushiro."  
  
"Sounds like fun." Tot said happily. "When is it?"  
  
"It's in three weeks. So you'd better train as well as you can for it."  
  
"Don't worry. I'll do my best." Tot replied and then she remembered something. "By the way, can Nagi and Riku come to it?"  
  
"I don't see why not." Ryoko answered. "As long as they get a permission form signed. Actually, everyone we know is coming even Shizuma, though I can't even guess why he'd want to come."  
  
"I think that you actually might." Tot said and then turned to leave before Ryoko could ask what she meant. "Well, I'm going to go tell Nagi and Riku the good news. See you at practice." And then she left.  
  
(Does she know?) Ryoko wondered. (Nah. It's probably just a coincidence.)  
  
Later:  
  
"So you're entering a tournament." Nagi said as soon as he finished hearing Tot tell him. "Of course we'll come."  
  
"And if it means skipping school, you can count me in." Riku added. "By the way, since a lot of people at school are going to be coming to see this, I bet transportation is going to be provided via bus. I hope it's one of those charter buses with the TVs."  
  
"If there's any possible way you can get an excused absence from school, you take it." Nagi commented with a shake of his head. "I bet you've been disappointed that there haven't been any missions from FOXHOUND lately."  
  
"Are you absolutely positive you're not a mind reader?" Riku asked. "Well, I look forward to three weeks from now."  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"I see." Crawford said over his cell phone. "So that's what you've been up to. Very well, I should be able to schedule a small business meeting for us a few weeks from now." And he paused to hear more of what the receiver had to say. "The Kushiro Docks in three weeks. Very well, my men and I will be there." And he turned off his cell phone and turned to Schuldich and Farfarello, who were both leaning against the wall of the room they were in.  
  
"So what did old man Shalashaska want?" Schuldich asked.  
  
"I'm afraid we'll have to meet with him soon." Crawford answered. "Ocelot has something that he wants to discuss with us and I believe that it's important."  
  
"New orders from the Patriots?" Schuldich asked.  
  
"Possibly, but since Viper hasn't said anything regarding this, it could be something else. Regardless, keep your guard up around Ocelot just in case he tries anything."  
  
"If he wants to challenge us then he is welcome to try." Farfarello said. "His blood will make a fine decoration for my blades."  
  
"I doubt you'll be very successful in doing that, Farfarello." Schuldich said. "Not if he's using that metal gear that he stole from the Marines four years ago. Or should I say, "Took back"?"  
  
"I doubt that he would use RAY out in the open," Crawford said. "But Ocelot has always been an unpredictable fellow. I don't know what he's planning, but I have a feeling that it will be quite entertaining."  
  
Three Weeks Later: At the Tournament: Stadium Ring:  
  
The crowd cheered as Tot defeated her opponent with ease. Her opponent fell to the ground with a groan.  
  
"And Tot defeats her opponent in two minutes flat!" Natsumi announced. "Leaving the final round to Daimon's famous Ryoko Mitsurugi! This win will decide which team makes it to tomorrow's finals!"  
  
And Ryoko stepped up onto the ring as Tot got off.  
  
"Good luck, Ryoko!" Tot said with a smile before walking over to the benches where the rest of the team sat.  
  
Stadium Seats:  
  
"Well, this match is pretty much decided." Riku said as he got up. He then turned to Nagi. "Wanna grab a burger while there's still time to? Since your girlfriend's finished her round and all."  
  
"Sure, why not." Nagi replied and the two of them walked towards the stairs.  
  
"You're not staying?" Shizuma asked as they passed him.  
  
"No real reason to." Riku answered and he looked over at the ring. "Look, the guy Ryoko's up against can't even hold his bokuto right. It's obvious who's going to win."  
  
"I see your point." Shizuma agreed. "Even Daisaku is bored with this."  
  
"I don't really blame him." Nagi said. "Even if that guy is a bit of a weirdo."  
  
"I heard that!" A voice shouted at them from above. The speaker was a shorter boy with brown hair carrying a video camera and a strange recording object.  
  
Riku took a look at the boy's item.  
  
"A directional microphone?" He asked. "How did you get the money for one of those, Daisaku?"  
  
"I had to save three months worth of my allowance and lunch money." Daisaku answered. "All so I could improve my recording of Ms. Mitsurugi!" And his eyes seemed to glow as he said this.  
  
"He sure is devoted to the field of stalkerism." Riku said to Nagi as they both sweat dropped.  
  
"I have to agree with you on that." Nagi replied. "By the way, is stalkerism even a word?"  
  
"Who cares, it fits him perfectly." Riku answered. "And besides, you know what I meant, now let's go grab a snack." And the two of them headed for the stadium snack bar.  
  
Later:  
  
They both ate their snacks near the stadium gate. As they were eating, Nagi looked over and then his eyes widened as he saw someone he wasn't expecting to see.  
  
"Riku." He said causing his friend to turn to him. "Look over there across the street. Don't make it apparent; he might see us."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Riku asked as he looked over in the direction Nagi had indicated.  
  
"Look over to the left a little." Nagi instructed.  
  
"And who am I looking for?"  
  
"It's Crawford." Nagi answered. "I recognize that suit he wears anywhere."  
  
Riku looked until he spotted the business suit that he remembered Crawford wearing when he first ran into him. He soon saw it and immediately saw that the man was indeed Crawford and he was talking to someone on a cell phone.  
  
"You think we should follow him?" Riku asked. "And can you see if any of the other Schwartz members are nearby?"  
  
"I don't see any of them." Nagi answered after a few seconds of looking. "Let's follow him until he goes into a building. Then we'll decide what to do from there."  
  
"All right." Then Riku stopped and turned to Nagi. "Contact Tot first by codec. She needs to know what's going on in case anything happens to us."  
  
"Right." Nagi replied and then entered Tot's frequency. After a few seconds, Tot answered and her face appeared on the codec screen.  
  
"Nagi, what is it?" Tot asked. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"Riku and I just spotted Crawford and we've decided to trail him for a bit." Nagi replied.  
  
"All right, I'll be right there." Tot said  
  
"Hold on a minute." Nagi said before Tot could turn off her codec. "Riku and I will handle this, Tot. You just wait for us at the hotel and we'll tell you what we found out."  
  
"But I want to help you." Tot objected.  
  
"If something should happen to us, you'll need to contact the colonel and tell him what happened." Nagi replied. "Tot, I know you want to help me and you also want to get revenge on Crawford and the rest for killing your friends from Schrient, but I need you to do this for me. Please?"  
  
Tot paused for a moment before answering.  
  
"Okay." She said reluctantly. "Just be careful, all right."  
  
"Don't worry. I will." And Nagi turned off his codec.  
  
Back at the Stadium:  
  
Tot stood in the stadium lobby with Ryoko and the rest of the Shinsengumi. She and Ryoko had changed out of their kendo outfits and were now wearing their school uniforms.  
"Hey, what's wrong?" Ryoko asked. "You look worried about something."  
  
"What... oh it's nothing." Tot answered with a forced smile. "I guess I'm a little anxious about the final match tomorrow."  
  
"Tot, you're a really bad liar." Ryoko said with a shake of her head. "Does it have anything to do with that conversation you were having with someone on your cell phone?"  
  
"Cell phone?" And suddenly Tot realized what Ryoko was talking about. (She must have seen me use the codec to talk to Nagi.)  
  
"Oh that." Tot replied, playing on that idea. "It wasn't anything, something just came up, but I'm pretty sure it's nothing. Well, I'd better head over to the hotel, I bet Nagi's waiting for me." And then she quickly left.  
  
(What was that all about?) Ryoko wondered.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Ryoko?" Hitomi asked as she walked up to her friend.  
  
"No, not really." Ryoko answered and then she quickly remembered something important. "Well, I'd better get going. I just remembered something that I need to take care of. I'll meet you and the others later, bye!" And Ryoko quickly left.  
  
"Everyone sure seems to be in a hurry today." Hitomi commented to the rest of the Shinsengumi.  
  
"Well, I don't really blame those two." Megumi replied. "Since the final matches have got to be tough ones, they're probably nervous."  
  
"I don't really think so." Aoi said. "Ryoko is nervous about something, but it isn't about tomorrow's match and I think it's the same with Tot too."  
  
"What do you think it is?" Asuka asked.  
  
Aoi paused for a few moments before answering. "I don't know." Causing everyone to fall over.  
  
"If you didn't know, why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Megumi shouted.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"So why do you think Crawford's here?" Riku asked as they followed him slowly from behind. "You think he knows about us being here?"  
  
"I don't think so." Nagi answered. "If he did, he would have contacted us somehow. My guess is that he's here on a job from someone."  
  
"So whatever building he goes into is probably where his current boss is." Riku said.  
  
"Either that or, if the building turns out to be a hotel, wherever he and the rest of Schwartz are staying." Nagi added. "We'll find out soon, though."  
  
A few minutes later, Crawford entered a large fancy looking hotel. Riku and Nagi followed him into the lobby and waited until Crawford entered one of the elevators and left.  
  
I'll handle this." Nagi said and then walked over to the receptionist's desk. "Excuse me, sir, but did you see a man come by recently? He had black hair, was wearing glasses and a white business suit." He then gestured at Riku. "My friend, over there, and I have a meeting with him scheduled, and he told us that he was staying here. His name is Brad Crawford."  
  
The receptionist checked the computer and then spoke.  
  
"Oh yes. Mr. Crawford checked in here yesterday along with two business associates of his. Would you like me to call him for you?"  
  
"No thank you." Nagi replied. "He's expecting us. Could you please tell me the room number that he's in?"  
  
"Of course." The man answered. "Mr. Crawford is staying in room 1012."  
  
"Thank you very much, sir." Nagi said and then he turned to Riku and nodded. Then they walked over to the elevator, entered it, and set it to the tenth level.  
  
After a few minutes, the elevator reached its destination and the two of them walked out and then towards the room. When they reached it, they saw a janitor come out of the room next to it. He didn't pay any attention to them and calmly pulled out his cart and then wheeled it down the hall and was gone.  
  
"Looks like we're in luck today." Riku commented and he turned to Nagi. "Nagi, can you use your powers to open the door to that room the janitor just finished cleaning from the inside?"  
  
"No problem." Nagi answered and then he walked over to the door of the room, focused his powers, and then the door opened with a click. Then, he and Riku quickly entered and listened at the adjoining door.  
  
"So he wants us to meet him at the Kushiro Docks at eleven thirty tonight?" They heard Schuldich's voice say. "Shit, looks like I'm gonna lose some sleep thanks to him; let's hope that it's worth it."  
  
"I'm sure that it is." Crawford's voice replied. "He knows better than to do anything that would interfere with our affairs."  
  
"Shouldn't we start looking for a replacement for Nagi soon?" This time the speaker was Farfarello.  
  
"That will have to be put on hold for now." Crawford answered. "And Schuldich, if you want to rest do it now."  
  
"But it's not the same." Schuldich said in mock complaint. "Oh well, you're the boss."  
  
Riku then turned to Nagi and instantly knew what he was thinking.  
  
"Nagi, no." Riku said firmly. "I know we have the element of surprise on our side right now, but we can't go into battle mode here. There are too many people who could get caught in the crossfire."  
  
Nagi paused to consider this before speaking.  
  
"I guess you're right." He said. "Let's head back to the hotel and then tell Tot about this. Then we'll decide what to do."  
  
Later: At the hotel:  
  
"So what did you guys find out?" Tot asked as soon as they came into the lobby.  
  
"A lot and not very much." Riku answered.  
  
"Huh?" Tot asked.  
  
"I'll explain it." Nagi said and then he looked around. "I think we should head someplace more private so we can talk without worrying about being over heard."  
  
"Good idea." Riku agreed and then a thought came to mind. "We could use this hotel's storage room for that."  
  
"I guess it's better than just using our rooms." Nagi said in agreement. "Since school policy is that the doors need to remain open at all times until lights out."  
  
"Not much privacy that way, huh?" Riku said with a smile and he saw the warning glare Nagi gave him. "All right, I won't say anything. Let's go."  
  
Later: Storage Room:  
  
"So Schwartz is supposed to meet with someone tonight." Tot finished after hearing Riku and Nagi's story. "So what do we do?"  
  
"Well, we have two choices in the matter." Riku answered. "We could just ignore this or we could trail Schwartz and find out what they're up to. I-." And then Riku stopped when he heard the door to the room open. He quickly looked around until he found what he was looking for.  
  
"Hide under these." Riku said as he handed two empty cardboard boxes to Nagi and Tot and then grabbed one for himself. The three quickly hid under their cardboard boxes just before they heard the sound of approaching feet.  
  
(If it's the janitor, we're screwed.) Riku thought.  
  
"So why are we meeting in here?" A young man's voice asked. "I know our relationship is supposed to be secret and all, but you do know what most people would think if they found us here alone."  
  
"Oh shut up you idiot." A girl's voice replied. "You know why I need to talk with you. It's about us."  
  
(Those voices sound familiar.) Riku thought. (Who could they be?) And then Riku carefully pushed out the cardboard part of the handhold to make a hole to see through. What he saw nearly made his jaw drop onto the floor from shock. The two people outside were Shizuma and Ryoko.  
  
"Us, huh." Shizuma said and then sighed. "Well, I'm not sure where to start with this at all. I've never been in a relationship before. Especially a secret one."  
  
"Neither have I." Ryoko added. "But still..." And then she paused for a moment. "Shizuma, you do love me, right?"  
  
"That's a stupid question, of course I do." Shizuma replied, his face slightly reddening.  
  
"Well why don't you say it?" Ryoko asked.  
  
Shizuma's face reddened even more before.  
  
"All right. Ryoko Mitsurugi, I love you. I'm not very good at this relationship thing but I'll do my best."  
  
"Are you being serious?" Ryoko asked suspiciously.  
  
"Yes." Shizuma answered. "What makes you think I wasn't serious?"  
  
"Never mind. Shizuma you can be such a simpleton sometimes." And then she smiled at him. "But that's one of the things I love about you." And then she walked over to Shizuma and the two of them kissed passionately.  
  
Meanwhile, Riku was unable to take his eyes off what was going on outside of his box. Until he heard his codec ring and he quickly answered it.  
  
Nagi's face appeared on the codec screen and his expression of shock was similar to Riku's.  
  
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Nagi asked.  
  
"If what you're seeing is Shizuma and Ryoko making out, then yes." Riku answered. "I guess the rumors were true after all."  
  
Then Tot's face appeared on the codec screen all teary eyed.  
  
"Oh that's just so romantic." She said with a sniffle. "I'm so happy for those two."  
  
"You don't seem to be the least bit surprised." Riku noted. "Don't tell me you knew about this."  
  
"Sort of." Tot replied. "I just watched those two and it seemed obvious that something was going on between them."  
  
Riku's eyes widened from surprise.  
  
"Nagi, your girlfriend is much more observant than I thought." He said. "I doubt you'll do very good at keeping secrets from her."  
  
"Thanks, I really needed to hear that." Nagi replied sarcastically. "So what should we do now?"  
  
"It's pretty obvious." Riku answered. "We hide under these boxes until those two leave. If they find out that we're here, we are so dead."  
  
"That's really reassuring." Nagi said sarcastically. "Oh well, we might as well decide what we should do about Schwartz while we're her." And then he stopped after sniffling a little. "Man, these boxes are dusty."  
  
"Whatever you do, don't sneeze." Riku advised. "Now, about Schwartz- ."  
  
"Ah-ah-ah." This came from Tot's frequency and both Riku and Nagi knew what was about to happen. "Ahchoo!"  
  
A large red exclamation point appeared above Ryoko and Shizuma's heads as they broke apart and looked at the cardboard boxes next to them.  
  
Riku, Nagi, and Tot slowly got out from under the cardboard boxes.  
  
"Were you spying on us?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"No." Riku answered quickly. "It's not what you think. You see, the three of us had something important to talk about and we decided to talk here. Then you two came in and, well.... You know the rest."  
  
"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Shizuma asked.  
  
"I think they're telling the truth." Ryoko said.  
  
"What makes you think so?"  
  
"Tot received a call about something important earlier today." Ryoko explained. "I don't know what it was about, but from her expression it looked important." And then she looked at the three of them. "You will keep this a secret, right?"  
  
"Of course." Riku answered and Nagi and Tot nodded. "But why the secret, and how long have the two of you been seeing each other?"  
  
Both Ryoko and Shizuma blushed a bit before Ryoko spoke.  
  
"Well, it was a little bit after that giant K-Fight at Dragon Land." She said. "Shizuma and I decided to talk a little about things and one thing led to another and we discovered that we actually liked each other."  
  
"By one thing led to another." Riku said. "You don't mean that the two of you..."  
  
"Of course not!" Ryoko and Shizuma shouted at the same time.  
  
"Riku, is your mind always in the gutter when it comes to these things?" Nagi asked with a sigh.  
  
"No." Riku answered. "I was just curious." And then he stopped to consider what he'd just said. "Hold on, that didn't come out right."  
  
"Just go on." Nagi said and he gestured at Riku. "And ignore him."  
  
"That's pretty much what happened." Shizuma replied. "As for why we're keeping the relationship a secret, well, you know how the whole student body would react if they found out those rumors of us being a couple are true. So what was it that you three needed to talk about that was so important?"  
  
"Oh look, it's almost time for us to go eat dinner." Riku said suddenly after looking quickly at his watch. "Well, the three of us should get going. Don't worry your secret's safe with us. Let's go Nagi, Tot." And the three of them quickly left before Ryoko or Shizuma could object.  
  
"What the hell was that all about?" Shizuma asked.  
  
"I don't know." Ryoko answered. "Hey, doesn't Daisaku have a directional microphone?"  
  
"Yeah. What about it?"  
  
"Could you get it for me?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"I think so." Shizuma answered. "Hold on, you're not thinking of using it to find out what it is that Riku, Nagi, and Tot are keeping secret, are you?"  
  
"Whatever it is, it could be important." Ryoko insisted. "Besides, those three spied on us, so that makes it fair."  
  
"Fine. Leave it to me."  
  
"I knew I could rely on you, Shizuma." And Ryoko kissed him again.  
  
Later: Outside of Riku's Hotel Room:  
  
"Why did you bring him along?" Ryoko asked quietly, indicating Daisaku.  
  
"He wouldn't let me borrow it." Shizuma answered. "And you're one to talk. You brought you're group of friends too." And he indicated Hitomi and the rest of the Shinsengumi.  
  
"Well, I guess you've got a point." Ryoko said and then turned to Daisaku. "So why wouldn't you just let us borrow that thing?"  
  
"This is a very expensive piece of equipment." Daisaku answered, clutching the microphone protectively. "It would be better off in my hands."  
  
"Fine, just point it at the door so we can hear what's going on." Ryoko said.  
  
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Hitomi asked.  
  
"Probably not." Megumi answered. "But I'm curious."  
  
"Same here." Asuka said.  
  
"Me too." Aoi agreed.  
  
"Me three!" Xiaoxing said.  
  
Then Daisaku pointed the microphone at the door.  
  
"All right then, it's been decided." Riku's voice said. "We'll head to their hotel, trail them, and see what those guys are up too."  
  
"Should we ambush them if we get the chance?" This time the speaker was Nagi. "If there aren't any people nearby that could get caught in the crossfire, that is."  
  
"That depends on how things are at the time." Riku answered.  
  
"Don't tell me we should just let them go!" This time it was Tot who spoke.  
  
"We can't just rush into these kinds of things." Riku replied. "Look, Tot, I know you want revenge on those guys; so does Nagi for what they did to the two of you, but you two are my partners and your safety comes first."  
  
There were a few moments of silence until Tot spoke again.  
  
"You're right." She agreed. "I'm sorry, it's just that I..."  
  
"Tot, neither of us blame you for how you feel." Nagi said. "If anything, I'll help you when we do fight those guys. In the meantime, if you ever do feel sad about what happened, then don't be afraid to come to me for support."  
  
"Nagi, you're so sweet." Tot said adoringly.  
  
"You do realize if any of the adults get suspicious, opens the door, and finds the two of you making out like that, they're going to think you're doing some improper things." Riku noted with amusement.  
  
"Very funny." Nagi said sarcastically. "Now when are we going to sneak out of the hotel to follow our old friends?"  
  
"About eleven." Riku answered. "After all, it pays to be early."  
  
And then Daisaku put up the microphone.  
  
"Do you want to listen to anymore?" He asked Ryoko.  
  
"No." She answered and she turned to everyone else. "What do you think, should we follow them?"  
  
The reaction of the group was, of course, yes.  
  
Later:  
  
Riku stepped out of his hotel room, looked around to be sure no one was looking and then turned back and nodded to Nagi. The two of them quietly left their room and then walked over to Tot's room to find her waiting for them. They then went to the elevator and took it down to the lobby and then they exited the hotel. Unbeknownst to them, Ryoko and co. followed from behind.  
  
Riku, Nagi, Tot, and their unknown pursuers walked until they got to the hotel that Riku and Nagi had followed Crawford to. Riku and co. stopped a few feet away from the entrance to the hotel and then pretended to have a conversation. Ryoko and co. stood a few feet away from them.  
  
After a few minutes, Riku saw Crawford come out of the hotel followed by Schuldich. They walked past Riku and co. and then headed down the sidewalk in the direction of the docks.  
  
"Where's Farfarello?" Riku asked Nagi as they began trailing Schwartz.  
  
"He's following from the roof." Nagi answered. "Don't look up, he might see us."  
  
"Why doesn't he just-?" Riku began.  
  
"Riku, with all those scars all over his body and the way he acts, Farfarello would attract way too much attention."  
  
"Not a very good thing for an assassin, huh?" Riku asked.  
  
"No, it isn't." Nagi answered. "By the way, why did you bring your M9 with you to this trip?"  
  
"I always carry one with me just in case." Riku replied. "Better safe than sorry, you know."  
  
"So how far do we need to walk?" Tot asked.  
  
"To the Kushiro Docks." Riku answered. "That's where Schwartz is going to meet with someone."  
  
"Any idea who that someone could be?" Tot asked.  
  
"Nope."  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"Looks like those two guys are the ones that those three are following." Ryoko noted as they followed their three friends.  
  
"There's someone moving along with those two on the roofs of the buildings." Asuka said suddenly.  
  
"That guy must be a really good jumper then." Megumi said.  
  
"Ryoko, do you have any idea who those people Riku and the others are following are?" Shizuma asked.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine." Ryoko answered. "But whoever those three are, I'm getting a real nasty feeling from them."  
  
"You're not the only one, Ryoko." Aoi said. "Those three don't feel right at all. And by that, I mean that they could be dangerous."  
  
"So why would Riku and his friends be after them?" Xiaoxing asked.  
  
"That's something we'll have to find out from Riku himself." Shizuma answered.  
  
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Hitomi said.  
  
"I agree." Daisaku added.  
  
"You're just being paranoid." Ryoko said.  
  
Later: Kushiro Docks:  
  
Riku and co. quickly hid behind a set of crates and watched as Crawford, Schuldich, and Farfarello stopped. Apparently, they were waiting for someone. Suddenly, they heard footsteps from the left and saw a man wearing a brown trench coat, with white hair and a mustache. The way he was dressed looked like something from a western movie.  
  
Riku immediately recognized the man from the pictures he had seen of him as well as the description of him that he had heard from Snake.  
  
(It's Ocelot.) Riku thought. (So he's the one Crawford is meeting with.)  
  
"What's Revolver Ocelot doing here?" Nagi asked in whisper.  
  
"You mean you've seen him before?" Riku asked.  
  
"Yeah, he came by a few times to give Crawford some assignments."  
  
"He even gave my group a few assignments, too." Tot added.  
  
"Next time, tell me about these things." Riku said. "Now let's hear what these guys have to say."  
  
"Good evening, Ocelot." Crawford said. "Shall we get down to business now?"  
  
"Of course, Crawford." Ocelot answered and he looked at him, Schuldich, and Farfarello. "I thought there were four of you."  
  
"There were." Crawford replied. "But I'm afraid we lost our fourth member."  
  
"You lost someone with powers practically mirroring Psycho Mantis'?" Ocelot asked with a snicker. "My, my, I doubt that the Patriots will be happy to hear that."  
  
"Spare me the gloating." Crawford said. "Now I would like to hear more about what this proposition of yours is."  
  
"All in good time." Ocelot replied. "I can guarantee that you will find our plans for Tokyo-3 to be very entertaining. In fact, your current assignment, even though it's a trifle compared to the new S3, may play a key factor in it."  
  
"Tell me more." Crawford said.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"You have any idea what's going on?" Shizuma asked Ryoko as they listened in with the directional microphone.  
  
"I have no clue." Ryoko said. "But I know I've seen that man that those three guys are talking to before. But where?"  
  
"I think I heard the man with the glasses call him Ocelot." Hitomi said. "Does that ring any bells?"  
  
"It can't be." Aoi said.  
  
Ryoko turned and looked over at her friend and saw, for the first time, a genuinely shocked expression on her face.  
  
"You know who this is?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"If I'm right, then that man over there is very famous terrorist." Aoi answered. "He was a member of the FOXHOUND group that took over Shadow Moses. His name is Revolver Ocelot."  
  
There were a few minutes of silence as the group took in what Aoi had just told them. Finally, Ryoko spoke.  
  
"I don't know what Riku, Nagi, and Tot have to do with this guy, but we'd better get them out of here." She said. "And then get out of here ourselves."  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"Well, what should we do?" Tot asked.  
  
"I'm debating whether or not we should ambush these guys now." Riku answered. "Schwartz is one thing, but Ocelot is completely different."  
  
"I don't see what the problem is." Nagi said. "This guy doesn't even have any special abilities."  
  
"Need I remind you about the metal gear he stole from the Marines four years ago." Riku replied. "Why else would they meet at the docks; Ocelot probably has RAY hidden somewhere underwater, and that RAY is completely different from the mass produced ones."  
  
Suddenly, Riku heard a noise from behind and quickly drew his M9 and pointed it in the direction it had come from. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw who it was.  
  
"Ryoko? Shizuma?" He said in recognition and he lowered his M9. "What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
"I'd ask the same of you!" Ryoko answered. "Why are you following three people who obviously have connections to that terrorist over there?"  
  
"First tell me why you were following us." Riku replied.  
  
"We heard a little about what you three were planning to do, so we decided to follow you." Shizuma answered.  
  
"And how did you accomplish that?" Riku asked. "And are you two the only ones following us, or did you bring more people?"  
  
"Actually, we did." Ryoko answered. "We brought Daisaku, Hitomi, and the rest of the Shinsengumi. As for how we found out, we used Daisaku's directional microphone to listen in."  
  
(Note to self: From now on, use the codec to talk to Nagi and Tot.) Riku thought before looking at Ryoko and Shizuma with an exasperated sigh.  
  
"I guess we deserved that for accidentally spying on you two." He said and then turned to Nagi and Tot. "It looks like we don't have any choice. Once we find out what Ocelot and Crawford are planning, we get out of here."  
  
"Man, the colonel is going to have a coronary when he hears about this." Nagi said. "Now more people know about us. I don't even want to know what Reese is going to do when he hears about this." And then he turned to Tot. "Sorry, Tot, but it looks like we'll have to put off revenge for now."  
  
"That's all right, Nagi." Tot replied and she stopped to look at Shizuma and Ryoko. "My friends from Schrient would have scolded me for putting a friend in danger."  
  
"Just who are you guys?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"You know our names, Ryoko." Riku answered.  
  
"That's not what I meant." Ryoko said. "What I meant was...."  
  
"She means, are you guys some kind of secret agents or something?" Shizuma said.  
  
"Sort of." Riku answered. "I'll explain everything when we get back to the hotel. In the meantime, don't do anything to alert those guys over there. They can be deadly and whoever you fought before probably doesn't even come close to comparing to them."  
  
"All right, we'll be careful." Ryoko said. "I'd better go tell Hitomi and everyone else to do the same."  
  
Suddenly Crawford turned around.  
  
"It seems we have some visitors." He said.  
  
(Shit!) Riku thought. (We've been found out!)  
  
But he soon saw that Crawford wasn't referring to them. He looked in the direction Crawford was looking and saw a group of four people dressed in black. The first one was a man in either his late teens or early twenties with long red hair and skinny build carrying a katana; the second was a man with wavy blonde hair, wearing a pair of sunglasses, who looked like he was in his early twenties; the third was a man with dark brown hair in his late teens, he was wearing a pair of gloves with some hooked claws coming out of them, and the fourth one was a young boy with brown hair who looked to be around Nagi's age, he was carrying what looked like a miniature crossbow.  
  
"Weiss." Nagi said in recognition.  
  
"Do you know these guys too?" Riku asked.  
  
"I certainly do." Nagi answered. "And so does Tot. Those four are an assassin group too. Though they're a bit different from what Schwartz and Schrient were. Those guys came after the guys that Schwartz and Schrient worked for."  
  
"You mean they're like a positive version of Schwartz?" Riku asked.  
  
"That more or less sums them up." Nagi replied. "So should we use this opportunity to escape?"  
  
"Why don't we give this Weiss some assistance?" Riku suggested causing a reaction from Nagi and Tot. "What's wrong with that? Ever heard the saying "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"?"  
  
"I doubt Tot and I are on their list of favorite people. We used to be their enemies, after all." Nagi answered. "And I don't think Tot would be too happy about joining forces with those guys."  
  
"Why not?" Riku asked Tot.  
  
"That's because... because..." A shadow seemed to pass over the top of Tot's face. "Because they were the ones who killed Neu!"  
  
Riku was silent for a moment before speaking.  
  
"Alright, then we won't join forces with them." He said. "But why not confuse Schwartz and make them think we're with Weiss."  
  
"Sounds good." Nagi agreed and he turned to Tot. "What do you think, Tot?"  
  
"No problem with that." She answered. "I might despise Weiss, but I hate Schwartz even more."  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Ran Fujimiya looked over at his three partners and friends; Youji Kudou, Ken Hidaka, and Omi Tsukiyono.  
  
They had received classified intelligence about Schwartz's most recent activities and had tracked them to Kushiro.  
  
"Well, it looks like our old friends, Weiss, have decided to join us." Crawford said. "I take it that you are here to once again interfere with our affairs."  
  
"Gee, what was your first clue?" Youji asked and then he turned to Ran. "Looks like they didn't bring their fourth guy this time. Looks like Omi gets the cowboy over there."  
  
Omi looked over at Ocelot and instantly recognized him.  
  
"So Schwartz's newest client is a terrorist leader." He said. Omi then turned to Ran. "The one dressed like a cowboy is Revolver Ocelot."  
  
"The same Ocelot that was involved in the Shadow Moses incident?" Ran asked.  
  
"Yes." Omi answered and he pointed his blowgun at Ocelot.  
  
"Well, it seems as if I've developed quite a reputation." Ocelot noted. "Even second rate assassins like yourselves know who I am."  
  
Ran then looked to the side and saw Nagi emerge from behind a crate.  
  
(It looks like their fourth member has arrived.) Then he saw Tot follow Nagi and then Riku also came out. (Hold on, didn't that girl die a few months ago? And who is that with them?) Ran then looked over and saw that the reactions from his partners were similar.  
  
"Now this is certainly our lucky day." Riku said, causing both Schwartz and Ocelot to turn to him. "If we manage to take out both Schwartz and the infamous Revolver Ocelot, the colonel's bound to give us a big fat raise."  
  
"You!" Crawford shouted.  
  
"Yep. Me." And Riku drew out his M9 and pointed it at Ocelot. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Drakken, one of FOXHOUND's recruits and these two are the most recent ones, not to mention my partners and friends, Mystic Crow and Usagi Ninja."  
  
Schuldich smirked and looked over at Nagi.  
  
"Mystic Crow?" He said and shook his head. "So the little traitor Nagi got a job at FOXHOUND after all, eh? Well good for him. What do you think Crawford?"  
  
"Not very surprising." Crawford answered. "But I'm a little disappointed that Nagi decided to keep the girl with him." And then he looked at Nagi. "You truly have a lot to learn, my student."  
  
"Shut up!" Nagi shouted. "I'm not your student anymore, Crawford. And what's wrong with having Tot with me? She is my partner after all, and a hell of a lot better company than you guys were."  
  
"Hmph. How the mighty fall." Crawford said regretfully. "You could have succeeded Psycho Mantis and attained true power. But instead, you make yourself weak by surrounding yourself with those who would only hinder you."  
  
"So you lost your student to FOXHOUND too, huh?" Ocelot said with amusement. "It seems we have more in common than you care to admit."  
  
"If I remember correctly, you lost your student." Crawford said. "Mine turned against me."  
  
"If you guys are done talking, then lets begin our fight." Riku said and a flame appeared in his right hand. "Though the odds are against you; seven against four."  
  
"It appears as if we'll have to postpone our business discussion." Crawford said to Ocelot with a sigh of mock regret. "Ocelot, you handle them." And then he took out a remote control and pressed the button.  
  
"Very well." Ocelot said and he looked at Riku, Nagi, Tot, and Weiss with a sadistic grin. "I don't know if you're allies or not, but I hope you're prepared for a little gift I have prepared for you. It's all the payload that RAY has." And then he turned to Crawford. "I hope your chopper arrives soon, I've just ordered RAY to fire in two minutes."  
  
"I do not believe that you need to worry about that." Crawford said, and a large black chopper suddenly descended from above. As the rest of Schwartz got into it, Crawford turned and looked at Nagi. "I look forward to our next meeting, my student, if you happen to survive. But know this, you may be able to evade us for a while, but you will never be truly free of Schwartz, or me. Remember that." And he got into the chopper and it took off and sped into the night.  
  
"You now have less than a minute before RAY fires its missiles at you." Ocelot stated. "You may survive, if you flee now." And then, a hundred yards in the harbor, the metal gear that Ocelot had stolen from the Marines emerged from the water. It gave a loud metallic howl before opening its metal wings and firing barrage after barrage of missiles.  
  
"Brace yourselves!" Nagi shouted and he focused his powers to form a barrier around himself, Tot, Riku, and Weiss.  
  
Riku then looked back to where Ryoko and Shizuma were. He then drew the kanji for "round".  
  
"Madoka!" He shouted and a large orange barrier surrounded the area that Shizuma, Ryoko, and everyone else was.  
  
The missiles then struck the barriers, one after another with several deafening explosions. A few of the missiles went in Ocelots direction, but they veered away from him and ended up hitting surrounding buildings. Then, almost as quickly as it had come, the missile shower abruptly ended.  
  
Riku looked over to where his friends were. He saw that Nagi and Tot were fine, and turned to where Shizuma and Ryoko were. He saw that Shizuma had thrown himself in front of Ryoko to try to shield her despite the barrier. Riku could only assume that the others were all right. He then looked back at where Ocelot had been, but didn't see him and the RAY that had been in the harbor was also gone. Riku looked to where Weiss had been and he saw that they were gone too.  
  
"Let's get out of here and quick!" Riku shouted to Shizuma and Ryoko, who both nodded.  
  
Later: At the Hotel:  
  
Riku lay back on the bed in his hotel room. He would have gone to sleep if Shizuma, Ryoko, the rest of the Shinsengumi, Hitomi, and Daisaku weren't there.  
  
"All right." Ryoko said. "Now tell us what just happened a while was all about, and just who you three are."  
  
"And what was it that you guys did to protect us from that missile shower?" Shizuma added.  
  
"I guess we have no choice." Riku said. "I'll tell you, on the condition that you keep everything that you hear in this room a secret."  
  
"That will depend on your answer." Ryoko replied.  
  
"Fair enough." Riku said with a shrug. "Well, let me begin with telling you about that charity organization that I work for. Have you ever heard of Philanthropy?"  
  
"That anti-metal gear organization?" Ryoko asked and Riku nodded. "What about it?"  
  
"You may know it as Philanthropy," Riku answered. "But to Nagi, Tot, and I, we know it as FOXHOUND..."  
  
Later:  
  
And so Riku told them everything. About the reformation of FOXHOUND, the story behind the Big Shell, Schwartz, and everything else. When he finished, everyone, except for Nagi and Tot, was too shocked to speak.  
  
Finally, Shizuma spoke.  
  
"So you guys are some kind of secret agents?" He assumed. "Like James Bond?"  
  
Despite his tiredness, Riku laughed at that comparison.  
  
"Sort of." Riku answered. "But it's not as glamorous as the movies."  
  
"So you guys are basically secret agents trying to fight some evil organization, huh?" Ryoko said. "So what was it that you used to protect us from that missile shower?"  
  
"Well, I guess I'd better demonstrate." And Riku held out his right hand and a small fireball appeared in the palm of his hand. "As you can see, I have the power to control fire. Nagi has a special power too." And he looked over at Nagi and nodded.  
  
Nagi then looked over at a vase and then focused his powers on it. The vase then floated in the air for a few minutes before it lowered back onto the floor.  
  
"That was telekinesis." Nagi stated. "An ability I've had since I was a little kid." And then he looked at each of the other people in the room and saw that none of them looked the least bit frightened by what he did. "You're not frightened or anything?"  
  
"Why should we be?" Ryoko asked. "Shizuma can do practically the same thing as Riku can so what you can do doesn't seem all that unusual. Then again, it could be that all of us have seen too many weird things already for us to be frightened by your powers."  
  
"You have no idea how big a relief that is to hear." Nagi said gratefully. Then he felt Tot's head rest against his shoulder and he saw that she was sleeping. Nagi blushed a little before speaking again. "Well, Tot doesn't have any special powers like Riku and I, but she's a great sword user."  
  
"I should know." Ryoko bragged. "I'm the one who trained her."  
  
"One of the ones who trained her." Riku corrected. "My Uncle Tokiya is teaching her his style of swordsmanship. Well that's-." And then he stopped when he saw a student come running into the room.  
  
"Miss Ryoko!" He said. "I don't know if you've heard, but there's been a terrorist bomb attack at the Kushiro Docks. The tournament has been cancelled!"  
  
"Cancelled!" Ryoko said.  
  
"I guess we should get packing then." Riku suggested. "I bet we're going back home in the morning."  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"Are you sure that's what you saw?" Kagami asked Asamu.  
  
"Yes, sir." The young Indonesian assassin answered. "I was watching those three from behind one of the crates. I could clearly make out the faces of all three members of Schwartz. And they were definitely meeting with Revolver Ocelot."  
  
"Could you hear any of what they were saying?" Kagami asked.  
  
"No, sir." Asamu replied. "I was going to move closer, but before I could two groups interfered. Schwartz fled and Ocelot showered the interlopers with missiles. Fortunately, I was able to escape."  
  
"Is that everything, Asamu?" Kagami asked. "Are you sure that you have told me everything? The slightest detail could be important."  
  
"I was able to hear a couple of things that they mentioned." Asamu replied. "Something about Tokyo-3 and then something called S3." This caused a reaction from Kagami. "Is something wrong, sir?"  
  
"It is nothing." Kagami answered. "Thank you for your report, Asamu. You are dismissed."  
  
"Yes sir." Asamu said and he left the room leaving Kagami alone with his thoughts.  
  
(So they're finally getting it underway.) He thought. (It seems the Patriots did send Schwartz to keep an eye on the progress of C-Project, but I will not allow them to interfere.)  
  
Kagami then pressed a call button on his desk.  
  
"Yes, sir?' Lee asked.  
  
"It appears that Schwartz has started to show their true allegiance." Kagami replied. "As soon as they arrive, bring them to me and keep a close eye on them."  
  
"Yes sir." Lee answered.  
  
Meanwhile: At another hotel:  
  
"Sheesh! That so called "bomb attack" is on every channel!" Youji said as he kept pressing the channel change button. Then he turned to Ran. "Any idea what it was that was going on between that kid from Schwartz and the rest of them? It looked like he had betrayed them or vice versa."  
  
"That's possible." Ran answered and he turned to Ken. "Ken, call Manx and have her look into this."  
  
"No problem." Ken replied. (I just hope this doesn't ruin my plans with Yuriko tomorrow.)  
  
Later:  
  
Omi and Youji walked down the sidewalk while Youji read the address written on a sheet of paper he was holding.  
  
"How much further is it?" Omi asked.  
  
"It's somewhere on this block." Youji answered. Then he looked around for a little. "Oh, there it is. According to this, this is where that kid with the long hair lives."  
  
"That's assuming that the guy we saw happens to be Riku Hanabishi." Omi said. "So why did I get picked to do this with you? Isn't this supposed to be Ken's job?"  
  
"Unfortunately, Ken's busy today with one; being a soccer instructor, and two; he's going out with that Yuriko girl afterwards."  
  
"I thought she moved to Australia." Omi said.  
  
"Yeah, well, it seems Ken and Yuriko started one of those long distance relationships shortly after that one assignment we had way back when." Youji replied. "To make a long story short, Yuriko ended up coming back to Japan to start her own bike shop and then she and Ken hit it off."  
  
"You jealous?" Omi asked with a smile.  
  
"Jealous?" Youji asked in reply. "Jealous of what? The last thing I need right now is a relationship. I just never seem to have very good luck when it comes to those."  
  
"Well, we might as well see if the guy's home." Omi said with a shrug and he and Youji walked over to the door and rang the doorbell. A woman in her thirties answered.  
  
"Yes?" She asked.  
  
"Good afternoon, maam." Omi said. "We're friends of Riku's from school. Is he home?"  
  
"I'm afraid he isn't here at the moment." Yanagi answered. "But you're welcome to come in and wait."  
  
"Thank you, maam." Youji answered.  
  
Meanwhile: On the Bus:  
  
"Hey, wake up!" Shizuma shouted causing Riku to reluctantly open his eyes.  
  
Riku groaned a little before answering. "What is it, Shizuma? You know I didn't get much sleep last night. What with me, Nagi, and Tot telling you all those things about us."  
  
"Well, consider it payback for holding out on me in our fight." Shizuma answered.  
  
"You're still sore about that?' Riku asked. "Come on, I told you that I have to keep my powers a secret. Tell you what, you find a secluded place where there's no people and I'll gladly fight you no holds barred, OK?"  
  
"Fine by me." Shizuma replied. "By the way, I'm a little jealous. You getting to take long absences from school that are automatically excused so you can fight a bunch of bad guys."  
  
"It's not as glamorous as you think, Shizuma." Riku said with a sigh. "Well, I'm gonna get some well deserved shut eye, wake me when we get back to school."  
  
Later: Hanabishi Residence:  
  
Riku yawned as he parked his car in the driveway. He looked back and saw that Nagi and Tot were as tired as he was.  
  
(I guess I'll tell the colonel about this tomorrow.) Riku thought and he got out of the car along with his two friends and then opened the door to the house. (I hope nothing else unexpected happens.)  
  
"Hey Mom, Dad, we're home!" Riku called and both Yanagi and Recca came to where he, Nagi, and Tot were, concern showing on their faces.  
  
"I heard on the news that there was a terrorist bomb attack in Kushiro." Yanagi said. "I'm glad the three of you are all right."  
  
"Thanks." Riku said. "Though it was a missile attack, not a bomb attack."  
  
"Riku, you weren't by any chance there when it happened?" Recca asked suspiciously.  
  
"I'm afraid we were, Mr. Hanabishi." Nagi answered. "I'll let Riku tell you what happened."  
  
"That will have to wait." Recca replied and he turned to Riku. "Riku, two friends of yours from school are here to meet you about something."  
  
"It's probably Ryoko and Shizuma, or some of the other guys." Riku said with a shrug. "Oh well." And then he turned to Nagi and Tot. "Let's go speak with them."  
  
And they walked over to the living room.  
  
"All right, you guys." Riku said as they walked into the room. "What is it that-?" He stopped when he saw that the room's occupants weren't the people he was expecting.  
  
Youji turned to Riku and smiled.  
  
"Yo." He said. "Long time no see."  
  
"Oh, it's you guys." Riku said, trying to hide his surprise.  
  
"What's wrong, Riku?" Yanagi asked. "You look a little pale." And she looked at Nagi and Tot. "It's the same with you two as well."  
  
"Oh it's nothing." Riku answered quickly. "We just didn't get much sleep last night, and we weren't expecting visitors either. Right Nagi?"  
  
"Oh yes." Nagi replied not taking his eyes off Omi and Youji. "We weren't expecting these two at all."  
  
"I'll get you and your friends something to drink then." Yanagi said, sensing a bit of hostility in the air coming from Nagi and Tot. "What would you like?"  
  
"Lemonade." Riku answered.  
  
"Coffee." Youji answered.  
  
"Milk." Nagi said.  
  
"Sprite." Omi replied.  
  
"Juice." Tot said.  
  
"OK." Yanagi answered. "Hang on." And she left the room leaving the two groups to themselves.  
  
(Now what do these guys want?) Riku thought. (I guess I'll just have to talk to them and see. And if that doesn't work, I could always get the answers out from them the usual way.)  
  
"All right, start talking." Riku said seriously. "What are you people doing here?"  
  
"We're here to check up on those two." Youji answered gesturing at Nagi and Tot. "And we also want some answers too."  
  
"As long as you answer our questions too." Riku replied. "But let me make this clear. Nagi is not with Schwartz anymore."  
  
"That looked kind of obvious." Omi said. "One thing we want to know is who you three are with. Are you an assassin group too?"  
  
"No." Nagi answered. "We're with FOXHOUND."  
  
"FOXHOUND?" Youji asked. Then he shook his head. "All right. How about this? You guys come with us and meet with the rest of Weiss and we'll discuss everything we feel is important."  
  
"Fine." Riku answered. "We'll follow you to this meeting place and see for ourselves if you're trustworthy or not. Now, let's get those drinks first."  
  
"By the way, where are we going?" Nagi asked.  
  
Omi simply smiled at him.  
  
"A flower shop." He answered.  
  
AN: And that's chapter 10 and boy did this take a while to write. Now things are going to get set in motion for the meat of the story! To RuneKnightPictures, in the next chapter, Scorpion will make a brief appearance and then, in the chapter after that, he'll fight Farfarello. To everyone else, enjoy and please review. 


	11. Chapter 11: Preludes to Battle

AN: Here's chapter 11, I hope you enjoy it. For those of you who have seen Ceres, you'll be in for a treat. Anyway, to those of you who are looking forward to the fight between Scorpion and Farfarello (especially RuneKnightPictures himself), get ready, because in the next chapter, you'll get what you've been waiting for. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own MGS, FoR, WK, NGE, RBHS, Noir, Burn up excess, or AnC; I only own Riku and the story. Also, Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki belong to ShardclawKusanagi, and Lt. Reese, Nagu, and James Masterson aka Silent Scorpion belong to RuneKnightPictures. Aside from Scorpion, who will be making a brief appearance in this chapter, the others will only be mentioned.  
  
Chapter 11: Preludes  
  
Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"Reassignment?" Crawford asked. He and the other two members of Schwartz were standing in Kagami's office right in front of his desk. Wei Fei Lee was standing next to Kagami.  
  
"That's correct." Kagami answered. "It has come to my attention that the security for some of our other branches has become a little lax as of late. Therefore, I am sending you, Crawford, to our branch in South America and Farfarello to our branch in the United States. Schuldich shall remain here. That is all, dismissed."  
  
Crawford looked at Kagami with an unreadable expression before turning and walking out of the door along with Schuldich and Farfarello. When the door closed, Lee turned to Kagami.  
  
"Are you sure that was a wise decision, sir?" Lee asked. "Wouldn't it be safer to have those three "taken care of"?"  
  
"Under normal circumstances, yes." Kagami replied. "However, since Crawford and his men are agents for the Patriots, eliminating Schwartz would raise suspicion from the Patriots. Enough that they might decide to take over C-Project for themselves and I cannot let it fall into their hands."  
  
"I understand sir, but why send Crawford and Farfarello to those locations?"  
  
"Our branch in South America is more or less a joke." Kagami replied. "Hardly anything gets done there, but I will make sure that Crawford is kept confined to that area. As for Farfarello, he is obviously more of a weapon than anything else; a weapon that has to be kept on a short leash. All we need to do is make sure that it's us who hold the leash."  
  
"But why keep the other one with us?" Lee asked.  
  
"Schuldich shouldn't be too hard to manage. Just insure that Viper keeps an eye on him in case he tries contacting his comrades or the Patriots."  
  
"I will see to that, sir." Lee replied with a bow. "Shall I inform Master Mikage about this?"  
  
"Yes, do that." Kagami replied. "After all, forefather is one of the key elements in C-Project, for now." Then he looked at Lee with a more serious expression. "Lee, as soon as Crawford has left, I need you to have the rest of the guardinals on standby."  
  
"Are we to retrieve another C-Genome, sir?" Lee asked.  
  
"Correct." Kagami answered. "You are to capture Chidori Kuruma, and this time, insure that Aya and her friends do not interfere."  
  
"I will see to that, sir." Lee said with a bow. "Our new equipment should protect us from that girl's celestial powers. What should we do about the girl's family?"  
  
"Miss Kuruma has a younger brother. Use him as a hostage to insure her cooperation, dispose of the rest of them."  
  
"As you command, sir."  
  
Outside Kagami's Office:  
  
"Kagami knows about our connection to the Patriots." Schuldich said as he followed Crawford with Farfarello in tow. "I had a look into his mind and it seems he had us followed when we went to meet with Ocelot."  
  
"Well, it appears that Kagami is more resourceful than I expected." Crawford noted. "No wonder the Patriots were considering making him part of the Wiseman's Committee. This change in plans may be a bit of a setback, but I should be able to figure out a way around it. Now I'll speak with Viper about this." And then he walked away leaving his two partners behind.  
  
(While I admit that your plan to separate us was a good idea, you made one key mistake, Kagami Mikage.) Crawford thought. (While you were correct in assuming that Farfarello is a mere weapon that has to be kept on a tight leash, you were wrong in believing that the leash had to be a short one. Schuldich's telepathic abilities stretch for a very long distance.)  
  
Then Crawford stopped when he noticed someone watching him. He turned and saw a young man with short blond hair looking at him with interest. He had a scar on his left cheek and another scar that encircled his neck. The man looked to be around seventeen but there was something in his eyes that made him seem older than that.  
  
"You're planning on double-crossing Kagami, aren't you?" The man said. "You also have paranormal abilities, but they're not of the tennyo."  
  
Crawford turned and regarded the strange man.  
  
"And you are?" He asked.  
  
"My name is Shiso." The man answered. "I am the progenitor of the Mikage family."  
  
"Ah yes." Crawford said. "I've heard about you." The he looked at Shiso closer and he fought to keep from showing surprise.  
  
(So what Viper told me was true after all.) Crawford thought. (The heir to the Mikage family, Aki Mikage, truly is the host for the progenitor's spirit.)  
  
"I've heard that you can see the future, mortal." Shiso said with an amused smile. "Tell me, can you see mine?"  
  
"No." Crawford answered. "I can't see the future for someone that's already dead. Now what business is it of yours if I betray Kagami or not."  
  
"I just happen to be interested, that's all." Shiso replied. "If you do plan on betraying Kagami, then go ahead. I won't stop you. You can even kill him in any way you wish. However..." Then his expression turned from friendly to dangerous. "If you, in any way, shape, or form, try to prevent me from reclaiming Ceres, you will die." He then looked at Crawford for a moment before turning around and walking away.  
  
"Hmm. This one could be interesting." Crawford noted. "I'll be sure to consult with the Patriots about him."  
  
Meanwhile: Riku's Car:  
  
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Riku?" Nagi asked as Riku drove his car behind Youji's, following the two members of Weiss towards this flower shop that was their destination. Nagi was seated in the backseat of the car next to Tot.  
  
"We don't really have much choice, Nagi." Riku replied. "These guys know who we are now, and we need to know more about these guys. Who knows, if these guys turn out to be okay fellows, we could end up as allies or maybe even friends."  
  
"Not if I can help it." Tot said angrily. "I won't forgive them for killing Neu."  
  
"What exactly happened back then anyway, Tot?" Riku asked.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it." Tot answered.  
  
Riku sighed and turned to Nagi.  
  
"Do you know what happened?" Riku asked.  
  
"If Tot doesn't want me to tell you, then I won't." Nagi replied. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to stir up any bad memories for her."  
  
"Would you prefer I ask Weiss what happened?" Riku asked. "Look, you two, we're a team. We shouldn't keep secrets from one another if it's important." Then he turned to Tot. "Look, Tot, I know the memory is painful for you but I'd rather that you tell me what happened instead of some strangers telling me."  
  
Tot was silent for a few minutes before speaking again.  
  
"It happened a few months ago." She said. "We were to try and assassinate Weiss by sending Neu in to try and deceive them into thinking she was no longer a member of Schrient."  
  
"You mean pose as a double agent?" Riku asked.  
  
"No. She was supposed to seduce that one member with the blond hair and sunglasses." She stopped and then looked at both Nagi and Riku. "I know what you're both thinking; now that I think about it, I think it was a cruel trick to play, but at the time I didn't really understand what seduction was. I just thought that Neu was supposed to trick the man into believing they were allies"  
  
"Taking advantage of your innocence to make you an assassin, some friends." Riku said.  
  
"Don't make assumptions about them!" Tot shouted defensively. "You don't know anything about-!" She then stopped when she realized what she was saying.  
  
"I apologize." Riku replied. "I didn't have any right to say what I did. Those three were your family, after all. I truly am sorry."  
  
Tot looked and saw that Riku was being sincere in what he said.  
  
"It's all right, I forgive you." She said and then she returned to the previous subject. "Anyway, to make a long story short, our mission failed and Neu was killed by the same man she was trying to seduce." She then turned her head away from both of them. "Do you think we can talk about something else now?"  
  
"Of course." Riku answered. "Whatever you want."  
  
Nagi looked over at Tot and then looked like he wanted to say something but Tot interrupted him.  
  
"It's all right, Nagi." Tot said not looking in his direction. "I'll be fine, really."  
  
Nagi placed his hand on Tot's shoulder causing her to tense up a little, as if to brush his hand away but then she relaxed and held onto it.  
  
"I told you that if you ever felt sad about what happened to your comrades, then I'd be there to for you." Nagi said. "I won't break that promise to you, Tot. I won't let you bear all that pain alone."  
  
Tot then looked over at Nagi before throwing her arms around him. Nagi held her as she cried over the death of the ones who had been her friends and family.  
  
Riku glanced back at the two before wordlessly turning his attention back to the road.  
  
Later:  
  
"Well, it looks like we're here." Riku said as he parked the car in front of a flower shop. Then he turned back to Nagi and Tot, who had long since recovered her composure. "If you want, I can go in and talk to those guys myself and you two can wait for me."  
  
"No, we'll go with you." Nagi replied. "We are a team, after all."  
  
"You're both sure about this?" Riku asked.  
  
"I am." Nagi answered. "And besides, we need as much help as we can if we're going to face Schwartz again and having more allies just might help us. If those four agree to be our allies, that is."  
  
"And if we want them to be our allies." Riku added then he turned to Tot. "What about you, Tot?"  
  
"I'll meet them myself before I make a decision about them." She answered. "I promise that I'll try to be friendly."  
  
"All right then, let's go." And the three of them got out of the car. They then walked over to the entrance where Youji and Omi were waiting for them.  
  
As they approached the entrance, Riku looked at the sign for the shop.  
  
"Koneko no ie Sume (Kitty in the House)." Riku read and sweat dropped as he did. Then he turned to Youji and Omi. "Interesting name."  
  
"Hey, we weren't the ones who picked the name." Youji said. "Ms. Yamaguchi's the owner, so she named it."  
  
"All right, I believe you." Riku said and then he, Nagi, and Tot walked into the shop.  
  
The shop was empty, except for an elderly woman and a young girl with long black hair tied back into pigtails.  
  
The elderly woman turned to them.  
  
"Ah, you must be the people young Ran and his friends want to meet." She said and then she turned to the girl next to her. "Aya, why don't you go get some snacks for our guests while Youji and Omi take them to Ran."  
  
"Of course." Aya said and then she turned to Riku and co. "I'm Ran's sister, Aya Fujimiya. Ran's told me about you three, I hope things go well with you." And she walked off into a room in the back.  
  
Youji then gestured towards another room in the back.  
  
"That's the living room." He said. "Ran's waiting there. Shall we go?"  
  
"You don't seem to be getting much business." Riku noted as he looked around. (That girl looked familiar.)  
  
"That's because we're off today." Youji answered. "On normal days, this place is packed with customers. Ninety-nine percent of them are female."  
  
"Gee, I wonder why." Riku said. "Maybe I should consider taking a vacation from FOXHOUND and work here for a bit."  
  
"Forget it, Riku." Both Nagi and Tot said at the same time.  
  
"You're no fun at all." Riku said tragically.  
  
"Well, shall we go meet with Ran now?" Omi asked.  
  
"Lead on." Riku answered. "By the way, who's Ran?"  
  
"He's more or less the leader of our group." Omi replied. "He might seem standoffish at first, but he's a pretty nice guy once you get to know him."  
  
"That's true enough." Youji agreed. "After all, he and that Sakura girl hit it off pretty well." And then he turned to Riku. "Anyway, follow us." And they walked towards a door in the back and walked into what looked like a living room.  
  
The moment he entered the room and saw the red haired man sitting on the couch in front of him, Riku felt nervous. The greeting look that he was giving them was anything but friendly.  
  
"Well, hello, Mr. Uh..." Riku began nervously.  
  
"Fujimiya." The man finished. "Ran Fujimiya."  
  
"Well, nice to meet you, Ran." And Riku held out his hand, which Ran reluctantly shook.  
  
"I take it that you're the leader." Ran said.  
  
"More or less." Riku replied. "So what do you want to talk to us about?" Then he paused to look around. "By the way, aren't there four of you?"  
  
"Ken wasn't able to come." Omi answered. "He had some other things he needed to do."  
  
"I'm sure that's perfectly understandable." Riku said and then he turned back to Ran. "So, again, what did you want to talk to us about?"  
  
"A number of matters." Ran answered. "For example, about your friends, there are a number of things concerning them that are important for us to know. Also, I want to know who you are and who you're with."  
  
"If you want to know that, I'll need to talk to one of my superiors about this." Riku replied.  
  
"And who would that be?" Ran asked.  
  
"Colonel Roy Campbell." Riku answered. "Does that name mean anything to you?"  
  
"I've heard the name somewhere before." Ran replied and then he turned to Omi and Youji. "Do you know who he's talking about?"  
  
"You got me." Youji answered with a shrug.  
  
"I've heard that name before too." Omi answered. "It was in a book about some kind of military uprising in Alaska."  
  
"He's talking about the man in charge of Solid Snake's mission during the Shadow Moses incident." A woman's voice said.  
  
Riku turned and saw a woman in her late twenties with long and curly red hair and she was dressed in a red and black suit.  
  
"Manx." Omi said in recognition. "What took you so long to get here?"  
  
"I had some pressing business to take care of." Manx answered then she looked at Riku. "So how do you know Roy Campbell?"  
  
"Have we met before?" Riku asked. "You look familiar." Then he looked at Manx closer and then his eyes widened in recognition. "Now I remember. You're that woman who was looking out into the ocean with those two girls the night I found Nagi, and that girl, Aya, was one of the two girls with you."  
  
"You mean you were there?" Aya asked appearing behind Manx carrying a plate of snacks.  
  
"No, I drove by though." Riku answered. "What exactly happened that day anyway?"  
  
"First tell us how you know Roy Campbell." Manx said.  
  
"Oh that's simple." Riku replied. "Nagi, Tot, and I are with FOXHOUND."  
  
"You mean you're with that reformation of the group that's part of Philanthropy?" Manx asked and Riku nodded, then she looked at Nagi and Tot. "So a runaway from Schwartz and the last surviving member of Schrient are also with the new FOXHOUND."  
  
"I thought FOXHOUND was disbanded after the Shadow Moses incident." Omi said.  
  
"Well, it was reformed a little over two years ago." Riku replied and he turned to Manx. "Since you seem to be the manager for this group, I assume that you have some connections. Are any of them with the UN?"  
  
"Yes. A few. That's how I knew about the reformation of FOXHOUND." Manx replied and then she smiled. "Actually, the connections I have to the UN are the same connections that recognize your Philanthropy."  
  
"So technically, we're colleagues." Riku said.  
  
"Only technically." Ran said in reminder. "Now tell us about this reformation of FOXHOUND to those of us who don't know about it."  
  
"Then I'm sure all of you will be interested to hear about this." Riku commented. "All right, I'll tell you about the new FOXHOUND. How much do you guys know about the incident on the Big Shell a couple of years ago?"  
  
"Something about a giant Metal Gear crashing into New York and that's about it." Youji answered.  
  
"You don't really read the newspapers very much, do you Youji?" Ran asked with a shake of his head and then he looked at Riku. "All I know is that a group of terrorists took over the Big Shell, the 44th president of the United States was assassinated, and a giant Metal Gear crashed into Manhattan."  
  
"There was also a former anti-terrorist squad involved that were on the terrorists' side known as Dead Cell." Omi added. "From what I read about them, they sound very similar to Schwartz."  
  
"That's about all I know about the incident as well." Manx said then she gestured to Aya. "Aya knows only what she's heard since she was in a coma at the time." Then she looked over at Riku. "Go on and tell us what you know, but don't tell us about your friends over there, I want to hear their story from their own mouths."  
  
"As you wish, maam." Riku replied. "Well, this whole thing started when the hero of Shadow Moses, the legendary Solid Snake, supposedly sank an oil tanker in the New York harbor."  
  
"Are you going to tell us what really happened?" Omi asked with an intrigued expression. "I was a bit skeptical about the news reports when I read them. Some things just didn't seem to fit right, and I found it hard to believe that the hero of Shadow Moses could suddenly turn into a terrorist."  
  
"I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that." Riku commented. "Anyway, Snake and his partner, Dr. Hal Emmerich, received classified intelligence that a new type of Metal Gear was being developed by the US Marines..."  
  
Later:  
  
"So after this Raiden killed Solidus Snake, FOXHOUND was reformed to combat the Patriots' operations." Manx said. "That story you've told us seems to have some truth about it, but I find it hard to believe that everything that happened there was all arranged the Patriots."  
  
"Well, it's true." Riku said. "By the way, when I got to the subject about the Patriots, you didn't seem the least bit surprised while everyone else was. Don't tell me you knew about them."  
  
"I've only heard a little about them." Manx answered causing a reaction from Ran, Youji, and Omi.  
  
"You mean you knew about these guys and you didn't tell us?" Ran shouted.  
  
"You never asked." Manx replied then she turned to Riku. "All right, Mr. Hanabishi, I accept your story for now." Then she turned to Nagi and Tot. "Now it's your turn to answer our questions. First of all, what made you, Nagi Naoe, leave Schwartz and why is Tot still alive?"  
  
"I'll tell you." Nagi said. "But whether you believe me or not is up to you." Then he paused for a moment before speaking again. "After our battle in Eszet's base, I was injured by the collapsing debris. Schwartz left me for dead and then Riku found me barely alive...."  
  
Later:  
  
Nagi and Tot's story had mixed reactions from the people in the room. Ran and Manx said nothing throughout the whole story. Omi and Aya both gasped when they heard about Schwartz's betrayal to Nagi and Youji simply shook his head and muttered "Bastards" before hearing the rest of the story.  
  
"And after that, Tot and I joined FOXHOUND as Riku's partners." Nagi finished. "Believe me, I'm no longer with Schwartz and I have no desire to have any attachment to those guys ever again." Then he looked at the three members of Weiss. "I know this hardly begins to make up for what I've done as an assassin, but I apologize for whatever harm my actions may have caused you."  
  
Ran looked at Nagi and he could see that the boy was being sincere in his apology.  
  
"Fine." He said. "I accept your apology."  
  
"You weren't the one who killed Ouka." Omi said. "And you never seemed to do anything to intentionally hurt someone without cause, so I also accept your apology."  
  
"Same here." Youji said and then he turned to Tot. "I know I killed one of your teammates and I'm sorry for it. Believe me, it wasn't something I wanted to do."  
  
Tot looked at Youji and could see the pained expression on his face as he remembered killing Neu and felt a sudden sense of pity for the man.  
  
"Neu was killed in a battle." Tot said. "I realize now that those things happen. I'll forgive you for killing Neu, but I won't forget that you were the one who killed her."  
  
"I suppose that's fair enough." Youji admitted then he turned to Manx. "So what do we do now?"  
  
"I'll take the next flight over to America to meet with Roy Campbell." Manx replied. "Kyoko will take over until I get back."  
  
"Well, that saves me the trouble of reporting all of this to the colonel myself." Riku said and then he looked over at Nagi and Tot. "Guess we might as well get going now." And then he turned to Weiss. "It was nice meeting you guys and I'll be sure to stop by from time to time to check up on things. Who knows, we might end up being allies."  
  
"Possibly." Ran replied.  
  
"If we do, I look forward to it." Riku said and he walked out of the room with Nagi and Tot in tow.  
  
"Ken's not going to be very happy about missing this." Omi said.  
  
"That'll depend on when he comes back." Youji said. "If he comes back today, he won't be very happy about it, but if he comes back tomorrow morning, I doubt he'll mind very much." And then he turned to Ran. "Which reminds me, how are things going between you and Sakura?"  
  
"That's none of your business." Ran replied.  
  
"Damn." Youji said. "Why do you always have to be so secretive?"  
  
"It's a bad habit of his." Aya answered.  
  
Outside the Shop:  
  
"Shouldn't we report the part about Ryoko and everyone else knowing about us?" Nagi asked as they got into Riku's car.  
  
"Are you kidding?" Riku asked. "Do you have any clue what Reese will do if he found out about that?"  
  
"Regardless, we should let the colonel know about this." Nagi said.  
  
"And you told me that keeping secrets from teammates isn't good." Tot added. "You should practice what you preach."  
  
"Fine." Riku said reluctantly and then reached over to activate his codec and then stopped as if he remembered something. "Oh yeah, Tot, I have something for you." And then he walked over to the trunk of the car. "Uncle Kurei had this in his armory. Here, have a look." And Riku pulled out a long wrapped object from the car's trunk and handed it to Tot.  
  
Tot took off the wrappings and then held a sheathed katana blade.  
  
"It's a pretty old sword and quite rare too." Riku explained. "The only thing that needed to be replaced was the handle and scabbard, but the blade itself only needed to be sharpened. My uncle was intending to give that to me, but I'm really not all that good with blades. Besides the kunai shuriken, that is. "  
  
Tot slowly drew out the katana from its sheath. Then she gave a few small swings with it.  
  
"Whoa. Swing that thing in the training hall." Riku said but Tot seemed to be ignoring him.  
  
"This is a really good blade." She said as she looked at her new weapon. Then she put it back into its sheath. "I'm almost surprised that it doesn't cut through its scabbard."  
  
"Well, it's a Muramasa blade so I would expect that." Riku said. "Anyway, let's get going."  
  
"Hold it." Tot said. "You haven't made your report to the colonel yet."  
  
"You're cruel." Riku replied and then activated his codec.  
  
"What is it Drakken?" Col. Campbell asked as soon as his face appeared on screen.  
  
"Well, colonel, it's about that terrorist attack that occurred in Kushiro." Riku answered. "You see..."  
  
Later:  
  
"Are you absolutely positive that your friends will keep all that happened a secret?" Col. Campbell asked.  
  
"Yes sir." Riku said, a little surprised that Roy hadn't yelled at him about what had happened.  
  
"Then I'll have this matter overlooked." Roy said. "You're not the only one who doesn't want to hear Reese's reaction to this."  
  
"Thank you sir." Riku said with a breath of relief. "Anyway, the manager for Weiss will be meeting with you soon. I hope things go smoothly."  
  
"If they do, there's a chance that these guys might join Philanthropy." Col. Campbell said. "Let's hope for the best." And the transmission ended.  
  
"Well, let's get going." Riku said and then he, Nagi, and Tot got into the car and it drove off.  
  
As Riku drove he suddenly spoke.  
  
"Weiss, German for "white" and Schwartz, German for "black"." He said and then spoke to Nagi and Tot. "Tell me, have either of you heard of Noir?"  
  
"That famous European assassin group?" Nagi asked. "I've only heard about them. Why are you asking?"  
  
"Noir is French for "black"." Riku answered. "Don't you think it's kind of strange that there are two assassin groups with the same name except in different languages."  
  
"It could just be a coincidence." Tot said.  
  
"To shrug things off as a coincidence usually invites trouble." Riku replied. "I'll have it looked into when we go back to headquarters for training."  
  
"What do you know about Noir?" Nagi asked. "All I know is that there are two of them."  
  
"That's about all I know as well." Riku answered. "Except I've heard that there could be three of them. When Noir assassinated a group of men from a Chinese crime syndicate, there were three assassins involved."  
  
"I only heard Crawford mention Noir once or twice and that was only about who they killed." Nagi said. "I did ask him who Noir was, but he told me I'd be better off not knowing."  
  
"Maybe Crawford didn't know who they were and just said that as an excuse not to tell you." Riku said with a smile.  
  
"Now I'd be surprised about that if it were true." Nagi said and that was the end of the conversation.  
  
3 Days Later:  
  
Outside of a house over in Tochigi, Wei Fei Lee watched from behind large bush. Two guards stood outside the door, which abruptly opened and young man with light brown hair who looked to be around seventeen stepped out along with a short strange looking woman. A young girl followed them out and began talking with them as they headed towards their car.  
  
"Thanks for coming, Yuhi." The girl said to the man and then turned to the short woman. "And you too, Mrs. Q." And then she turned back to Yuhi. "Shota really enjoyed that cake you made."  
  
"No prob!" Yuhi replied with a smile. "By the way, Chidori, you're brother's improving at walking."  
  
"Thanks." Chidori said. "I'm sure Shota would love to hear that. Anyway, I'm sorry about the call from Aya...accidentally cutting her off..."  
  
"That's okay, just cheer up." Yuhi replied. "Instead of worrying about others, why don't you worry about your development? Owch!"  
  
"You jerk!" Chidori shouted whacking Yuhi on the head before turning around and walking back into the house.  
  
"Another lover's quarrel?" Mrs. Q asked with a smile.  
  
"Don't be stupid!" Yuhi shouted as he got into the car. "Anyway, we'd better head back home now. Suzumi said something about hiring some bodyguards for us. Though I don't really see why we'd need them." Then he closed the car door and started the car.  
  
The guards chuckled as they watched Yuhi and Mrs. Q drive off.  
  
"Heh. Chidori and Yuhi sure act like how my wife and I did just before we started dating." The first guard said.  
  
"Yeah. Those two sure make a cute couple." The second guard agreed. "Anyway,-."  
  
There was the sound of a gunshot and the man fell to the ground. The first guard turned and then a large metal boomerang embedded itself in his chest. The guard fell to the ground alongside his friend.  
  
"Nice shooting, Schuldich." Slasher Hawk commented as he walked over to the dead guard and yanked out his boomerang.  
  
"Thank you." Schuldich replied. "And that was a very nice throw you made." Then he turned and watched as Lee came out of his hiding place. "Well Lee, it looks like the girl's having a bit of a birthday party today. Shall we drop in and give her a little present."  
  
Lee looked over at Schuldich with a serious expression.  
  
"Do what you want, Schuldich." He said. "But do not touch the girl. We need her unharmed."  
  
"What? You think I've got a lolita complex or something?" Schuldich asked with a chuckle.  
  
"Just do your job." Lee said flatly. Schuldich smirked at him before opening the door and walking inside along with Hawk.  
  
Shiso walked up to where Lee was all the while talking to himself.  
  
"Seventeen, huh." He said with a smile. "The same age as Aya. I'm sure this will bring both her and Ceres out of hiding and into my grasp." And he walked into the house.  
  
Lee turned around and nodded and then half a dozen armed men wearing black uniforms followed him into the house.  
  
Meanwhile: VR Training Room:  
  
"They're almost to the cardboard box!" Riku shouted to Nagi and Tot over the codec. "I've got this area covered. You two cut the rest of them off!"  
  
Riku and co. were training using a variety mode that had them protect a cardboard box from thirty-two Arsenal Tengus. Riku and Tot were fighting the tengus at close range while Nagi provided support with both his sniper skills and his powers.  
  
Just before Nagi was about to attack the approaching tengus, the simulation ended. Then Nagi heard his codec ring and he answered it. When he did, he saw that Col. Campbell's face was on the screen.  
  
"Good." Roy said as soon as he saw Nagi's face appear on screen. "I'm glad all three of you are present. I have an assignment for you."  
  
"Well it's about time, colonel." Riku replied. "So what's the job?"  
  
"In the past few months, we've been receiving reports of unusual activity from a large corporation based in Japan known as Mikage International." Col. Campbell answered. "According to reports, these people are seeking out people with special powers."  
  
"You mean like Nagi and me?" Riku asked.  
  
"I'm not entirely sure." Roy replied. "I'm sure all three of you are familiar with ancient Japanese legends of maidens that descended from heaven and took human husbands."  
  
"Colonel, we're a bit old for fairy tales." Nagi said. "And what does this have to do with the mission?"  
  
"Fairy tale or not, Mikage International seems to be looking for people that are said to be descendants of these celestial maidens." Roy replied. "And, according to the information we've received, some of the ones that are being targeted do seem to have paranormal abilities."  
  
"Let me guess." Riku said. "They're looking for these descendants of celestial maidens to see what gene it is that causes them to have this power. Sounds like an attempt to create another genome army."  
  
"That seems to be the most likely case." Roy agreed. "I'm assigning the three of you the task of protecting a small group of people who are trying to stop the Mikage."  
  
"You mean we're bodyguards?" Riku asked.  
  
"Yes. A woman named Suzumi Aogiri is the one who is in charge of the group." Roy explained. "For now, you are to pose as simple mercenaries until further notice." Then he smiled slightly. "However, since the people involved have paranormal abilities, I am giving both you, Drakken, and Crow, the authorization to use your powers at your coercion. Just make sure that you keep them to a limit since your powers are to remain a secret."  
  
"No problem, colonel." Riku said. "So who are we protecting?"  
  
Col. Campbell took out a set of files from his briefcase and handed them to Riku, who immediately took them out and read them.  
  
"Let's see..." Riku said as he began to read. "Six people. Four women and two men." Then he looked at the pictures. "Quite an odd assortment of people. So we're supposed to protect them from these Mikage guys, it shouldn't be all that hard. Anything else?"  
  
"Yes." Roy replied. "You are to find out what it is that Mikage International is planning and also if they have any connections to the Patriots." Then he handed another piece of paper to Riku. "This is the address for where you're supposed to meet the people you're in charge of protecting."  
  
"Now this sounds like a real mission." Riku said with a smile and he turned to Nagi and Tot. "Now let's get all of the necessary gear and head to this address." And they then turned off their codecs and exited the VR room.  
  
Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:  
  
"Are you sure we really need these people, Suzumi?" Yuhi asked a young woman with short dark blue hair who looked to be in her early twenties. "I mean, those Mikage goons really aren't all that dangerous. Besides that Shiso guy, I mean."  
  
"And what about Wei Fei Lee and Asamu and whoever else the Mikage have under their employment?" Suzumi asked. "If I remember right, the only one who was able to fight those guys and defeat them without much effort was Toya, and his responsibility now is to protect Aya. So I had to hire some people who could put the Mikages' special forces in their place."  
  
"I guess that makes sense." Yuhi said reluctantly. "So who did you hire to do this? Solid Snake?"  
  
"He's dead, you idiot." Suzumi replied. "Anyway, I hired three agents. I don't have any details about them, but from what I've heard from the man who sent them, those three are formidable enough."  
  
"I hope they are." Yuhi said. "By the way, since Aya and Toya are coming back from Hachijoujima, they're probably going to be meeting these guys too, right?"  
  
"Yes." Suzumi answered. "I'm sure Toya will be able to tell if these guys are strong enough or not."  
  
(And I hope that they are.) Suzumi thought. (I don't know why, but I'm getting a bad premonition about something that's about to happen soon.)  
  
Meanwhile: Kuruma Residence:  
  
Chidori Kuruma stood in the living area of her home, her grandmother and grandfather lay dead at her feet. Shiso, Lee, Schuldich, Hawk, and an assortment of men wearing black uniforms stood before her.  
  
Chidori looked over at Shiso.  
  
"You... you must be Shiso..." She said, still in shock from what had just happened. "Y-you..."  
  
"That is none of your concern, girl." Shiso said. "Just come with us. Now. I've been in a very foul temper."  
  
Chidori only looked at the dead bodies of her grandparents, tears of grief and rage streaming down her face.  
  
"Grandpa... Grandma... wh-why?" And she turned to Shiso and the rest of the men in front of her. Then her body started to glow from a strange energy, which crackled around her as she screamed. "Why did you have to kill them?!"  
  
Suddenly the energy burst out, illuminating the entire room. The ceiling exploded in several places and fire burst through the windows. However, when the smoke cleared, Shiso, Lee, Schuldich, Hawk, and the rest of their men were completely unharmed. Chidori now stood in front of them, her body changed to look its actual age and her hair had turned blue. She had a shocked expression on her face.  
  
Lee smiled and shook his head.  
  
"I'm afraid that your powers aren't affective against us anymore, Miss Kuruma." He said and then held up his right arm to reveal a bracelet that he was wearing. It glowed with the same energy that surrounded Chidori. "This protective shield has been infused with the power of the tennyo...just like you." And then he signaled to two of his men. "Restrain her!"  
  
"Get your hands off me!" Chidori shouted as the two men grabbed her by the shoulders.  
  
"Sis!" A young boy's voice shouted.  
  
Chidori turned and saw her younger brother, Shouta, a young boy with short brown hair who looked to be around ten, being led out of a room by one of the Mikage goons.  
  
"Shota!" Chidori said.  
  
Shota looked and his eyes widened in horror at the site of his dead grandparents and the men surrounding him.  
  
"Sis, what happened?" He asked, his voice fearful. "Wh-who are these people?"  
  
"Just do exactly what we tell you." Lee said firmly and turned to Chidori. "After all, you wouldn't want anything to happen to this child."  
  
Chidori then stopped any attempts at struggling and then let herself be handcuffed and led over to a limo along with Shota. Lee, Shiso, Schuldich, and Hawk got into the backseat of the car before it drove away.  
  
"Hmph, you see?" Shiso said with a smirk. "Take away a tennyo's powers and she's more than an ordinary woman. This time we'll get Ceres for certain." Then he stopped once he heard one of the Mikage goons whisper something to him. "It seems that Aya Mikage and Toya are on Hachijoujima Island. The Mikage family owns a vacation home there."  
  
"Hachijoujima?" Lee asked.  
  
"An island on the Pacific side of Japan." Shiso explained. "A little south of old Tokyo, I think." Then Shiso lay back in his seat and mused to himself. "The Pacific... ah, the sea."  
  
Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:  
  
"This seems to be the place." Riku said as he parked his car in the driveway. Then he, Nagi, and Tot got out and walked over to the door and knocked on it.  
  
Suddenly, the door flew open and an odd looking little creature dressed as a classic geisha, make up and all, flew out towards Riku.  
  
"Toya, it's me! Me!" It cried out.  
  
With a startled cry the three of them jumped back.  
  
"Uh, my name isn't Toya!" Riku shouted, his eyes wide with fear and he turned to Nagi and Tot. "We've got the wrong house, let's leave!"  
  
"Mrs. Q! You're frightening them!" A young man Riku's age shouted. "And just what the hell is that you're wearing?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Mrs. Q asked. "It's a geisha outfit. When I heard that Toya was coming back, I dressed up for him."  
  
(If a real geisha saw this, she'd be furious.) Riku thought. (I sure pity this Toya person.)  
  
"I see you've met Mrs. Q." A woman's voice said from behind them. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I guess it's a good thing we were a little late, right Toya?"  
  
Riku turned and saw a young girl his own age with long blonde hair standing next to a man in his twenties with short red hair.  
  
"I completely agree." The man said with a slight smile. "So who are these people, Yuhi?"  
  
"I don't know." Yuhi replied. "Just some people who showed up here at the wrong time." Then he turned to Riku. "So who are you guys?"  
  
"Well first, is there a Suzumi Aogiri here?" Riku asked.  
  
"Yes." Yuhi answered. "She's my sister in law. Why are you asking?"  
  
"Oh that's simple." Riku replied. "The three of us are the mercenaries your sister hired."  
  
"What?!" Yuhi shouted. (These guys are about my age. How can they be mercenaries?)  
  
"If you don't believe us, have a look at the suits we're wearing." Nagi said pointing towards himself. "As you can see, this suit isn't exactly standard military issue."  
  
Yuhi looked at the sneaking suits that Riku and co. were wearing and had to agree.  
  
"All right." He said. "Follow me."  
  
"Hold on a minute, Yuhi." The blonde girl said. "Since when did you hire mercenaries?"  
  
"Since today." Yuhi answered. "And it was Suzumi's idea."  
  
"I think it makes perfect sense." Toya said and then he walked over to Riku. "My name is Toya and this is my fiancée Aya Mikage. It seems you've already met Yuhi and Mrs. Q."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Riku said as he took Toya's hand and shook it. He then did the same with Aya, Yuhi, and Mrs. Q. "My name is Riku Hanabishi and over here are my partners Nagi Naoe and Tot."  
  
"Nice to meet you!" Tot said cheerfully as she shook their hands.  
  
"The same here." Nagi said as he did the same.  
  
Later: In the house:  
  
"So you're the three mercenaries." Suzumi said as she was introduced to Riku and co.  
  
"Surprised?" Riku asked.  
  
"Not really." Suzumi answered. "The Mikage have a mercenary in their unit younger than you three."  
  
"Well, you can count on us to protect you from these guys." Riku said. "So can you fill us in on the situation?"  
  
"All right, I will." Suzumi said. "I'm sure all three of you know about the legends of the tennyo."  
  
"Yeah, we were briefed on that before we arrived." Nagi said. "Something about these Mikage guys looking for people that are said to be descendants of celestial maidens because it seems that some of these descendants have paranormal abilities."  
  
"That's correct." Suzumi said. "I'll explain about the Mikage to you..."  
  
Later:  
  
"So let me get this straight." Riku said. "These Mikage guys are looking for people descended from celestial maidens for something called C- Project which includes an attempt to create some powerful item called a Hagaomo?"  
  
"Yes." Suzumi answered. "Have you heard in the news about a large amount of deaths caused by a new type of plague?"  
  
"Of course." Riku replied.  
  
"Well, that new plague is actually the result of the Mikages' attempts to awaken more celestial maidens, or C-Genomes as they call them, by putting a type of vector into Japan's water supply." Suzumi explained. "The deaths are caused by those descended from the tennyo whose bodies rejected the vector. The ones who survive are abducted by the Mikage to be used for human experiments."  
  
"Hold on, the death toll from all of that was over 800!" Riku shouted. "Are you saying these people intentionally caused the death of that many people just for some kind of experiment, and the ones who survive are turned into guinea pigs?"  
  
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true." Yuhi said.  
  
"That's got to be the sickest thing I've ever heard!" Nagi said with disgust.  
  
"How could anyone do something that horrible?" Tot asked. "Those guys sound about as low as it gets."  
  
"Believe me, we couldn't agree with you more." Aya said and then she suddenly felt a wave of dizziness hit her and started to stumble.  
  
"Aya!" Toya said and rushed over to her side.  
  
"I'm okay." Aya said as she straightened up. "Just a little anemic."  
  
Suzumi felt Aya's forehead.  
  
"Oh! You're feverish!" She said. "You should stay here overnight."  
  
"That's right!" Mrs. Q. agreed. "And I won't peep in on you and Toya in your bedroom."  
  
"Shut the hell up, Mrs. Q!" Yuhi shouted.  
  
(This promises to be an interesting mission.) Riku thought as he, Nagi, and Tot sweat dropped at hearing the conversation.  
  
Later:  
  
After Aya had been taken to her room to rest, Suzumi began to explain more about what was currently going on with the Mikage.  
  
"So did you get anymore information on the Mikage family's recent movements?" Toya asked.  
  
"I just got it today." Suzumi answered. "They seem to be collecting anything related to a Hagoromo and collecting it. Just getting this much information was difficult enough, so I don't really have any details, but it seems that there are a lot of foreign countries providing support for C- project."  
  
(Foreign countries!) Riku thought. (Could the Patriots be involved in this after all?)  
  
"In addition, even though it's a secret..." Suzumi paused for a moment before continuing. "Mikage International was, shortly after Shadow Moses, one of the leading corporations in Metal Gear research and development." This caused a reaction from everyone.  
  
"What do you mean 'was'?" Riku asked. (These guys were involved in the production of Metal Gear. This isn't good.)  
  
"Shortly after the discovery of Metal Gear RAY being developed by the US Marines, Mikage International abandoned its Metal Gear project." Suzumi explained. "Now it's become the leading private corporation in pioneering development in space."  
  
"Space?" Nagi asked. "Why would they abandon Metal Gear development for space exploration?"  
  
"The Mikage family seems to believe that the tennyo are extra terrestrials...aliens essentially." Suzumi said jokingly. "I wonder if they're planning on collecting all of their tennyo descendants just to ship the whole company off to the stars."  
  
"So what is the Hagoromo for?" Toya asked.  
  
"I don't know." Suzumi answered. "But it's a tennyo's life-force and... a wing of sorts, to free her from the mortal world. At the end of one of the tennyo legends, the tennyo's human husband and her children were summoned to the heavens and came to live there with her. Under the circumstances, we can't let this off as a fairy tale."  
  
"And you're the one who said we were too old for fairy tales." Riku said to Nagi. "Shame on you."  
  
"All right. I admit I was wrong." Nagi said. "So what do we do now?"  
  
"We'll have to wait to obtain some more information on what the Mikage are planning before we make our move." Suzumi answered.  
  
"That shouldn't be a problem." Riku said. "A friend of mine has an adopted younger sister who's a wizard when it comes to hacking. She could probably weed out whatever information you want on these Mikage guys within the space of a few hours."  
  
"I seriously doubt that." Toya said. "The Mikage have state of the art computer programs protecting their files. I doubt your friend would succeed."  
  
"Toya, are you a betting man?" Riku asked with a confident smile. "My friend, Lillica, could probably break through whatever firewall those guys have with absolute ease."  
  
"Who's Lillica?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Greg's adopted younger sister." Riku answered. "I'll introduce you to her and the rest of Greg's family when I get the chance."  
  
"You've never told us about your friend's family before." Tot said. "How come?"  
  
"Greg asked me not to." Riku replied.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Heh heh. You'll see when you meet them." Riku said with a smile then he got up and looked at Suzumi. "Hey, do you know where the bathroom is?"  
  
"Down the hall, third door on the left." Suzumi answered and pointed to the hallway.  
  
"Thank you, maam." Riku said and he walked down the hallway. After walking down a bit he activated his codec.  
  
"Well, colonel, did you get all that?" Riku asked as soon as he saw Col. Campbell's face appear on the codec screen.  
  
"Yes. I got everything." Roy answered.  
  
"Is everything Suzumi told me about the Mikage true?" Riku asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, but a large portion of it does seem to be supported from the information that we have. In the meantime, I'll tell you what we do know for sure about Mikage International..."  
  
Back in the living room, Suzumi then heard the sound of approaching feet and turned to see a family servant enter the room.  
  
"Excuse me, maam." The servant said. "A messenger from the Mikage family just arrived." Then the servant handed a small brown package to Toya. "He told me that the package was for Aya."  
  
Toya carefully opened the package to reveal a DVD.  
  
"A disk?" He said. "They sent a disk to Aya, so they're probably keeping a close watch on our movements." Then he got up. "I'll go get Riku." And he walked down the hallway to where Riku was. As he walked closer, he heard Riku talking.  
  
"So that's all of the information you have on the Mikage?" Riku asked.  
  
"I'm afraid so." Col. Campbell answered. "I'm sorry if the information wasn't enough."  
  
"No problem, I'll just have Greg's family give me a hand at getting some info." Riku said. "Drakken out."  
  
(A codec?) Toya thought. (This kid's wired with nanomachines.)  
  
"Excuse me, Riku." Toya said as he walked up to him. "We've just received some kind of disk from the Mikage. It could be a message."  
  
Riku looked at Toya to see if he had heard any of his conversation with Col. Campbell, but saw nothing that indicated that.  
  
"All right." Riku said. "Let's have a look."  
  
When they got back to the room, Toya put the DVD into the player revealing the face of Shiso.  
  
"Doing well, Aya?" Shiso asked. "So Toya's with you too, huh...how're you doing? Have the two of you been having fun these past five months?"  
  
"Shiso!" Toya said in recognition.  
  
"I'm sorry to throw a monkey wrench into your new life with each other." Shiso continued. "But we just invited an important friend of yours into our home..."  
  
"Ow! Get the hell off me!" Chidori's voice shouted.  
  
"Chidori?" Both Toy and Suzumi shouted at the same time.  
  
"That can't be!" Suzumi shouted. "I was informed that she was all right as of yesterday!"  
  
"I'll check on that now!" Mrs. Q. shouted as she left the room.  
  
"Kagami's going to be using her for a little research." Shiso continued. "It's about time to quit just watching you guys. And Aya...you'll be mine sooner or later, as long as you're Ceres-."  
  
"Aya! Just ignore this asshole!" Chidori shouted and then Shiso swung his fist to the side cutting her off.  
  
"Sis!" Shota's voice shouted.  
  
"Shota?!" Toya shouted instantly recognizing the boy's voice.  
  
"Well, Aya..." Shiso said with a sadistic grin on his face. "Don't you feel sorry for these poor siblings? Can you live with it as long as you have your own happiness? Do you know what's going to happen to this C- Genome?"  
  
"Aya...don't listen to him!" Chidori pleaded.  
  
Shiso then hoisted up Chidori by her hair and then held her in front of the camera.  
  
"Are you just going to leave your friends?" He asked mockingly. "Aren't you the one who has to come here? Aren't you the one who this power within these girls?"  
  
"Aya! Don't!" Chidori shouted. "You've just become happy with Toya after all your troubles! Don't come-!"  
  
"Stop it!" Shota shouted. "Don't you touch my sister!"  
  
Shiso ignored the boy's pleas and continued.  
  
"Oh, and Toya, you come along too." He said. "I'll treat you right." There was a pause. "I'll be waiting for you." And then the recording ended.  
  
Suddenly the TV exploded as if an invisible force had hit it.  
  
"Nagi! Calm down!" Riku shouted.  
  
"You didn't feel what I did." Nagi said, his hands clenched in rage. "It was brief, but I felt their emotions. Those two's grief, their pain, and that freak's sadistic joy in all of it..."  
  
"Don't worry, we'll pay them back for this." Riku said. "Just try to control yourself until then."  
  
"Don't worry, Riku, I will." Nagi said. "And take your hand off the wall, you're starting to burn it." Riku looked and quickly removed his hand from the wall only to reveal a hand shaped burn mark.  
  
"Whoops." Riku said and then turned to an amazed Suzumi. "You can take the repair cost out of our paycheck if you want."  
  
"Hypocrite." Tot said. "You're just as angry with those Mikage guys as Nagi is."  
  
"All right, what did you just do?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag." Riku said. "All right, Nagi and I have special abilities. Nagi's a psychic, as you've just seen and I'm...well, let me show you."  
  
Then Riku held out his right hand and a fireball appeared in its palm.  
  
"You're a flame wielder." Yuhi said. (He's like Urakawa.)  
  
Riku's eyes widened when he saw Yuhi's expression.  
  
"It seems that I'm not the first flame user to cross your path." Riku said. "Who was it?"  
  
"A girl who went to my school." Yuhi answered. "Her name was Yuki Urukawa."  
  
"Was?" Riku asked. "You mean she's dead?"  
  
"I'm afraid so." Yuhi replied. "The Mikage used her as a guinea pig for the early stages of C-project and then used her as a weapon. She burnt herself to death with her own powers about a year ago."  
  
"Damn it!" Riku swore. "Looks like I've got another reason for toppling their plans now. So who was that guy in the video and who is this girl that they kidnapped?"  
  
"Her name is Chidori Kuruma." Yuhi answered. "She's a good friend of ours and is also the descendant of a celestial maiden. That's why they kidnapped her. The guy on the TV was Aki Mikage, Aya's twin brother."  
  
"Aki? I thought I heard Toya call him Shiso."  
  
"Shiso is the name of the forefather of the Mikage family." Toya explained. "Somehow, the spirit of that ancestor took over Aki's body and is possessing him."  
  
"All right, now that's a little too hard to swallow." Riku said.  
  
"I know this sounds crazy, but it's true." Toya replied. "I'll explain everything later, but right now we need to focus on rescuing Chidori."  
  
"He's right." Yuhi agreed and then he hit the side of the wall in frustration. "Damn it! They were fine the last time I saw them. What about their bodyguards?"  
  
"Probably killed." Toya said. "Just like the rest of Chidori's family, except for Shouta."  
  
"How could this have happened?" Yuhi asked. "I should have stayed with them."  
  
"We've been careless because it's been safe for months now." Suzumi said. "There's no way we could have predicted this."  
  
"We can go over that later." Riku said. "Right now we need to rescue this Chidori Kuruma and her brother." Then he turned to Toya. "You seem to know a lot about these guys."  
  
"That was because I used to work for them." Toya replied.  
  
"So you basically know what we'd be up against." Riku said. "Where they've taken Chidori, how strong is the security?"  
  
"I'm afraid Mikage International HQ is heavily guarded on the inside." Toya answered. "The security teams are enough for a small army."  
  
"How well are they armed?" Riku asked.  
  
"They're heavily armed, I'm afraid."  
  
"And their combat experience?"  
  
"It varies." Yuhi spoke. "I've fought these guys before, and aside from their team of special agents, the Mikages' men aren't all that threatening."  
  
"So they're basically your typical run-of-the-mill hit men." Riku said. "All right, what's the plan?"  
  
"I'll infiltrate Mikage International's headquarters and rescue those two." Toya said. "I'm good enough at stealth to get in and out of there."  
  
"That's too dangerous!" Yuhi shouted. "I'm coming too! I can fight, and I won't be a drag. I'll save Chidori and Shouta for certain! For what the Mikage did after we left... I'll never forgive them--or myself!"  
  
"Yuhi, wait." Suzumi said. "It's too dangerous for the both of you to try and get in there."  
  
"She's right." Riku agreed. "I have an idea; Nagi, Tot, and I will go on ahead. We'll rescue Chidori, hold her in a secure part of the building, and hold out until you guys arrive and rescue Shota. Then we'll make our escape." Then Riku turned to Toya. "Where do you think they're keeping Chidori?"  
  
"There's a research room on one of the higher levels of the building." Toya said. "That's probably where they're keeping her. But sneaking past all of the guards on the floors in between won't be easy."  
  
"You said it's near the top floor, right?" Riku said. "All the three of us need to do is enter from the top."  
  
"Entry by air isn't possible." Toya said. "The Mikage have anti- aircraft guns on the roof of the building, so we can't get you there by chopper."  
  
"Who said anything about needing a chopper?" Nagi asked. "With my powers, all we need to do is get onto the roof of a neighboring building and I'll just float us over to there."  
  
Toya paused for a moment to think about this and then spoke.  
  
"You're plan just might work." He said. "The Mikage wouldn't expect an entrance from the roof. Are you sure you can sneak past the guards?"  
  
"That shouldn't be a problem." Riku replied. "I've done some stealth missions before and my two partners have done enough VR simulations for this sort of thing."  
  
"All right." Toya said. "You three go on ahead, Yuhi and I will follow you later and come in from the bottom."  
  
"And we'll provide a distraction so you guys won't have very much trouble." Tot added.  
  
"I'll go with you." Yuhi offered.  
  
"No." Riku said. "There needs to be a second team ready in case something goes wrong."  
  
"But I-." Yuhi said.  
  
"This girl, Chidori Kuruma." Nagi said suddenly. "You care a lot for her."  
  
Yuhi turned to Nagi in surprise.  
  
"How did you...?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"I'm a psychic, remember?" Nagi answered. "I can't read your mind, and I don't want to. I'm not very good with telepathy, but there are times, when a person is feeling strong emotions, that I can feel their emotions." Then he paused for a second. "I'd venture to guess that Chidori means a lot to you, probably even more than just as a friend."  
  
"I..." Yuhi said but couldn't finish.  
  
"I'm sorry if I've said anything to offend you." Nagi said.  
  
"No, you haven't." Yuhi replied. "Maybe you've helped me see something that I haven't been able to see."  
  
"All right." Riku said. "We'll meet up with you later, but before we go I have something to give you." And then he took three spare codecs of his pocket and handed one to Suzumi, Toya, and Yuhi. "Use these to communicate with us. My frequency is 107.89. Call me if you have anything to tell me."  
  
"Of course." Toya said then he wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Riku. "This is the address for Mikage International's headquarters. Good luck to all of you."  
  
"Likewise." Riku replied and then he turned to Nagi and Tot. "All right, let's get going. Those Mikage guys won't even know what hit them."  
  
"Let's kick some bad guy butt!" Tot shouted.  
  
"That's not how I'd say it." Nagi said. "But it's close enough." And the three of them exited the room.  
  
"Those guys are no ordinary mercenaries." Toya said as soon as Riku and co. had left.  
  
"Well that's pretty obvious." Yuhi said. "Who do you think they're with, the Japanese government?"  
  
"No, somehow I don't think so." Toya replied. "And it isn't just because of their powers." And then he held up the codec Riku had given him. "You know what these are, right?"  
  
"They're communication devices." Yuhi answered. "What about them?"  
  
"The kind we have run on a battery, but the kind those three have are powered by nanomachines."  
  
"Nanomachines?" Suzumi said. "But only government agents are given those, and since you say they're not from the government then who are they?"  
  
"You think they're with the Mikage?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"No." Toya answered. "I don't think so. I don't think the Mikage would have people like that under their employment."  
  
"We can go over who sent them later." Yuhi said. "Let's get our equipment and follow-."  
  
"Yuhi, wait. It's too dangerous for both of you to try and get in there." Suzumi said and she reached over and picked up the phone. "We need more manpower. I'll ask my father-in-law to get the best professional mercenaries he can hire."  
  
"If so, do it now." Yuhi replied. "We can't afford to waste anymore time!"  
  
"It can't be helped! We have to be careful... The Mikage aren't an enemy to be taken lightly, which is why I employed those three in the first place."  
  
Meanwhile: Riku's Car:  
  
"And that's the current situation, colonel." Riku finished. He had told Roy everything that had just occurred.  
  
"I see." Col. Campbell replied. "Drakken, don't underestimate these people. We still don't know who we're up against."  
  
"I understand." Riku said. "One thing, is there anything you can do to give the Mikage a bit of a distraction?"  
  
The colonel was silent for a minute before speaking again.  
  
"Yes, I think I have an idea." He said. "For now, continue your plan. Mei Ling will be the one in charge of saving your mission data."  
  
"Of course. Drakken out." And the transmission ended.  
  
Meanwhile: Philanthropy/FOXHOUND HQ:  
  
A young man in his teens stepped into Col Campbell's office. He had medium length dark brown hair and was wearing casual clothes.  
  
"You called, colonel." He said. "Have you finally got something for me?"  
  
"Yes." Roy answered. "James, three of our recruits are conducting a mission over in Japan that has them going up against Mikage International's private army."  
  
"And what does this have to do with me?" James asked. "Am I supposed to go assist them?"  
  
"In a way, yes." Roy replied. "Drakken and his partners need something to distract the Mikage and I believe that an attack on their American branch in California should be sufficient."  
  
"Sounds interesting enough." James said. "All right, where in California am I supposed to go and what equipment may I bring with me?"  
  
"The base is located in the country area of California on some land that is privately owned by the Mikage. Take whatever equipment you feel is necessary."  
  
"Understood, colonel. Anything else?"  
  
"Make sure nobody sees you." Roy answered. "If word got out that FOXHOUND had ordered an attack on what appears to be civilian complex..."  
  
"I understand." James replied. "I'll just wear a mask over my face. Is that everything?"  
  
"Yes. Nagu will drop you off about a mile outside the base. Dismissed."  
  
Meanwhile: The roof of a building:  
  
"So that's Mikage International Headquarters." Riku said as he looked at the tall building across from him Even where he was standing, the roof of the building was still pretty far up. Then he turned to Nagi. "So can you get us to the top?"  
  
"Piece of cake." Nagi said confidently. "So we just stick to using the M9s for now?"  
  
"Yes." Riku replied. "Since we're sneaking in and since blood attracts way too much attention, we should only use that for now and Tot, use only the flat of your sword."  
  
"Don't worry about that." Tot said as she strapped Muramasa to her back. "I know full well how to use this sword."  
  
"Good." Riku said. "Now let's activate our stealth camos."  
  
They each pressed the button for a device they were wearing and then they disappeared from sight.  
  
"Here goes." Nagi said and then he focused his powers causing all three of them to be lifted up off the ground and then towards the roof of the building in front of them.  
  
After a few minutes, they reached the roof and Nagi let them down onto it. They then deactivated their stealth camos. Riku then looked over at two sleeping guards near the door.  
  
"This is their security?" He asked and he shook his head. "Pathetic." Then he walked over to the door and opened it.  
  
"Let's go." He said and then he, Nagi, and Tot entered the building and their mission officially began.  
  
AN: Man, that took a while to write. Anyway, here's a synopsis of what's to come. Riku and co. enter the base and their mission soon leads to some secrets about C-project being revealed. Also, yes folks, the moment you've been waiting for. Scorpion will fight Farfarello! I'll update as soon as I can, for now, please review. Oh by the way, the Aya that appeared with Weiss and the Aya that's from Ceres are two completely different people, don't confuse them. 


	12. Chapter 12: Rescue Mission Part 1

AN: The chapter you have all been waiting for has arrived. Yes folks, in this chapter Silent Scorpion will duke it out with Farfarello! Gentlemen, place your bets!  
  
Disclaimer: Please read the past disclaimers to know who belongs to who.  
  
Recap (I am so sorry for forgetting it in Ch11): Last time, Riku and co. met with assassin group Weiss. Many discussions occurred and both Nagi and Tot buried the hatchet with their former foes. A few days later, the men of a large company known as Mikage International kidnap a girl named Chidori Kuruma and her brother Shota. As that occurs, Col. Campbell gives Riku, Nagi, and Tot their first official mission as a group. Their assignment is to help protect a small group of people from the Mikage. Riku and co. then meet with the people they are to protect and are soon informed on their situation. Later, the Mikage send a disk containing a demand that Aya Mikage be turned over to them in exchange for Chidori and Shota Kuruma's safety. Riku and co. decide to go on ahead and infiltrate the Mikage International HQ while Yuhi and Toya mobilize a small group of the Aogiri family mercenaries as a rescue mission. Elsewhere, James Masterson aka Silent Scorpion is sent to attack the American branch of Mikage International to provide a distraction for Riku and co.  
  
Chapter 12: Rescue Mission Part 1  
  
Schuldich watched as Riku, Nagi, and Tot entered Mikage Intl. HQ through the roof. He was standing on the roof of a nearby building and watching them through a scope.  
  
"Well, it seems Nagi and his pals are right on schedule." Schuldich said with a grin. "Now we'll see how much stronger you have become, Nagi."  
  
"Are you sure that we should be allowing FOXHOUND to do all of this?" Viper asked Schuldich from behind. "The Patriots do still consider C- Project to be an important operation, despite Kagami's obvious treachery."  
  
"Chidori Kuruma is only a substitute for Ceres." Schuldich said. "Kagami realizes this and is only planning to use her as a test subject to see how the experiment will affect Ceres. In other words, Miss Kuruma is expendable once Ceres is obtained so FOXHOUND can have her for all I care." Then he changed the subject. "Which reminds me, what will we do about that Shiso character?"  
  
"That one will, of course, have to be eliminated." Viper answered. "He is a danger to the advancement of C-Project. I imagine that Kagami also wants him out of the way."  
  
"Good, I never liked him very much anyway." Then Schuldich looked back at the building Riku and co. had just entered. "Now let's see how this turns out. I hope you don't disappoint us, Nagi."  
  
"That reminds me." Viper said. "That empathic barrier you have on the boy that you made with your telepathic abilities. Do you intend to keep it on him?"  
  
"Of course." Schuldich answered. "Crawford told me not to remove it, though I've had to reinforce it a lot since due to Nagi's increase in strength. You see, if Nagi were to become too much of a nuisance to us, then all I need to do is remove the barrier. The sudden removal of it would cause so many thoughts and feelings to force their way into his mind that I doubt Nagi will be able to withstand all of that for very long."  
  
"Are you planning on bringing him back into Schwartz?" Viper asked.  
  
"Unless we can find a more suitable replacement." Schuldich replied. "However, since Nagi has become strong enough to resist my brainwashing abilities I guess we'll have to do it the more unpleasant way."  
  
"And what would that be?"  
  
"All that we need to do is kill that girl that he likes right in front of him and also that friend of his. That should break him enough so that I can manipulate him back into our kind of psychic."  
  
"And if that doesn't break him?"  
  
"Then we'll simply kill more of his friends until he does break. Though I think we'll put all of that off until Nagi has gotten a little stronger. It's obvious that these FOXHOUND people are the ones responsible for his increase in strength, and I'm sure that the Patriots will be most pleased when we bring them a psychic that has surpassed Psycho Mantis himself."  
  
"Oh yes." Viper agreed. "They most certainly will."  
  
Later: Inside Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
Riku, Nagi, and Tot had just snuck through two of the floors without even one of the guards noticing them.  
  
"Man, when it comes to security, these Mikage guys suck." Riku said and then he turned to his partners. "What do you guys think?"  
  
"I can't believe I was able to sneak past all those guys without even one of them noticing me!" Tot said. "That was so fun!"  
  
"Let me guess." Riku said, knowing full well this feeling Tot was having. "This is your first actual sneaking mission."  
  
"Yeah, sort of." Tot replied. "When I was with Schrient, I was more of an attacker. The only stealth I did was sneaking up behind an enemy."  
  
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Riku said and then turned to Nagi and noticed a similar look on his face. "Looks like it's the same with you too."  
  
"Oh, so you noticed." Nagi said rubbing the back of his head. "Well, like Tot, I haven't really had much experience with stealth. Usually, Crawford and the others handled that and I came in to bring up the rear. Sorry if I'm being a bother this way."  
  
"Of course not." Riku said. "This is a pretty common feeling the first time around. After a while the training takes over and this practically becomes second nature. Anyway, I'd better contact the colonel now." Then Riku activated his codec and set it to Col. Campbell's frequency.  
  
"This is Drakken." Riku reported as soon as he saw Roy's face appear on screen. "Crow, Usagi, and I have successfully entered Mikage International HQ. We are now trying to locate the area where Chidori Kuruma is being held."  
  
"Good. How's the soliton radar working?" Col. Campbell asked.  
  
"As good as always." Riku replied. "So how's the distraction going?"  
  
"We've just dropped Scorpion off not too far from the American branch of Mikage International." Roy answered. "His attack should commence in a few minutes."  
  
"Hold on. Isn't that a civilian base?" Riku asked in reply. "Are you sure it's a good idea to send Scorpion there?"  
  
"The Mikage have kept the base completely secret." Col. Campbell answered. "If the base were to be attacked, they wouldn't be able to report it."  
  
"What doesn't exist can't exist." Riku quoted the term used for cover- ups. "All right, I'll have the others report their status."  
  
"Crow here." Nagi said as soon as his face replaced Riku's on the codec screen. "I'm fine."  
  
"Usagi here." Tot said as her face replaced Nagi's. "Everything's A- OK!"  
  
"Well, glad to see that your partners are...enthusiastic about this." Roy said. "Anyway, I'm having the communications to Mikage International HQ monitored. I'll notify you when they get word of Scorpion's attack."  
  
"Understood." Riku said and the transmission ended, then his codec rang again. Riku shrugged and answered it.  
  
"Hey, this thing actually works." Yuhi said as soon as his face appeared on screen. "So, are you guys in?"  
  
"We are, Yuhi." Riku answered. "How are things going at your end?"  
  
"We've just mobilized a small group of mercenaries hired by my father and we're on our way here." Yuhi replied. "There are ten of them in all, not counting me and Toya. I'm sorry if that's a small amount, but we didn't have enough time to assemble more men."  
  
"Ten should be enough." Riku said. "How well are you armed and what's your plan for entering the base?"  
  
"We're armed well enough." Yuhi answered. "I'll have Toya explain the plans." Then Toya's face replaced Yuhi's on the codec screen.  
  
"Our plan is for us to get into the air ducts of the building, take out all of the sensors and the main computer, and then attack." Toya explained. "The Mikage are undoubtedly expecting our arrival but we should have enough in the element of surprise to get Chidori and Shota out of there."  
  
"That should work if Crow, Usagi, and I are able to secure Chidori from these guys." Riku said.  
  
"Who?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this to you earlier; call us by our codenames both over transmission and when talking to us face to face as long as we're inside this building." Riku answered. "My codename is Drakken, Nagi's is Mystic Crow, and Tot's is Usagi Ninja. It's important to insure secrecy."  
  
"All right, Drakken." Yuhi said. "Notify me as soon as you rescue Chidori. My frequency is 138.67 and Toya's frequency is 136.45."  
  
"No problem." Riku answered. "I'll contact you then, Drakken out." And the transmission ended. Then he turned to Nagi and Tot. "All right, let's head to the next floor, and hope the distraction that Campbell set up for us works."  
  
Meanwhile: Somewhere in America:  
  
James calmly observed the American branch for Mikage International from a distance using a scope. He was wearing his standard sneaking suit as well as a mask to cover his face. He could see that there were many guards patrolling the place but none of them looked very serious about it. None of them were expecting anyone to attack the base.  
  
"Pretty stupid to let your guard down like that." James said to no one in particular as he took out his sniper rifle and then pointed it at the head of one of the guards. "Your loss." And then he pulled the trigger.  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"Sheesh. Fifth floor down and no sign of wherever it is that they're keeping Chidori." Riku said with a shake of his head. "And according to what Toya told us, there are about fifty floors to this building."  
  
"I hope we didn't miss it on the way down." Nagi said.  
  
"Hey, don't jinx us, Nagi." Riku replied and then his codec rang. Riku shrugged and then answered it expecting it to be Col. Campbell or Mei Ling.  
  
"You're getting closer to the area where Miss Kuruma is being held." A voice that was altered by a computer said, no face appeared on the codec screen.  
  
"Who is this?" Riku asked. "Are you part of FOXHOUND?"  
  
"No." The caller answered. "I'm merely a simple person who wants to interfere with the Mikage's plans as much as possible, but you could say that I've recently become a fan of your group."  
  
"If you are, then why don't you identify yourself?" Riku demanded. "Our goals are the same."  
  
"There is no need for you to know." The voice answered.  
  
"I'll decide whether I need to know or not." Riku replied.  
  
"Your decision is irrelevant." The voice said. "But I'll tell you something you need to know instead. The current location of Chidori Kuruma."  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"She's being held in a room five levels below you. However, the area that she is in is an authorized personnel only area. The first door is monitored by a security camera and will only open to select personnel such as security guards. You'll get nowhere dressed as you are now."  
  
"You mean, we're going to have to dress up as one of these guys?" Riku asked all ready knowing the answer. "Where can we find the uniforms we need?"  
  
"There is a locker room on the floor that you're currently on." The speaker answered. "Search the lockers and you should find the outfits that you require."  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
"Yes. There is a second door into the area requires a retinal scan to grant access. Nothing but the real thing will suffice, deception is not an option there."  
  
"Biometrics. Just what we needed." Riku said sarcastically.  
  
"You and your partners will have to work that part out on your own."  
  
"But what if they move Chidori? Do you have any idea where it could be?"  
  
"There are two laboratories also in that area. The first is a technical lab where they test the C-Genomes powers. The second is a biological area where their experiments are performed. I don't believe that I need to tell you what kind." There was obvious note of contempt in the speaker's voice as it spoke.  
  
"Oh yes, I know exactly what kind you're talking about." Riku said with equal contempt. "My partners and I will make sure to destroy that place on our way out."  
  
"You have my thanks. Now proceed to the tenth floor down and rescue Chidori."  
  
"Wait!" Riku said. "Before you end this transmission, could you at least give me a name to call you by?"  
  
"Very well." The voice replied. "Call me Kei."  
  
"Is that your real name?"  
  
"Like I told you before, there is no need for you to know." Kei answered and then the transmission ended. Riku then switched over to the colonel's frequency.  
  
"Colonel, do you have any idea who it was that just contacted me?" Riku asked as soon as Col. Campbell's face appeared on screen.  
  
"I have no idea." Roy answered. "Whoever it was, he wasn't one of ours."  
  
"You think this Kei could be one of the Patriots' operatives?"  
  
"Maybe. I'll have it looked into. For now continue your mission; disguise yourself as enemy personnel, and infiltrate the lab area. Remember, your priority is to rescue Chidori and Shota Kuruma."  
  
"Understood sir." Riku said. "Is there anything else?"  
  
"Yes. Scorpion has begun his attack." There was silence for a few minutes before the colonel spoke again. "We've just intercepted intelligence on Scorpion's attack. I'm patching it through."  
  
"Thanks, colonel." Riku said. "Now let's hear how Scorpion's attack is going." And then they listened to the conversation.  
  
"This is squad 15 of the security team." A voice said. "The American branch is under attack by an unknown amount of assailants. So far we've lost thirty men to these guys."  
  
"Thirty men!" The receiver shouted. "My God, who are you fighting?"  
  
"I don't know!" The caller shouted. "Most of the attacks have been sniper attacks and the rest have been killed by throwing knives. We're in the process of trying to-arrgh!" And then there was silence.  
  
"What's going on, respond!" The receiver shouted and then there was more silence. "Communications with the American branch have ceased. Notify Mr. Mikage about this immediately."  
  
"Yes sir." Another man said and then the transmission ended.  
  
"Looks like Scorpion hasn't wasted his time." Riku commented. "And it looks like we've gotten our distraction. So, colonel, should we trust what that caller told us?"  
  
"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't." Col. Campbell answered. "But there is a chance that this could be a trap set up by the Mikage."  
  
"Colonel, I don't think that person was lying." Nagi spoke. "I was listening to the conversation and he sounded sincere and I think I would have been able to feel if he was trying to deceive us."  
  
"All right, I'll let you decide whether to trust this guy or not." Roy replied. "Be careful." And the transmission ended.  
  
Riku then turned to Nagi and Tot.  
  
"The two of you were listening to the conversation beforehand, right?" He asked and they both nodded. "Nagi, could you tell if Kei was a man or a woman?"  
  
"I'm afraid not." Nagi answered. "I tried to use the bit of telepathy I can do but something was blocking my powers."  
  
"Maybe that guy had some surgical implants in his head then." Riku said. "That was how they kept Psycho Mantis from diving into the DARPA Chief and the Armstech President's mind during Shadow Moses."  
  
"I don't think it was something like that." Nagi replied. "When I was using my powers, I heard a strange sort of music. I think that was what was blocking my powers."  
  
"Well, given that Aunt Neon's madogou uses music as a weapon, I can see how that's possible." Riku said. "The only thing that we know for sure is that this person has some connection to music."  
  
"And also that he's a friend of Chidori's." Tot added.  
  
"How'd you come up with that?" Riku asked  
  
"Don't you remember?" Tot asked. "That person told us to "rescue Chidori". Now why would someone use her first name in a request if he doesn't know her?"  
  
"She does have a point there, Riku." Nagi said in agreement.  
  
"Well, we can debate about the identity of Kei later." Riku said. "Now let's head to that locker room Kei told us about."  
  
Later: Locker Room:  
  
"Looks like there are only two guard uniforms available." Riku said as he held up two black tuxedo-like uniforms. He and Nagi had checked every locker there but could only find two suits. "I guess one of us will have to use their stealth camo and follow us."  
  
"That will be me." Tot volunteered. "I'm definitely not wearing someone else's used clothes. That's just gross."  
  
"A former assassin thinking something like that is gross? Will wonders never cease?" Riku said with a chuckle. "But you might be the best choice. There don't seem to be any female guards and your voice is way too feminine to pass off as a guy's. Also, there are a couple of other things that I doubt could be disguised."  
  
"Like what?" Tot asked.  
  
"Ask Nagi." Riku answered with a sly grin. "I'm pretty sure he's noticed them a lot more than anyone."  
  
"Could we just get our disguises on?" Nagi asked, blushing furiously.  
  
"You're no fun at all." Riku said. "Anyway, the disguises should make things easier for us when it comes to infiltrating the place."  
  
(Whenever the subject shifts to physical stuff, especially when it concerns him and Tot, Nagi immediately tries to change the subject.) Riku thought. (And Tot's too naïve when it comes to that subject. That's what makes them so fun to tease.)  
  
"Hey Riku, do you really think these guys will believe that I'm one of their employees?" Nagi asked as he tried the suit on. "I don't exactly look the right age to be a security guard."  
  
"Judging by these guys' security, I'd say that they'll only look at the uniform." Riku answered. "And they'll probably just assume that you're a short guy. At least I hope that they do"  
  
"That isn't very reassuring." Nagi said.  
  
Meanwhile: American Branch of Mikage Intl.:  
  
"Are you telling me that this guy's killed over fifty of our men and you haven't even seen him?!" The head of the base's security shouted.  
  
"No sir, we haven't seen him." The guard replied nervously. "He's been using sniper fire mostly and the ones who get to close have been killed by a number of stab wounds."  
  
"Damn it!" The security head swore. "Just what kind of lunatic are we dealing with?" Then he paused as if he remembered something and then turned back to the guard. "Send Farfarello after our attacker and withdraw the rest of our men. Let one lunatic take care of another lunatic."  
  
"Understood sir." The guard replied and then left the room.  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: 40th Floor:  
  
Riku and Nagi walked down the hallway dressed in their newly acquired uniforms while Tot followed them from behind using her stealth camo. After a while, they got to the door with the security camera and it opened for them. They then walked into a large series of hallways full of heavily armed guards on patrol. A few guards looked over at them as they entered but ignored them.  
  
(M4s, grenades, berettas, and they're probably wearing protective gear under their coats. These guys are much better armed than the ones in the ordinary hallways, that's for sure.) Riku thought as he looked at the guards that he passed by. (Though by the way they're acting, I'd say most of their equipment is just for show and they're not really expecting enemy infiltration up to this point.)  
  
The three of them turned to the left and then walked towards a door that had a retinal scanner at the side of it. There was one guard standing there, leaning against the side of the wall, with a bored expression on his face. Riku checked to see that there were no other guards within hearing range before walked up to the lone guard casually and then suddenly drew out his M9 and pointed it at the surprised guard's face. "FREEZE!" He shouted.  
  
The guard's eyes widened in fear as he quickly raised his arms, allowing Riku to grab him in a chokehold and then he carried him over to the scanner. Riku then placed the guard's temple against the scanner, and waited for it to do its job.  
  
"Retinal pattern recognized. You are cleared to enter." A computerized female voice said.  
  
"Thank you so much for your cooperation." Riku said, looking down at his captive with a friendly smile.  
  
"Excuse me." Nagi said and he pulled out his M9 and shot the guard at point blank range knocking him out.  
  
"Excuse me?" Riku asked as he dropped the sleeping guard and stepped through the opened door.  
  
"It seemed like the right thing to say, Riku." Nagi answered as he, and an invisible Tot, also stepped through. "I mean, the guy was so helpful."  
  
"Yeah." Tot agreed. "It was so nice of him to volunteer like that, don't you think so Riku?"  
  
Riku chuckled a little at that comment. "Yes it was nice of him wasn't it? Anyway, we should head over to where they're keeping Chidori." Then stopped when he remembered something. He then reached into his pocket and took out a digital camera. "Tot, I need you to take this."  
  
"All right." Tot's voice answered and then the camera seemed to float in midair as she took it and then it vanished as she put it away. "What's this for?"  
  
"We need to get an ID on the people in charge of this C-Project." Riku replied. "When you get the opportunity, get some photos of the people who appear to be in charge and also anything else that looks important."  
  
"Okay." Tot said.  
  
They then walked down the hallway until they got to a large glass doorway that looked like the doorway to a lab. There were two guards standing at each side of the door. One of them spoke.  
  
"Well, it's about time you got here." The guard said. "We just brought in the C-Genome. You two go inside and help."  
  
"Uh...what are we supposed to do?" Riku asked.  
  
The second guard shook his head in disappointment.  
  
"New guys." He sighed and shook his head. "Look, all you need to do is keep the C-Genome restrained and then drag her over to the other lab when this little test is over. Be careful that you don't damage her or it could mean your life."  
  
"Understood, sir." Riku said and then looked over at Nagi. "Come on, let's get this over with. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can take a break for a drink." Nagi nodded and they both stepped in, followed by Tot.  
  
Riku looked around the room and saw that the place was filled with various electronic equipment. He then saw a girl around his own age with long blue hair. She was wearing a hospital gown and was manacled at the wrists. Riku could obviously see that she didn't look very happy at the current situation.  
  
(That must be Chidori Kuruma.) He thought and then looked to the side of her and then saw a strange rock like object, contained in a glass container, in front of her. (What the hell is that?) Riku then heard a click as Tot took a picture of the strange object.  
  
"Welcome, Chidori Kuruma." A man's voice announced from a loudspeaker. Chidori looked up and Riku quickly followed her gaze. He then saw a man with short black hair wearing a gray business suit and tinted glasses standing behind a barrier of reinforced glass in an observation booth above. Riku tried his best not to show his distaste for the man's calm apathetic expression as he looked down into the lab; Riku couldn't believe someone would actually condone something like this. Another thing Riku could see was that the way the man was looking at Chidori reminded him of how someone would look at an amusing object, as if he didn't even regard Chidori as anything but a test subject.  
  
"I appreciate your cooperation with C-Project this time." The man continued.  
  
"You...you're Kagami Mikage?" Chidori asked and then her expression became angered. "You worthless son of a--!! You killed my family... you've tormented Aya mercilessly!!"  
  
"Need I remind you that your brother Shota is under our expert care?" Kagami replied. "So maybe you'll be more inclined to begin our little experiment, hm? Just concentrate your power on this fossil... that's all." And he gestured at the object in front of her.  
  
Inside the Booth:  
  
Kagami looked over at Lee, who was standing a few feet behind him.  
  
"Shota Kuruma... he's with Shiso, correct?" He asked.  
  
"Yes sir, he is." Lee answered.  
  
"Recently, Shiso has become ominously compliant." Kagami said. "He's been unusually agreeable to all of our orders, but--I don't think he knows about this recreation of the hagoromo."  
  
"That does seem to be the case, sir." Lee replied.  
  
"If this fossil metamorphoses into a hagoromo, it could be a powerful sample indeed. We'll have a new hagoromo before too long... without having to ask Shiso where Ceres' is."  
  
"You mean... we don't need Shiso anymore?" Lee asked.  
  
Kagami shook his head. "What we needed, Lee, was "Aki Mikage" as the "reincarnation" of Shiso. It's easier to rally an organization when they have a symbol of sorts."  
  
Kagami smiled slightly before continuing. "The man who stole Ceres' hagoromo... he's the genesis of this entire C-Project, and Ceres as well. Moreover, he's our trump card to lure Aya, and consequently Ceres. Although we could've worked on Aya much sooner if he'd remained Aki, we couldn't possibly have predicted that the real Shiso would fully emerge. If Shiso no longer holds any usefulness as far as the hagoromo is concerned, then he's nothing but an obstacle now. And if that's the case... perhaps we should bring Aki's personality back out. Otherwise... eh?!" And then he looked back into the lab.  
  
He then saw the fossil begin to change shape under the influence of Chidori's power. It then started to move and churn in shape.  
  
"The fossil--!!" Kagami said looking intently at the transforming object.  
  
A woman with pale hair also observed the process.  
  
"Amazing." She said. "The fact that she could muster this much power is simply unbelievable!"  
  
"One things for sure." One of the lab technicians said. "This is definitely beyond any comparison for Type B."  
  
In the Laboratory:  
  
Chidori then concentrated harder on the object and then the glass surrounding it shattered, spraying glass in multiple directions. In place of the fossil, stood a large glowing round object.  
  
"Success!" One of the technicians shouted.  
  
"Excellent!" Kagami said over the speaker. "Have the hagaromo brought to B-Room immediately!"  
  
Riku and Nagi both stared at the strange object in complete shock before it was quickly taken away.  
  
(This mission's barely started and it's already going off the fringe of a normal mission.) Riku thought. (I've got to report this to the colonel immediately, and I'd better call Nanvel for some intel while I'm at it.) He then heard the camera click as Tot took a picture of the hagaromo.  
  
Inside the Observation Booth:  
  
Just then, a technician entered the room.  
  
"Chief!" He shouted and then walked over to Kagami and whispered something in his ear.  
  
"Toya and the Aogiri family... coming here...?" Kagami said causing a reaction from Lee. Kagami then shook his head. "First there's an attack on our American branch and now this." He then paused for a moment and then looked over at Chidori, who was breathing heavily from exhaustion. "And here I was planning on letting her rest for a while beforehand... Oh well, the circumstances can't be helped." And then he looked over at one of the technicians in the lab and nodded.  
  
Inside the Laboratory:  
  
"Shota..." Chidori said weakly.  
  
One of the lab technicians looked over at Riku.  
  
"You there. You and your partner take Miss Kuruma over to the medical station." He said.  
  
"What?!" Chidori half shouted. "Isn't this mess done with already?"  
  
"Not yet." The technician replied. "You have an important surgery to undergo, so..."  
  
Chidori's eyes widened in horror.  
  
"Surgery...!! No!! Let me go!!" She screamed and then tried to run but stumbled and fell. "Shota!! Shotaa--!!"  
  
The technician looked over at Riku and nodded.  
  
Riku and Nagi walked over to Chidori and took her by the wrists and lifted her up. As they were doing this, Riku leaned in and whispered to her.  
  
"Miss Kuruma, please relax." He said. "My partner and I are here to rescue you."  
  
"Who...?" Chidori asked keeping her voice down.  
  
"Please keep still and listen to me." Riku continued warily darting his eyes back and forth to keep an eye on the lab techs nearby. "My partner and I aren't Mikage personnel; we got in here using their uniforms."  
  
"Who told you about me?" Chidori asked, wondering whether this was a trick or not.  
  
"Yuhi was the one who sent us." Nagi answered. This seemed to calm Chidori down. "We'll talk more once we get out of sight."  
  
In the Observation Booth:  
  
(This is strange.) Lee thought as he regarded the silent walkie- talkie attached to his belt. (I haven't received a single status report from any of the men for a while.) Then he looked back at the lab and then noticed Riku and Nagi, who were starting to move Chidori out of the room. (Wait a minute, I've never seen those two before. And one of them looks too young to be one of ours.) He then walked over to the monitor and turned on the speaker.  
  
"You two, hold it!" He shouted causing Riku and Nagi to stop. "Which team are you with?"  
  
Neither of them answered. Lee then ran out the side door and into the lab.  
  
Inside the Laboratory:  
  
The two guards outside immediately came in and pointed their M4s at Nagi and Riku.  
  
"Are they your men?" Lee asked one of the guards as he walked up to them.  
  
"No." The guard answered. "They're not one of mine. I thought they were new."  
  
"All right, tell me who you are!" Lee shouted at Riku and Nagi as he drew out a long wooden-link whip.  
  
Suddenly Muramasa seemed to appear out of thin air as Tot drew it out. With a single slash she cut off the muzzles of the M4s and then slashed towards Lee who quickly jumped out of the way.  
  
The effect of the slash caused the hair that covered the left side of his face to lift up. Revealing a scar that passed through where his left eye would be.  
  
Tot's stealth camo then turned off, revealing her pointing her sword at Lee.  
  
"Stealth camouflage!" Lee shouted instantly recognizing it.  
  
"Looks like we've overstayed our welcome." Riku said and then turned to Nagi. "Crow, do it now!"  
  
"Got it!" Nagi shouted and then focused his mind onto his powers.  
  
Suddenly, various objects and lab equipment exploded. Causing a majority of the personnel to duck for cover while Riku and co. made their escape.  
  
"Seal off the whole area!" Lee shouted to one of the technicians. "They must not be allowed to take the C-Genome! Dispatch as many men as possible to this area but do not let anyone out!"  
  
"Understood sir!" The technician shouted.  
  
Back in the observation room, Kagami looked at the ruined lab.  
  
"It seems the Aogiris have more resources than I thought. That is, if those three are with the Aogiris at all." He said. "That sneaking suit that girl was wearing...where have I seen it before." And then he turned to the pale haired woman. "Gladys, can you identify that suit."  
  
"From what it looks like, I'd say that it's the same suit used by the agent that was the subject of the S3 program." She answered.  
  
"Then that means..." Kagami said. "No, the Patriots wouldn't have done it like that. This has to be the work of a different organization. But who?"  
  
(And what was that power that the other one just used?) Kagami wondered. (It isn't any celestial type or our sensors would've picked it up.)  
  
Outside the Lab:  
  
Riku and co. ran out of the room and down the hall in an attempt to find a place to hide.  
  
"There are three intruders in the C-Genome testing area!" A voice announced over the speakers. "They have a C-Genome with them, avoid the use of automatic weaponry. Also, two of them may be wearing our uniforms stay on alert!" And then the sirens started blaring.  
  
"So now they go into alert mode." Riku said as he looked around all the while helping Chidori along. "By the way, Miss Kuruma, are all right?"  
  
"I'm...I'm fine." Chidori answered weakly. "I'm sorry if I'm slowing you down but those guys injected something into my legs so I couldn't run away."  
  
"Man, why did that guy have to notice us?" Riku asked no one in particular. "This way!" And then they went in that direction as quickly as they could.  
  
"I found them!" a guard shouted from behind. Riku quickly drew his M9 and fired at the guard's head knocking him out. He then made a gesture and a wall of fire appeared in front of where the guard lay.  
  
Riku then looked over the left and saw what looked like a lounge except it had a door to it. It also seemed to be empty.  
  
"Luck is on our side." He said and then made several gestures at the surrounding hallways, putting a wall of fire between them and the guards. Riku then turned to Nagi and Tot, who were both supporting a speechless Chidori. "I'd like to see those guys try to find us with a fire now on their hands. Now let's head into our new hiding place so we can let Chidori rest until Yuhi and Toya arrive with backup." And they all walked into the lounge.  
  
The room seemed to be comprised of two rooms. A large room that had a large couch along with a rack of various magazines being the first one, a door closed off the second one. Tot helped Chidori over to the couch where she lay back but didn't fall asleep. Instead she looked over at Riku.  
  
"That thing with the flames, did you do that?" Chidori asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's a talent I was born with." Riku answered. "Anyway, I'd better call Yuhi and tell him that we've gotten you."  
  
"So Yuhi really did send you." Chidori said but there seemed to be a look of disappointment in her eyes.  
  
"Actually, he wanted to come with us to rescue you." Nagi spoke. "But since he lacked the experience with stealth, we couldn't let him come."  
  
"Is that really true?" Chidori asked.  
  
"Trust me, it is." Nagi said and then looked at her and smiled. "Well, what do you know..."  
  
"What do you mean?" Chidori asked.  
  
"I just felt your emotions." Nagi answered. "It seems Yuhi has a large place in your heart."  
  
Chidori blushed furiously.  
  
"How...how do you know that?" She asked.  
  
"Like I said, I felt your emotions. I'm a psychic, you see." Nagi answered. "When people have strong emotions, sometimes what they feel forces its way into my mind, but it only happens occasionally."  
  
"Do you...do you know if Yuhi..." Chidori started.  
  
"That's something you'll have to find out on your own." Nagi said and then he turned to Riku. "Anyway, I guess we should contact Yuhi now." And then he turned to Tot. "By the way, Tot, is your stealth camo still working?"  
  
"I think the batteries are starting to run out." Tot replied.  
  
"I guess we over used it." Riku said. "Oh well, it won't do us much good where we are now anyway." And then he activated his codec and set the frequency to Yuhi's. It rang and then Yuhi answered it.  
  
"This is Drakken." Riku said. "We've just rescued Chidori. She's all right."  
  
"Thank God." Yuhi said with a breath of relief. "Where are you guys anyway?"  
  
"We're on the fortieth floor of the building." Riku replied. "Unfortunately, the guy in charge, I think Chidori called him Kagami, knows that we're here so we're hiding in a lounge until further notice."  
  
"Toya and I are almost there." Yuhi said. "Just give us some time and we'll help get you out."  
  
"We'll notify you as soon as we arrive." This time Toya was the speaker. "One more thing, if you run into a man named Alexander O. Howell, tell him that you're a friend of mine and he might help you."  
  
"I'll do that if I find him." Riku replied. "We need all the help we can get."  
  
"Are you sure that Chidori's all right?" Yuhi asked. "Those guys didn't hurt her did they?"  
  
"Fortunately, we got there before any real harm could be done." Riku answered. "Those guys were planning on performing some kind of surgery on her, but we kept that from happening."  
  
"Surgery?" Yuhi asked. "Why would they do that?"  
  
"I'd say it's obvious. For one of their human experiments."  
  
"Those bastards!" Yuhi said angrily, remembering what had happened to Urakawa and the other C-Genomes he had met. "I'll..."  
  
"You'll stick with the plan." Toya said. "Chidori has been rescued so that leaves us with rescuing Shota and then escaping."  
  
"I'm not going to just let them get away with this!" Yuhi shouted. "Especially not Kagami. I know that heartless bastard was the one who ordered this to happen."  
  
"Yuhi, listen to me." Nagi's face appeared on the codec screen. "I know what you're feeling, believe me. If I was in your shoes and someone had done what they did to Chidori to Tot, I'd probably want to do the same thing you're thinking of doing. But please consider this; do you really want Chidori to be in harms way just so you can get revenge for her?"  
  
Yuhi was silent before he spoke again.  
  
"You're right." He said. "I'm sorry, I don't know what..."  
  
"There's nothing to be sorry about." Nagi said. "It's only natural to be that way. Especially if it concerns someone you love."  
  
"Well, I..." And then Yuhi stopped when he realized what Nagi had said to him and then blushed furiously. "Don't read my mind without my permission!"  
  
"Like I told you before, I can't read minds, I can only feel other people's emotions once in a while. And I didn't do that just now with you." Nagi said with a smile. "I just said that to see how you'd react."  
  
Riku laughed and then looked over at Chidori before speaking again.  
  
"Well, Yuhi, she's a really pretty girl, and she's got a pretty nice figure too." He said with a grin (AN: Chidori is still in her celestial maiden form). "Congrats."  
  
"It's nothing like that!" Yuhi shouted blushing furiously. "Chidori's just my friend!"  
  
"Sure, we believe you." Riku replied, not meaning it. "Right, Nagi?"  
  
"Of course we do." Nagi answered. "So, when are you going to ask Chidori out?"  
  
"That's none of your-!" And then Yuhi stopped when he realized what he was about to say. "I mean...Oh forget it!" And his transmission ended.  
  
Then the transmission switched over to Toya and his face appeared on the codec screen. He was obviously trying not to laugh.  
  
"You certainly managed stir Yuhi up." He said with a faint smile. "Anyway, we'll be there shortly. Until then, you'll have to hold out."  
  
"Trust me, we'll be able to do that." Riku replied. "Don't worry."  
  
"In any case, good luck." Toya said and the transmission ended leaving Nagi and Riku as the only ones on the line.  
  
"By the way, Nagi." Riku said with a smile. "Since when have you been a matchmaker?"  
  
"It's not that." Nagi replied. "I just did that because it felt like the right thing to do."  
  
"The right thing to do, huh?" And Riku chuckled and shook his head. "Heh. You're a good person Nagi Naoe; that's probably why Tot fell in love with you."  
  
"Hold on, where did this come from?" Nagi asked, blushing slightly.  
  
"Just speaking my mind, my friend." Riku answered. "Well, let's get back to the mission." And he ended his transmission.  
  
"Was that Yuhi you were talking to just now?" Chidori asked turning to Riku.  
  
"Yes." Riku answered. "He says that they're on their way and that they'll be here soon."  
  
"We have to rescue my brother Shota too." Chidori said. "The Mikage captured him to use as a hostage to keep me from resisting."  
  
"Don't worry, your brother's next on our to rescue list." Tot said. "We'll rescue him as soon as Yuhi and the others arrive."  
  
"But..." Chidori objected.  
  
"To rescue your brother right now wouldn't be a good idea." Riku said. "By now, most of the security guards are on this level looking for us and trying to put out that fire I started, so those guys will definitely be on high alert. I'm good at sneaking, but I'm no Solid Snake."  
  
"Couldn't you just use that invisible thing your partner was using when you rescued me?" Chidori asked.  
  
"The stealth camo might work but the batteries only last for a few minutes to a little over an hour tops. The fact that I don't know where your brother is being held doesn't help much and neither does the fact that there are 39 possible floors below us, with who knows how many different rooms, that he could be held in." Riku then looked at Chidori's pained expression and sighed as he remembered what he had heard about the fate of her grandparents. "Don't worry, I promise you, on my honor as a descendant of the Hokage ninja clan, that I will make sure that your brother is rescued or die trying."  
  
"Hey, don't leave us out!" Tot said. "Nagi and I won't stay on the sidelines; we're going to help Chidori too. Right, Nagi?"  
  
"Yeah." Nagi replied and he turned to Chidori. "You can count on us. Your brother's as good as safe."  
  
Chidori smiled at them gratefully. "Thank you. So how do you plan to rescue Shota?"  
  
"When Yuhi arrives, he and his group of mercenaries will start attacking, and since a majority of the guards are here looking for us, when Yuhi and co. attack, things will be pretty hectic the security guards. We'll be able to make our escape from this area then. After that, we'll focus on your brother, Shota's, rescue."  
  
"I guess that makes sense." Chidori agreed. "So what do we do until then?"  
  
"We hang out here." Tot replied.  
  
"And hope that chemical that they injected into you wears off by then." Nagi added and then shrugged. "But I guess it doesn't really matter. We'll be chased by guards either way, but they shouldn't be anything we can't handle."  
  
"Don't be so sure." Chidori said. "We might run into Lee and whoever else the Mikage have as their special forces."  
  
"Lee?" Riku asked.  
  
"That was the guy who your friend slashed at with her sword." And then Chidori stopped. "Which reminds me, what are your names?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I guess we should introduce ourselves." Riku said rubbing the back of his head. "My name's Riku Hanabishi. I'm a ninja as well as one of the world's best flame masters."  
  
"I'm Nagi Naoe." Nagi said. "As you know, I'm a psychic."  
  
"And I'm Tot." Tot said. "Nagi's girlfriend and one of the best sword wielders in FOX-...I mean that there is."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Chidori said. "I'm Chidori Kuruma."  
  
"Great to meet you too." Riku replied. "Oh yeah, until we leave this building call me Drakken. That's my codename."  
  
"What's the codename for?" Chidori asked.  
  
"It's for security purposes." Nagi answered. "Tot and I have our own codenames. Mine's Mystic Crow and hers is Usagi Ninja."  
  
Chidori sweat dropped from hearing that.  
  
"No offense." She said. "But the codenames kind of make you sound like a bunch of cartoon characters."  
  
Riku laughed. "You know, the top member of our group said the same thing once."  
  
"Who's that?" Chidori asked.  
  
"That's a secret." Riku answered. "Anyway, let's get back to what we were talking about in the first place. Can you tell me who the Mikage have employed in their special forces?"  
  
"Well you've seen Lee." Chidori began. "He's a martial artist from China who specializes in throwing weapons. The next one is a kid named Asamu Bagte, an expert assassin from Indonesia. There are two others that I've seen. The first was an Australian guy with a hawk perched on his shoulder and the second was a German with long red-orange hair."  
  
Nagi stiffened up as soon as he heard this.  
  
(No, it couldn't be.) He thought and then turned to Chidori. "Are you sure, those were the only ones you saw?"  
  
"Yes." Chidori answered. "I didn't hear their names though. Why are you asking?"  
  
"I might know who one of them is." Nagi answered. "And if I'm right, we might have a problem."  
  
"Nagi, if Schwartz is here then we'll just have to deal with them when we run into them." Riku said. "And besides, wouldn't Crawford have been with him?"  
  
"Maybe." Nagi replied. "But there is a chance that he's here under Crawford's orders."  
  
"Let's just hope that's not the case." Riku said.  
  
"Who are you talking about?" Chidori asked.  
  
"It's nothing." Nagi answered. "Just forget what I said."  
  
"By the way Nagi." Tot said. "What were you and Riku talking about over the codec that was so funny?"  
  
"Well, uh..." And Nagi glanced at Chidori. "I can't tell you that right now, Tot."  
  
"You can't?" Tot asked sounding disappointed. "Why not?"  
  
"Well, there's a good reason." Nagi answered. "You'll understand when I tell you later."  
  
"Can't you at least give me a hint?" Tot asked and then she moved closer to him with an almost puppy like expression on her face. "Please, Nagi."  
  
(Man, she looks so cute when she does that.) Nagi thought and found himself looking at Tot up and down, which aroused certain feelings he wasn't entirely sure how to deal with, causing his face to redden considerably. (Argh! Must suppress bad thoughts! Must suppress bad thoughts!)  
  
"Eh, Nagi why do you keep looking at me like that?" Tot asked, feeling her cheeks redden for some unknown reason.  
  
"Well I...uh, you see...um..." Nagi stammered. "Hey, Tot, what was the first question you asked me?"  
  
"You're trying to change the subject, aren't you?" Tot accused.  
  
"No, of course not." Nagi said quickly. "I...uh, it's just that since I have such a pretty girlfriend, I can't help but look at her."  
  
"Do you really mean that, Nagi?" Tot asked blushing furiously.  
  
"Of course I do." Nagi answered. "And I really will tell you about the codec conversation, just not right now."  
  
"Do you promise?"  
  
"I promise."  
  
Tot gave a little squeal of delight, threw her arms about Nagi's neck and kissed him fervently. "Isn't he the sweetest boy you've ever seen?" She asked Chidori and Riku, who were trying not to laugh.  
  
"Smooth one, Nagi." Riku congratulated his friend who gave him a look that plainly said 'keep your comments to yourself'.  
  
(All right, better report this to the colonel.) Riku thought and then activated his codec. He was about to set it to the colonel's frequency, but then changed his mind.  
  
(Better get some intel from Nanvel first.) He thought and then set the frequency to 146.90.  
  
A woman with dark skin and brown hair answered.  
  
"Riku." The woman said in recognition. "Why are you calling?"  
  
"Well Nanvel, I'm in the middle of a mission and I'm going to need some info on some photos I've just gotten." Riku then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Hate to interrupt the make out session, but I'm going to need that camera."  
  
"Drakken, don't say that while the codec's on!" Nagi shouted, his face completely red.  
  
"I don't see why I shouldn't." Riku replied. "You two have already just met Chidori and you don't seem to have any qualms against making out in front of her." When he saw the both of them blush after hearing that Riku sweat dropped. "Don't tell me you forgot about her?"  
  
"That's all right, Ri-I mean Drakken." Chidori said with a giggle. "You know, you three are kind of funny for secret agents."  
  
"Thanks. I think." Nagi replied and then he turned to Riku. "So who are you talking to?"  
  
"A friend of mine who's good with getting necessary intel." Riku answered. "I'll introduce you to her sometime, but right now I'd better get an ID on those Mikage guys and maybe even that hagaromo thing they made." Then he switched back to the codec screen. "Here come the pictures."  
  
"All right, I'm receiving them." Nanvel replied. "So were those people you were talking to those new partners of yours?"  
  
"Two of them are, yes." Riku answered. "Let me guess, Greg told you about them."  
  
"Pretty much. So is it true that one of them has powers like Greg's?"  
  
"Yeah, but not as powerful. I'm sure things will get really interesting when those two meet each other. Anyway, Nagi and Tot are really good to have around, especially since there's almost never a dull moment with those two."  
  
"Sounds like you enjoy being their partners."  
  
"Of course I do. That's friendship for ya. Well, call me when you've gotten the info I need, ja ne (later)."  
  
(And now to report all this to the colonel.) Riku thought as he switched over to Roy's frequency. (I wonder how Scorpion's doing...)  
  
Meanwhile: American Branch of Mikage Intl.:  
  
Another gunshot from James' sniper rifle signaled the death of another one of the Mikage's security guards. James lowered his rifle as the group of men retreated and then made another small cut on his right arm for the man he had just killed.  
  
"Damn, you'd think after losing fifty-three of their men these guys would wise up and try something else." He muttered. "I bet those recruits over in Japan are getting it easy too, considering that these guys have piss poor security."  
  
Unknown to James, Farfarello watched him from the surrounding trees. He had calmly observed his prey as he killed each guard.  
  
"An interesting way of keeping score." Farfarello said to himself. "I like it, but I guess as entertaining as it is to see this one kill, I have to kill him." Then Farfarello drew out two knives from his knife collection and hurled them at his unsuspecting opponent.  
  
James suddenly heard the sound of the approaching knives and quickly rolled out of the way and the knives struck the ground that he had previously lain on. He then quickly pointed his sniper rifle in the direction the knives had come from and fired.  
  
A few minutes of silence followed before two more knives flew out of a new area from the trees. James cursed before quickly jumping out of the way of them.  
  
(Damn it! This knife thrower's no amateur!) He thought as he quickly dove behind a pile of scattered logs. He then brought up his sniper rifle and looked in the area that the knives had come from through the scope. (No good. The trees are hiding this guy really well. He definitely knew what he was doing when he attacked me. My guess is that he can jump from one tree to the next easily enough and he's probably quick enough at throwing those knives and moving around to not have to worry about giving away his position. All in all, the perfect position for attacking from above.) Then he took out the thermal goggles that he had brought with him. (Good thing I planned ahead.)  
  
James then looked through the scope of the sniper rifle and instantly saw Farfarello. He seemed to be moving constantly in the cover of the foliage without making a single movement to betray his position.  
  
(Got him!) James thought as he got a clear shot at the Farfarello and then fired.  
  
Farfarello suddenly felt the impact of a bullet strike his left leg; he looked down and saw the blood spurt out from the new wound. Before he could react, another shot struck him in the right leg causing him to lose his balance and fall out of the tree he was standing in.  
  
James watched as his opponent fell out of his hiding place and landed on the ground. He slowly got up and approached the fallen body. When he was a few feet away from it, Farfarello suddenly looked at him savagely and then drew out a throwing knife, but James had been expecting this and hurled a knife that he had been concealing at Farfarello's arm, pinning it to the ground and causing him to drop his knife.  
  
"All right man, look." James said. "You've only got one limb left to use, so I suggest that you just answer my questions if you want to keep it that way."  
  
"So you're the sniper that's been causing so much trouble." Farfarello said with a twisted smile on his face. "Your shooting skills are very good; you're the first one to injure me like this and you seem to have some skill with knives. Not to mention that you have quite the way of keeping score. A cut on your arm for each one you kill."  
  
James took one look at the many scars that decorated Farfarello's body and shuddered.  
  
"Just answer my questions." He said, keeping his rifle pointed at Farfarello's head. "Who the hell are you?"  
  
"Straight to the point, aren't you?" Farfarello grinned. "My name is Farfarello. I am one of the members of the assassination group known as Schwartz. The Mikage hired my group."  
  
"Schwartz, huh. I'm from a group too, but the name of it will have to remain anonymous. As for my name, you may call me Silent Scorpion."  
  
"Silent Scorpion..." Farfarello muttered. (I've heard that name before from Crawford, but when and where...Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway.)  
  
"Let's drop the introductions and get back to my questions." James said. "Why did the Mikage hire you and what-?"  
  
"Find out yourself." Farfarello said weakly and then his head dropped and lolled to the side.  
  
"Hey, I'm not done with you yet!" James shouted as he walked up to Farfarello. "Don't think that fainting is going to get you out of-." That was when James realized his mistake.  
  
With a triumphant grin, Farfarello leaped up and drew the knife that had been embedded in his arm out of it in a slashing motion at James' head. James thrust his head backwards; away from the knife, but not before the edge of the blade grazed his right cheek. He then leaped back out of range of Farfarello's attack and looked at his suddenly revived opponent.  
  
(This guy...he shouldn't even be standing from the wounds I gave him, but it's like he's completely unharmed.) James thought. (He's not using some kind of painkilling drug, that's for sure. So how is he doing that?)  
  
(That knife style that this one uses.) Farfarello thought to himself. (It looks like Spetznaz type, but judging by the build of this one, he's hardly more than a kid so how could he...?) Suddenly a memory came back to him.  
  
Flashback: 4 Days Before:  
  
"Well, now that you've told us your plans for Tokyo-3 that will take place in a few years, I guess our business chat is over." Crawford said. He, Ocelot, Farfarello, and Schuldich were sitting in a hotel room. Schuldich and Farfarello were regarding the two as they spoke to one another.  
  
"And what will you and your group do, Crawford?" Ocelot asked.  
  
"We'll think about your offer for now." Crawford answered. "Is there anything else that you have for us?"  
  
"I happen to have some important information on your assignment from management." Ocelot replied. "Are you interested?"  
  
"That depends, my old friend." Crawford said the last part with a touch of sarcasm in his voice. "Which reminds me, how's my other old friend, and not to mention valued former client, Mr. Sears doing?"  
  
Ocelot glared at his rival with deep suspicion before speaking.  
  
"Listen to me, Crawford, for your own personal health." He advised threateningly. "Don't ask questions that have answers that will get you killed."  
  
"I don't see that happening anytime soon." Crawford replied with a smile.  
  
"So you think that you see the future?" Ocelot asked.  
  
"Only the one likeliest to happen." Crawford answered. "Oh by the way, whatever happened to that little brat that you and Sniper Wolf took under your wing?"  
  
"Like I said to you before, he's joined the new FOXHOUND." Ocelot answered. "I've been keeping tabs on him and he's become quite the fighter, just as I predicted. He's even developed a skill in the art of knife throwing that I believe would give your knife man a run for the money."  
  
"Would you care to make a wager on that?" Crawford asked, glancing over at Farfarello. "This one would have to be at least as skilled as Dead Cell's Vamp to fight Farfarello on his level."  
  
"I'll pass. Now will you accept my information?"  
  
"That depends on what you're going to ask for in return. But before we get to discussing that, tell me the name of your student."  
  
"His name is James Masterson, but his FOXHOUND codename is Silent Scorpion..."  
  
Flashback Ends.  
  
Farfarello started to laugh as he recalled the memory.  
  
"What the hell are you laughing about?" James asked.  
  
"This truly is an interesting day." Farfarello said. "I may have actually found a worthy opponent." Then he looked over at James with a twisted grin. "Now let's see how good your knife skills are, James Masterson."  
  
"How do you know my name?" James shouted.  
  
"A certain Russian man mentioned you once. I believe that you know who I'm talking about."  
  
"So you're a friend of Ocelot's?"  
  
"A business associate is more like it." Farfarello smiled sadistically. "If you want to know more, defeat me!" And he reached to his side, drew out two knives, and threw them at James.  
  
James quickly dodged, throwing his rifle aside since he knew that it would be useless in this fight, and drew out his own two knives. Farfarello then dashed towards him with a knife in each hand. He slashed at James' head with his right hand while stabbing at the stomach area with his other hand. James quickly jumped out of range of Farfarello's attack and threw a knife at him, which landed into Farfarello's shoulder.  
  
Farfarello didn't even flinch when the knife struck him. Instead he charged forward, brandishing his weapons. James then drew two more knives out the four blades met in a clang of steel against steel.  
  
And so began a fast and deadly dance as both fighters fought with their two knives in a flurry of blades. Both Scorpion and Farfarello received multiple slash wounds on their arms and hands as result of the fight. After a few minutes, they both broke apart and stood a few feet away from one another. Both ready to begin another dance of blades.  
  
(This one is truly a worthy opponent.) Farfarello thought. (I've never fought someone with this kind of skill before. He is truly the opponent that I have been longing to fight.)  
  
(No matter what kind of wounds I inflict on this guy, he shrugs them off like they were nothing at all.) James thought. (It's almost like he doesn't even feel the blows. I guess I'd better use every aspect of my training now.)  
  
Farfarello then threw the two knives that he was carrying onto the ground and then drew out two long jagged knives with hooked ends.  
  
"Now these blades are my kind of killing weapons." Farfarello said with a sadistic grin. "What's best about them is that they enter the opponents body the same way an ordinary blade does, but when it comes out, it pulls out many interesting things no matter where the stabbing occurs."  
  
"Well don't think I'm just going to let you stab me with those, Farfel or whatever your name is." James replied. "In all likelihood, you're the one who's going to end up dead."  
  
"Let's put that to the test, shall we?" Farfarello grinned, but before he could attack he stopped with an irritated look on his face and then leaped back out of James' attack range.  
  
"What is it, Schuldich?" Farfarello said.  
  
(It's time for you to quit playing around and get the job done.) Schuldich's voice answered inside his mind. (You know what it is that the Patriots want you to do.)  
  
"I don't care." Farfarello replied. "I've got something much more interesting on my hands."  
  
(Ever heard of the saying "business before pleasure"?) Schuldich asked.  
  
"Don't interfere in my affairs, Schuldich." Farfarello sneered. "This one that I am fighting now is mine!"  
  
(Fine.) Schuldich said. (If you really want to be that way, I'll just have to do this myself. You know what I mean, don't you Farfarello?) Schuldich's voice then took a dangerous tone.  
  
What Schuldich said made Farfarello instantly shudder at the thought of what that meant. He knew that statement meant Schuldich using his telepathic abilities to temporarily take control of his mind and Farfarello didn't trust the German to not use that ability to probe into the inner depths of his mind and see whatever memories that he wanted.  
  
Farfarello snarled in frustration and put his blades away.  
  
"Fine, I'll do it." He spat and he then felt Schuldich's presence leave him. "But first..." And then he looked over at James who was approaching him with both knives drawn.  
  
"It looks like we'll have to postpone our duel for now." Farfarello said to him. "A pity that I don't know your face, Scorpion. But I'll do something to insure that I know you when I see you." Suddenly Farfarello seemed to vanish.  
  
James suddenly felt a stinging pain on his left arm and then turned and saw Farfarello a few feet behind him carrying a bloodied knife. Farfarello then raised the knife to his lips and licked off the blood.  
  
"I now know your scent and taste." Farfarello said. "And when I run into you again, that is when the hunt begins. And when that occurs, I'll keep pursuing and attacking you until one of us kills the other. Until then, sharpen your skills, Silent Scorpion." And then Farfarello was gone.  
  
James stood alone where he was for a few minutes, looking around to make sure that Farfarello was gone, and then his codec rang. He quickly answered it.  
  
"This is Scorpion." He said and Col. Campbell's face appeared on the codec screen. "The attack has been a success so far."  
  
"Good work, Scorpion." Roy replied. "You may withdraw now. I've just received a report from Drakken. The distraction that you provided worked."  
  
"That's good to hear." Scorpion said. "Anyway, I'm kind of glad this is over. These guys were pathetic; minus one of their hired fighters. Oh well, I'll head over to the pickup site."  
  
(This is just great.) Scorpion thought as he picked up his sniper rifle. (Now I've got a psychotic killer who wants me dead. Looks like I'll have to keep an eye out for him from here on.)  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:Outside:  
  
Outside of the building, a small group of men in black suits were huddled together by the side of a road near it. They were checking their weapons and going over a map on a laptop.  
  
"This is the inside of the Mikage Science & Technology Lab." One of the men said as he pointed at one part of the map.  
  
"Those three mercenaries are somewhere in that area along with Miss Kuruma." Another man said and he looked closer at the map. "This is it... heading south along Ridge A... on to basement level B5. If we can get into the air ducts through the maintenance access points..."  
  
"We should be able to take out the sensors using the remote controlled missiles." The first man said.  
  
"As well as the main computer in the control room to disable the rest of their security system." The second man added.  
  
"Okay. Let's split up three ways. Lead the way." A third man said.  
  
Toya, who was with the group of men along with Yuhi, turned and looked around before speaking.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll make my way in through another basement." He said.  
  
"EH?! Hey, where do you think you're—." One of the men said.  
  
"I think I'll go this way too." Yuhi agreed, following Toya and then he turned to the other mercenaries. "You old farts take care of yourselves, hear?"  
  
(Who the hell is he calling an old fart?) All of the mercs thought at the same time.  
  
Meanwhile: Inside Mikage Intl. HQ: Level 40  
  
Riku was leaning back in the chair when he heard the noise from the other room. As he turned towards the door, he noticed that Nagi and Tot had also heard the noise.  
  
"What's going on?" Chidori asked. She hadn't heard the sound but could tell from the serious look on their faces that something was wrong.  
  
"It looks like someone else is here." Riku answered as he drew his M9. He then turned to Nagi and Tot. "You two stay with Chidori. I'll take care of whoever it is." He then reached over, touched the dial, and the door opened.  
  
When Riku stepped in, he saw that the occupant was a man in his early twenties with long blonde hair and glasses. He was currently playing Guilty Gear X2 on what looked like an old PS2 and he was using the character Dizzy and he was currently fighting I-NO. He then paused the game with an annoyed expression on his face. He was probably expecting a security guard.  
  
Riku quickly drew his M9 and pointed it at the man's head. "FREEZE!" He shouted.  
  
The man's hands instantly went up as he dropped his controller.  
  
"Don't shoot." He said.  
  
"Are you a lab tech?" Riku asked as he inspected the man.  
  
"Sort of." The man answered.  
  
Riku then noticed the ID that the man was wearing.  
  
"You're Alexander O. Howell?" He asked lowering his M9.  
  
"Yes." The man answered. "But my friends call me Alec. Who are you any..." And then he looked through the open door and saw Chidori standing next to Nagi and Tot. "I see...so you came for Chidori Kuruma." Then he looked at Riku warily. "Who sent you anyway?"  
  
"We're here to rescue Chidori." Riku answered. "Toya told me that you would help us."  
  
"Toya? Then you're with the Aogiri family."  
  
"We're mercenaries that they hired." Nagi spoke. "So can you help us?"  
  
"I suppose." Alec replied. "You are friends of Toya's after all."  
  
"Do you know any way out of this part of level 40 besides the main entrance?" Riku asked.  
  
"There's an emergency exit door down the hall to the left from here." Alec answered. "The only problem is, the door won't open unless you have the right level card key. Here you can have mine." Then Alec reached into his pocket and took out a blue card. He then handed it to Riku. "This card will get you through any door in this building with a security level of 4 and below."  
  
"Thanks, Mr. Howell." Riku replied as he took the card.  
  
"Just call me Alec. A friend of Toya's is a friend of mine." Then he looked over at Chidori. "Miss Kuruma, I truly am sorry for whatever harm this company has done to you."  
  
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Chidori asked.  
  
"Because I-. Because I feel responsible for this." Alec replied. "I have enough authority in this project to have prevented this from happening, but I didn't do anything. All I did was follow their orders without question."  
  
"It sounds more like you were being used." Nagi said. "Take my advice, get out of this while you still can. If you don't, you'll probably end up feeling more guilt for this and the other atrocities that will be committed by the Mikage."  
  
"I can't leave." Alec said. "I have a reason."  
  
"It's your life, you know." Riku said suddenly he heard his codec ring and then answered it. "Drakken here."  
  
"Drakken, it's Yuhi." And Yuhi's face appeared on the codec screen. "We've arrived and we're about to take out the building's security system." Then he stopped and a voice was heard in the background. "Looks like we've got a problem."  
  
"Problem?" Nagi spoke.  
  
"There are some guards in some of the areas." Yuhi replied. "We were planning on using remote controlled missiles to take out the sensors, but with all the guards here, our missiles will be taken out before they even come close to their targets."  
  
"Looks like we'll need another distraction." Riku said and then an idea came to him. "Hold on a minute." He then turned to Alec. "Hey Alec, can you use the computer in that room you were in to contact the main office or whatever it is?"  
  
"Well...yes." Alec answered. "You can even have it so they can see you during the conversation. Why are you asking?"  
  
"Because I just found a way to distract all of the guards in this building." Riku grinned. "Alec, I'd like to have a little talk with this Kagami Mikage. Can you give him a little call please?"  
  
"Are you planning on doing something to piss Kagami off?" Chidori asked.  
  
"I'm sure humiliation would fall into that category." Riku said with a smile.  
  
"Can I watch?"  
  
"I never thought you'd ask."  
  
"This will be interesting to see." Nagi said and then turned to Tot. "What do you think Tot?"  
  
"I just hope that Mei Ling can save the conversation." Tot replied. "Because I don't want to miss seeing that scumbag get a sample of what he deserves."  
  
Meanwhile: Outside the Building:  
  
Yuhi and Toya walked through what seemed to be an old drainage pipe.  
  
"How'd you know about this entrance anyway?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"Somebody let me go from here before." Toya answered "Don't worry, we can get inside through this drain. Our problems come after that. Regardless of whether our friendly men in black get the security system, those Mikage bastards already know we're coming, right?"  
  
"Toya... why are you going out of your way to do this?"  
  
"Because they're Aya's friends, and they're precious to her." Toya answered. "Why are you doing this?"  
  
"They're my friends too, Toya." Yuhi answered.  
  
"Is that the only reason?" Toya asked.  
  
Yuhi didn't answer him.  
  
Toya shrugged and then he and Yuhi proceeded through the sewers in relative silence.  
  
"...You seem to be getting along with Aya well..." Yuhi spoke.  
  
Toya then glanced back at Yuhi.  
  
"Nah. Never mind." Yuhi said and then he changed the subject. "By the way, I heard you got your memory back? My sister told me a bit about it."  
  
"Yeah..." Toya said.  
  
"Good! Then, you'll be happy with Aya..."  
  
"Still..." Toya continued. "There are some things I don't know. After all, I don't really care who I was... but I have to know if it had anything to do with Ceres or the hagoromo." Then he stopped as soon as he came to a metal door and then turned to Yuhi. "We're here. Aogiri, you contact Drakken in a few minutes and then wait until I come back with Chidori and Shota."  
  
Yuhi then stopped Toya and looked at him full in the face.  
  
"Don't make a fool out of me!" He shouted. "I've been useful! More importantly, how can I make excuses to Aya if you get your sorry ass in trouble! I can take care of myself and I'm not going to sit by on the sidelines while you rescue Chidori and Shota by yourself!"  
  
"It looks like you really do care for Chidori." Toya said with a slight smile. "I hope you can protect her at least as well as you did Aya. In fact, you've protected Aya much better than I have."  
  
Yuhi looked over at him with a stunned look on his face.  
  
"Sorry." Toya said. "Let's go."  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Main Computer Room:  
  
"What do you mean, you haven't been able to locate them!" Kagami shouted to Lee.  
  
"I apologize, sir." Lee replied. "We were in the process of finding them, but a fire suddenly broke out and we've had to divide our forces between putting them out and finding the intruders."  
  
"Once you've gotten rid of the fire, I want you to intensify patrols." Kagami ordered. "Chidori Kuruma is the second strongest C-Genome after Ceres. We cannot afford to lose her until that operation is done."  
  
"I understand sir." Lee bowed. "I will intensify patrols as soon as possible."  
  
"That won't be necessary." Riku's voice said.  
  
Kagami turned and saw Riku's face on the computer screen with a friendly smile on his face.  
  
"You're Kagami Mikage, I presume." Riku said.  
  
"Correct." Kagami replied. "And you are?"  
  
"Drakken. My partners and I are members of Dead Cell. We're here to make a bargain for the C-Genome."  
  
"Bargain? You are by far in no position to bargain with me." And then Kagami turned to Lee. "Track the communication signal and send an armed squad there immediately."  
  
"Ah,ah,ahhh." Riku said waving his forefinger back and forth. "You do that, and Mr. Howell over here gets it." Then the computer screen moved over to the left showing Tot holding up Alec with her sword pressed against his throat. Alec waved nervously at the screen.  
  
"Would you care to reconsider?" Riku asked.  
  
"Very well." Kagami replied. "But first tell me how you got in here."  
  
"Copying uniforms isn't all that hard. And once we got in, I had some of my men deliver you false information about the Aogiri family's arrival, I had the perfect distraction for your security guards."  
  
"Don't make up such an outrageous lie. My information system is perfect."  
  
"Really? So how come our little distraction attack on your American branch worked. Oh don't look so surprised, Kagami. We've been planning this for some time now."  
  
"Then explain why my men reported that the Aogiris were mobilizing their mercenaries."  
  
"All a bluff. You see, the Aogiris hired us to rescue Miss Kuruma and her brother. But since you Mikages are pretty loaded in terms of cash, I was thinking maybe we could make a deal over all of this."  
  
"You mean I'm to pay for my stolen property?"  
  
"She was all ready stolen to begin with." Riku corrected. "And yes I do mean for that, in cash of course."  
  
"How much?" Kagami asked.  
  
"Fifty billion US dollars." Riku answered simply. "No less."  
  
"How dare you make such a demand!" Lee shouted.  
  
"Lee, do not interfere." Kagami said then he turned back to Riku. "Very well, I will have the money delivered to you within half an hour."  
  
"I'm afraid that due to your kung-fu bodyguard's objection, the price has gone up for compensation. The price is now sixty billion."  
  
Kagami gritted his teeth.  
  
"Very well." Then he looked over at Lee and made a slight nod. Lee nodded and then pressed a button that signaled all the remaining guards to head for level 40.  
  
(He's willing to part with that much money just to get Chidori back?) Riku thought. (Just what is this C-Project anyway?)  
  
Lee suddenly looked to the side and noticed a small black object speed towards the main computer.  
  
"Sir, get down!" He shouted as the missile struck the computer.  
  
A loud explosion rocked the room and many of the personnel ducked for cover or fell over from the shock of the explosion.  
  
When the smoke cleared, Kagami looked over at the computer and saw that Riku was still on.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" He shouted.  
  
"I'm afraid I have a confession to make." Riku answered. "That stuff about being part of Dead Cell and all of that was all a big lie. Minus the part of our being sent by the Aogiris to rescue Chidori; anyway, it looks like our backup is here and since you obviously called the rest of your guards up to where we are, our guys got in here without a problem." Then he grinned mockingly at him. "In other words, asshole, you've been tricked. Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but my partners and I have got to get Chidori out of here. Oh, and don't worry about your technician, he's taking a little snooze now. Bye!" And then he gave Kagami the finger and then turned the screen away.  
  
In the background Nagi, Tot, and Chidori could be heard laughing before the computer turned off.  
  
Kagami's expression was neutral as he looked over at Lee.  
  
"Call all the men back to their stations and have an increased patrol at the entrance to the C-Genome testing area." He said.  
  
"Yes sir." Lee replied. (Man, the boss looks pissed.)  
  
Mikage Intl. HQ: 40th Floor: Lounge:  
  
"Thanks for your help, Alec." Riku said to Alec.  
  
"Don't mention it." Alec replied. "Besides, I wanted to try and make up for what happened."  
  
"I advise that you do take Nagi's advice, Alec." Riku said seriously. "These guys have been responsible for the deaths of over 800 people. Trust me, get out while you still can."  
  
"I'll try." Alec said. "But I have some unfinished business I need to take care of first."  
  
"All right. Be careful." And then Riku turned to Nagi, Tot, and Chidori. "Now let's get going." And then he noticed Chidori stumble a little as she tried to walk. "I guess the chemical hasn't worn off yet. Looks like we'll have to take things slow for now."  
  
"Good luck." Alec said and then turned and walked back into the second room.  
  
"What's the plan, Drakken." Nagi asked as they walked out of the lounge.  
  
"We'll head over to the elevator, contact Yuhi, and then find out which floor we'll meet him on." Riku answered. "After that, we'll split into two groups, one group will go and rescue Shota, and the other will bring Chidori over to the transport vehicles outside."  
  
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Tot said. "So who goes with who?"  
  
"We'll decide that when we meet with Yuhi and co." Riku replied. "For now, let's just concentrate on getting to the elevator."  
  
"Right." Nagi, Tot, and Chidori chorused.  
  
Back inside the lounge, Alexander O. Howell, C-Project leader and the head of Weapons Development for Mikage Intl., sat on the couch thinking.  
  
(Over 800 people are dead because of all this.) He thought miserably. (Not only that, but Miss Kuruma lost her family as well. That's it. After I bring Aki back, I'm quitting C-Project and do everything I can to make sure this doesn't happen again. I won't be a party to murder anymore.)  
  
Somewhere inside the Building:  
  
Shiso sat in a chair reading. As his finger paused briefly over a map of Japan, Lee came running in.  
  
"Master Mikage!" Lee said. "Toya and the others seem to have revealed themselves. Still no sign of Aya Mikage with them, though."  
  
"All right!" Shiso replied as he put down his book. "I could care less about the rest of those fools. Just bring Toya to me... alive!"  
  
Mikage Intl. HQ: 40th Floor:  
  
Riku and co. stood in front of the elevator waiting until Yuhi called them. A small group of security guards soon saw them and began firing their guns at them. Nagi merely stepped in front of his friends, held his right hand outward, and the incoming bullets soon struck a barrier created by his mind.  
  
"How long can you do that, Nagi?" Riku asked.  
  
"A few hours." Nagi replied. "Maybe a little more."  
  
"Well, that's good news." Tot said. "So what should we do while we're waiting?"  
  
"Well, I guess we could..." Riku then heard his codec ring. "Drakken here."  
  
"We've just gotten in." Yuhi said. "I'm heading for floor 4B right now."  
  
"Good, we'll take the elevator down there and meet you." Riku replied. "See you then." After the transmission ended, Riku then pushed the down button for the elevator. A few seconds, later there was chime that sounded its arrival and the doors opened.  
  
"Let's get going." Riku said and then Tot and Chidori got in while Nagi stayed where he was to keep the barrier up.  
  
"This is impossible!" One of the guards shouted. "Nothing will hit these guys!"  
  
"Do you think the C-Genome's protecting them?" Another guard asked.  
  
Nagi looked back at Riku.  
  
"Could you hold the elevator for a second?" Nagi asked and Riku nodded. "Good, I'm going to swat some annoying flies now."  
  
"Remember, no killing." Riku reminded.  
  
"Of course." Nagi said and then strolled forward while the guards' bullets struck his barrier.  
  
The guards immediately sensed what was happening.  
  
"Don't let them take the C-Genome!" One of them shouted turning to the side. Suddenly ten more guards came out from one of the corridors and joined the others.  
  
"Ready grenades." One of the guards said as he took out a grenade launcher. He quickly loaded it and fired it at Nagi. There was a loud explosion as the grenade struck the barrier, but Nagi was completely unharmed.  
  
"All right, listen up." Nagi shouted. "I'm going to use one of my attacks which will probably make the next few weeks of your lives hell. So if you don't want to spend the next three weeks on a respirator, I suggest you retreat now."  
  
"He's the one who created the barrier." One of the guards said. "That means he's a C-Genome too." Then he turned to the others. "Equip those bracelets; he won't be able to harm us then." The other guards quickly did so and then started towards Nagi who only shook his head in disappointment.  
  
"You guys really must be dense." Nagi said. "Fine, have it your way." Then he held up his right arm and then swung it down in a sweeping motion.  
  
The guards didn't know what hit them. They were instantly struck back by the force of Nagi's attack. Some even flew through the air before striking the wall behind them.  
  
"I did warn you." Nagi said with a shrug and then he looked up at the ceiling. He focused his powers on it, and then it the ceiling caved in right between him and the fallen guards.  
  
"I don't think anyone's going to follow us now." Nagi said with a smile as he got into the elevator.  
  
Mikage Intl. HQ: Floor 4B:  
  
Toya watched while from the panel of the ceiling as two of the Mikage guards walked by nervously; they were on alert but had no idea where the enemy was. Toya then dropped down on top of one of them, knocking him out and then drew out his stiletto and sliced through the other man's gun and fingers.  
  
The guard screamed in pain but was instantly silent when Toya pointed the tip of his blade at the guard's neck.  
  
"Where is Shota Kuruma?" Toya asked calmly.  
  
"Uh... ah..." The guard stammered as Toya pressed the point closer.  
  
Meanwhile, Yuhi, who was bringing up the rear stopped when he heard a door open and two more guards came out. He quickly pulled out two chopsticks and rammed them into the stomach of one of the approaching guards. The man went down in a heap as his partner drew out his gun.  
  
"You little brat!" He shouted before Yuhi dashed forward and knocked him out with a blow to the stomach.  
  
As soon as the guard fell, Yuhi tried to calm his heart, which was beating heavily.  
  
(Off-guard... they caught me off-guard...!) He thought and then he turned towards Toya.  
  
"Did you take care of the others?" Toya asked. "I found out where Shota is."  
  
"The guards...did you kill them?" Yuhi asked in reply.  
  
"Of course not." Toya answered. "They fainted dead away when I threatened them with force."  
  
(This guy is way too calm about this...) Yuhi thought as he sweat dropped.  
  
Toya then took out a gun and tossed it at Yuhi.  
  
"Whaa!" Yuhi exclaimed as he caught the gun.  
  
"Keep it. But aim for the arms or legs if you have to use it."  
  
"I doubt I'll need it." And Yuhi put the gun away. He then turned towards the elevator once he heard the elevator chime its arrival.  
  
The doors opened and Riku, Nagi, and Tot came out along with Chidori.  
  
"Chidori!" Yuhi shouted and then ran towards her.  
  
As he was doing this, Toya noticed something to the left.  
  
"Aogiri wait...!" He shouted, arm outstretched to stop him.  
  
Suddenly a long link-whip wrapped around Toya's outstretched arm.  
  
"Welcome, Toya..." Lee said with a victorious smirk and gave the whip a small yank. "Don't move, or I'll pluck your arm off like a twig."  
  
"Wei!" Toya shouted in recognition.  
  
Suddenly, some more guards came into the area surrounding the whole group with guns drawn.  
  
Lee then looked over at Riku, Nagi and Tot.  
  
"I don't know who you people are, but don't make any sudden moves." And then he turned to Yuhi who had two guards pointing their guns at him. "And that goes for you as well." He then turned to Toya. "Too bad, Toya..."  
  
Suddenly a series of gunshots were heard and the guards surrounding Yuhi fell clutching bullet wounds to the legs and arms.  
  
The Aogiri mercs ran down the hall and began gunning down the Mikage guards.  
  
One of them turned towards them.  
  
"All of you, run!" He shouted.  
  
"Whoa...the old geezers." Yuhi said and then quickly ran over to where Chidori was. "Chidori, are you all right?"  
  
Chidori blushed slightly.  
  
"I'm fine, Yuhi." She answered. "I'm glad that you came..."  
  
"Chidori..."  
  
"Yuhi, take Chidori and go!" Toya shouted. "I'll follow after I rescue Shota...get going!"  
  
"But-." Yuhi said as he lifted Chidori onto his back.  
  
"Don't worry! I'll be all right! I promised Aya I'd come back soon!"  
  
"All right! I'll be waiting for you where we came in!" And then he headed off in the direction he'd come, when two guards jumped in front of him with their guns raised. But before they could pull the triggers, they stiffened and fell over with an M9 dart in their foreheads. Yuhi turned and saw Riku standing behind him with his M9 drawn.  
  
"You heard Toya!" Riku shouted. "Don't worry, we'll cover you. Now get going!" Riku then sighted another guard and downed him with a single shot from his M9. When he looked over at where Yuhi and Chidori had been he saw that they were gone.  
  
Meanwhile, Nagi and Tot were fighting as a duo, backs pressed against each other as they fought almost in perfect rhythm. Tot knocked out her enemies with a flurry of strokes from her katana, while Nagi alternated between using his powers to knock away his enemies and using his M9.  
  
After swinging his arm in a motion that made his powers knock away five guards, Nagi looked over at Riku.  
  
"Drakken, follow Yuhi!" He shouted. "Usagi and I will handle these grunts and then give Toya some assistance. You protect Yuhi and Chidori!"  
  
"Consider it done, Crow." Riku grinned, took out two kunai shuriken and dashed in the direction Yuhi had gone while carrying Chidori, causing several injuries to Mikage guards who were in his path.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Yuhi carried Chidori through the drainage area not bothering to check for possible pursuit. Neither of them said anything for a while until Yuhi finally spoke.  
  
"Chidori... you okay?" He asked.  
  
"I guess..." Chidori answered. "Just a little beat up on the inside..."  
  
"Hey cheer up." Yuhi said in attempt to comfort her. "Shota'll be on his way too, soon!" Then he remembered. "But that operation they were planning for you...what the hell were they trying to do to you?"  
  
"I don't know..." Chidori answered. "They said something about it being important though...I'm not sure I even want to know now."  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it." Yuhi said. "You're safe and that's all that matters."  
  
Chidori smiled. "I'm glad... you came to save me... even though it was just me, Yuhi."  
  
"Don't mention it." Yuhi replied. "Besides, I wouldn't leave someone I care about like that. Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon."  
  
"Mm-hmm..." And Chidori rested her head against Yuhi's shoulder. Yuhi blushed a little but didn't say anything.  
  
Suddenly Chidori noticed a shadow lurking around the corner. Her eyes widened as the shadow raised a gun.  
  
Riku, who had just come around through one of the adjoining corridors, immediately saw the two of them. He was about to call out to them when he saw the shadow as well. He quickly took out one of his shuriken and prepared to throw it.  
  
"Behind you!" Riku shouted as he threw his weapon.  
  
Yuhi turned at the sound of Riku's voice, but the warning had come too late. He then felt Chidori push him away as she threw herself in front of him.  
  
A loud gunshot echoed in the passage followed by a scream of grief.  
  
"Chidori! NOOO!" Yuhi screamed.  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Floor 4B:  
  
Toya dodged Lee's lash with his link whip and then sliced it in half using his stiletto. He then tackled Lee, drew his gun, and pointed it between Lee's eyes.  
  
"Wei! I'll blow your head off if you don't take me to where Shota is." Toya said calmly.  
  
Lee glared at his opponent turned captor before reluctantly getting up.  
  
"Follow me." He said.  
  
As the two of them headed in the direction Lee had indicated, Nagi, Tot, and the rest of the Aogiri mercenaries had taken out the rest of the Aogiri guards.  
  
"Looks like we dropped into a pretty intense situation...huh Crow." Tot said as she wiped some sweat from her forehead with her free hand.  
  
"You can say that again, Usagi." Nagi replied. "Well, guess we'd better go help Toya."  
  
"Right." Tot agreed and then she put Muramasa back into its sheath. Suddenly she heard the elevator they had come in from chime and more guards came out. "These guys don't know when to give up, do they?"  
  
"Apparently not." Nagi replied and then got into a fighting stance.  
  
"Never mind them!" One of the mercenaries shouted over to Nagi and Tot. "You two go aid Toya! We'll handle these losers!"  
  
"All right!" Nagi shouted. "You guys take care too!" And he looked over at Tot and nodded and the two of them ran down the hallway after Toya.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Chidori collapsed into Yuhi's arms with a bullet in her back. The shot had obviously been intended for Yuhi.  
  
"Chidori!!" Yuhi shouted, his eyes widened from shock. "Hey!! Wake up..."  
  
A Mikage guard stood a few feet behind them, holding the smoking gun.  
  
"Oh shit!!" The man cursed his eyes wide with horror when he realized he had just shot a C-Genome and that the penalties would be very severe. "I...I didn't mean to shoot her...I-aargh!!" The man screamed in pain as Riku's shuriken buried itself into his back.  
  
Riku ran over towards Yuhi and quickly saw the wound that Chidori had received.  
  
"Give her to me, I need to see the wound!" Riku shouted. As Yuhi numbly did so, Riku quickly unbuttoned the hospital gown Chidori was wearing, not bothering to notice that she wasn't wearing anything under it, and inspected the wound. Yuhi's face reddened considerably and he quickly turned around to prevent a sudden nosebleed.  
  
"Looks like the bullet passed right through." Riku said as he inspected the wound. "It doesn't seem to have hit anything vital but...oh damn it!"  
  
"What's wrong?" Yuhi asked coming out of his shocked state, fearful of what he was about to hear.  
  
"The bullet struck a few places and has caused a few internal injuries." Riku answered miserably. "I can stop the bleeding from the outside, but we need to get her to a doctor soon or she'll die."  
  
"How much time do we have?" Yuhi turned around and saw that Riku had all ready bandaged the wound as best as he could and was quickly buttoning up the gown Chidori was wearing..  
  
"An hour at most." Riku answered and then he lifted Chidori and then placed her in Yuhi's arms. "We need to hurry. Let's get out of here first and get to where your cars are parked; I'll cover you on the way there. After that, I'll get you to the nearest hospital so Chidori can be treated can be treated." Then Riku noticed that the man who had shot Chidori was slowly trying to creep away.  
  
The man looked up at Riku and saw him look down at him with a cold and merciless expression.  
  
"Please." The man begged. "Don't kill me..."  
  
Riku's lips were twisted in a snarl as he kicked the man at the side of the head hard, knocking him out.  
  
"Only because I was ordered not to unless I had to." He said to the unconscious man. He then turned back to Yuhi. "Let's get out of here."  
  
"Right." Yuhi agreed, and looked down at Chidori who was breathing heavily. "Hold on Chidori, we'll get you to a doctor quick."  
  
"Yuhi..." Chidori said weakly.  
  
"I'm afraid that I can't allow that." A new voice said.  
  
Riku turned and saw a dark skinned young boy of Indonesian descent standing behind him with an Uzi pointed at his back.  
  
"All 'cause you tried to run away..." The boy complained. "This sucks! One of the C-Genomers ends up shot... the Chief gonna be pissed! You in my way, man... give her to me so I can get her treated!"  
  
"I think we'll be the ones who are going to get her treated, kid." Riku said.  
  
"And where you go?" The boy asked. "Almost every hospital in Japan has people who work secretly for us, so even if you do get her to hospital you might as well have given her back to us. You wasting your time, just give her to me."  
  
The guard suddenly regained consciousness and when he saw the boy, his eyes widened in fear.  
  
"No! Sir, I didn't mean to!" He screamed. "Really! It was an acci-!"  
  
The boy then calmly pointed his Uzi at the guard and emptied the bullets into him. The man didn't even have time to scream. The bullet- ridden corpse of the guard then fell face down onto the ground.  
  
"C-Project has no room for screw ups." He said coldly as he quickly reloaded his gun and pointed it at Riku. "My name is Asamu Bagte, I am one of the guardinals. Special agents recruited from around the world to join C- Project. My assignment is to aid in capture of the C-Genomes."  
  
"I'm Drakken, a representative from a group that doesn't like what your companies doing." Riku replied drawing his M9. "You could say that I'm a hit man for the likes of you."  
  
"Hit man, huh." Asamu said. "Anyway, the C-Genome won't last very long. You better off just giving her to me."  
  
"No can do. My assignment is to protect Yuhi and Chidori. So if you want Chidori, you'll have to get through me!" He then pointed his M9 at Asamu and glanced back at Yuhi. "Don't worry, I'll take this little brat down within a couple of minutes."  
  
"Don't be so sure." Asamu said. "I admit that you did good job in somehow getting past our security system. But nobody get's lucky twice either." And he prepared to fire his gun. "Selamat tidur." (AN: "Good night" in Indonesian. Asamu, in case you didn't know, is from Indonesia... in fact his Japanese is pretty broken up in the manga, so I've tried to render it as equally awkward in English)  
  
To be continued...  
  
AN: Cliffhanger alert! Sorry folks, but you'll have to wait till the next chapter to see what happens next. Does Chidori survive, what are Farfarello's orders from the Patriots, will Shota be rescued, what will Alec do to turn against the Mikage, and what's happening over at the Aogiri household? You want to know the answer? Find out in the next chapter!  
  
Oh yeah, Kei is not, I repeat NOT, another cyborg ninja (he/she) is an informant whose identity will be revealed later on. Hint: If you've read Volume 6 of the Ceres manga you'll probably know who it is. Anyway, I've changed my mind and decided to base the crossover on the manga instead of the anime. The reason is because one, I have better access to the manga then I do the anime, and also because I like the manga better.  
  
To Rune, I hope that I did your character well enough and I also hope that you enjoyed the fight between Scorpion and Farfarello. Let's hope Shardclaw decides to give those two a rematch. And to GreyWolf4, if he's reading this, don't worry; both Michael and Shade will be making an appearance soon. After about two or three more chapters. Anyway, please review! 


	13. Chapter 13: Rescue Mission Part 2

AN: Chapter 13 has arrived, folks, and I hope that you enjoy this one. Oh by the way, starting from this chapter onward, there are going to be some changes in this story from the original Ceres storyline, just to let you know. Ahem. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and please review too. Thank you.  
  
Disclaimer: I only own Riku and this story. Everyone else belongs to their creators, authors, and companies and Shade, who will be making a brief appearance in this chapter as a thank you to his respective owner for giving me such great info on his characters and story, belongs to GreyWolf4.  
  
Opening Omake: DarkFusion is a Liar:  
  
DF: Hey folks, I just need to clear up something really quick. Earlier on in the story it says that Tot's injury from Farfarello is a gunshot wound. Actually, it was a stab wound.  
  
I pause and look to make sure no one is coming to hit me with a harisen.  
  
DF: Ahem...anyway I just want to say that...  
  
A harisen appears out of thin air and hits me. Tot then appears brandishing it.  
  
DF: Hey! I thought your stealth camo ran out of batteries!  
  
Tot: Nagi let me borrow his. And I can't believe you! First you screw up my hair color and now you screw up how I nearly die in Weiss Kreuz!  
  
DF: It's not my fault! I just mixed your (supposed) death with someone else's.  
  
A harisen comes flying from the audience, hitting me hard in the face.  
  
Ouka (from the audience): That being my death! How could you make such a stupid mistake?!  
  
DF: Is there anyone else out to get me for my mistakes?  
  
Another harisen comes flying from the audience but I dodge.  
  
DF: Ha! Missed me!  
  
Harisen comes flying back boomerang style and hits me from behind.  
  
Lilica (also from the audience): That was for misspelling my name!  
  
DF (groans): I can't win...  
  
End of Omake...  
  
Chapter 13: Rescue Mission Part 2  
  
Aogiri Household:  
  
Aya Mikage lay back on her futon thinking.  
  
(For crying out loud! How can I get a fever at such an important time! I've been in such a strange condition these days...) She thought to herself as the door to the room opened and Mrs. Q. stepped in carrying a tray of food.  
  
"Aya, I brought your meal." Mrs. Q. said as she lay the tray of food down in front of her. "It's Yuhi's special rice porridge! He asked me to feed you before it gets cold..."  
  
"Thank you." Aya replied as she picked up the bowl. "By the way, where is Yuhi anyway?"  
  
"He's well ...Uh--." Mrs. Q stammered, feeling really uncomfortable about lying to a friend. "Well--uhm--I have no idea!"  
  
Aya looked at Mrs. Q's nervous expression, feeling deep suspicion, but shrugged.  
  
"Anyway...why are you still wearing that costume?" Aya asked, indicating the geisha outfit Mrs. Q was wearing. She was about to eat some of the food before a wave of nausea hit her.  
  
Suzumi came in just in time to see Aya double over and start throwing up all over the floor. Both Suzumi and Mrs. Q rushed over to her side.  
  
"Are you all right?" Suzumi asked as soon as Aya had stopped throwing up.  
  
"I didn't do anything!!" Mrs. Q. shouted. "I just looked funny..."  
  
Suzumi ignored her. "Aya--is it possible that you..."  
  
"What?" Aya asked.  
  
"You could be pregnant...didn't you notice it?" Suzumi answered. "What about your period?"  
  
"Two months... behind... ah..." And then Aya realized what she had just heard. "A baby..."  
  
(Seven months--no, more like six months) Aya thought and then remembered what Ceres had told her.  
  
(If you cannot find the Hagoromo in seven more months---no, a little more than half a year--then the pact between us is void... and I will destroy every last living Mikage. That obviously includes Shiso--your brother, Aki. Do you understand? I will obliterate him.) Ceres' voice echoed in Aya's mind.  
  
(...before the baby is born.) Aya thought. (Is it true? Am I having... TOYA'S CHILD?!)  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
Riku stood in front of Asamu. Both had their guns drawn at each other. Finally, Asamu spoke, breaking the silence of the standoff.  
  
"You." He said, indicating Riku. "How strong you are?"  
  
"Strong enough." Riku answered, keeping his M9 pointed at Asamu's head. "Why are you asking?"  
  
"It been long time since I fight anyone strong, I bored. I will see how strong you are." Asamu then put his Uzi away and then charged towards Riku, his right fist raised to strike him.  
  
Riku immediately sensed something was different about Asamu's attack; he stood where he was until the boy's fist was inches from him.  
  
"Shadow Step." Riku said and then vanished, reappearing at his attacker's side. He quickly grabbed Asamu's right wrist and squeezed it hard, causing his hand to open. As soon as it did, a couple of thin needles fell out and onto the floor.  
  
"That punch you were going to throw at me." Riku said as he let go of his opponent. "You were actually trying to stab me with those thin needles you were hiding between your fingers; probably to target pressure points on the body to weaken your opponent."  
  
"How you know that?!" Asamu asked, surprised that anyone could see through his trick.  
  
"Oh that's simple." Riku answered. "That happens to be part of a technique I use."  
  
Asamu grinned. "You no ordinary mercenary. You have strange ability and you know my technique...fighting you be fun and torturing you for information more fun even."  
  
"As fun as it would be to play with you, kid, I'm afraid I don't have the time." Riku then got into a fighting stance. "I'll bring you down in seconds. I know it. Let me show you why."  
  
Riku then held out his right arm, which suddenly became engulfed in flames, melting off the sleeve of his sneaking suit and revealing his tekko.  
  
(He can wield flames?! He's like that earlier C-Genome...) Asamu thought to himself. (But he isn't showing any of the right signs for a C- Genome...what the hell is he?)  
  
"This should keep you from cheating." Riku said and made a gesture with his flaming arm, causing a wall of fire to appear in front of Yuhi and Chidori. He then turned back to Asamu. "Let's continue." Then his left arm also became engulfed in flames.  
  
"I was originally going to use the single version for this." Riku continued. "But since I'm in a hurry I need to finish this as quickly as possible."  
  
Riku then charged towards Asamu both his fists aflame; Asamu quickly lifted his Uzi and pointed it at the incoming Riku. Suddenly Riku seemed to suddenly vanish and then instantly appear right next to Asamu, fists raised to strike.  
  
"Too late." Riku said as Asamu tried to turn and point his weapon at him. "Double Dragon Strike!"  
  
Riku's flaming fists then pummeled Asamu eight times in the stomach and chest area, inflicting burns as well as bruises onto the boy. The final punch sent Asamu flying into the air where he landed a few feet away from where he had stood before.  
  
As the flames that covered Riku's hands went out, Asamu gave a groan of pain from the bruises and burns inflicted by Riku's attack before laying still.  
  
"That's one bad guy down for the count." Riku said as he made a gesture that caused the firewall to vanish. He then walked over to Yuhi, who was carrying Chidori on his back. "We'd better get moving."  
  
While Yuhi was amazed at Riku's attack, he knew that it would be better to ask questions later.  
  
"All right, let's go." He said and then looked back at Asamu. "Did you...kill him?"  
  
"No, I didn't." Riku answered. "The blows I landed weren't all that hard and I made sure that the flames' intensity was so that the burns wouldn't be too nasty. Anyway, we should..."  
  
Yuhi's eyes suddenly widened as he saw something. Freeing one of his arms, Yuhi drew out the gun Toya had given him earlier and fired it.  
  
Riku heard a scream of pain and turned around to see Asamu drop his Uzi and clutch his injured right arm.  
  
"You... had a gun...!?" Asamu shouted at Yuhi in surprise, gritting his teeth in pain.  
  
Riku immediately drew his M9, aimed for Asamu's head, and pulled the trigger, knocking the young Indonesian assassin unconscious.  
  
"Thanks for the help. Now let's get moving before back up arrives." Riku said. Yuhi nodded as he put his gun away and then walked down the way he and Toya had come in with Riku in tow.  
  
As they were walking, Yuhi glanced back at Chidori, noticing that her breathing and heartbeat were slowing down.  
  
(You took that bullet that was meant for me...) Yuhi thought to Chidori miserably. (Damn it Chidori, why did you do that? You...you shouldn't have done that...even if it was for me.) As the last part of that thought registered in his mind, Yuhi felt an odd sense of protectiveness towards the girl he was carrying. A feeling that he couldn't explain.  
  
Meanwhile: Inside Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
Toya followed Lee until he stopped in front of a door and turned to him.  
  
"Shota Kuruma is in there." Lee said gesturing at the door.  
  
Toya glanced at Lee with some suspicion but said nothing as he walked to the door to the room.  
  
"I'll tell you one thing, Toya." Lee spoke, causing Toya to stop. "And that's that you don't know anything."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You've gotten this far, but the Chief, Dr. Howell, has his own responsibilities, and he won't be able to cover for you this time. He's done everything he can to keep you alive. Even though you're highly regarded here, you've thrown it all-." A gun suddenly dropped into Lee's hand from his sleeve.  
  
Inside the room, Shiso, Shota, and two Mikage guards heard the sound of two gunshots. One of the guards turned to the other one.  
  
"Hey--that was right outside the door!!" He said. The other guard nodded and quickly opened the door.  
  
"Sir...!?" The guard asked before he was suddenly nicked in the head by another bullet. Suddenly there was the sound of more gunshots and the guards fell down each with a shot to the knee.  
  
Toya then emerged from the door with his gun drawn. Shota instantly recognized him.  
  
"Doctor Kiritani!" He shouted in recognition and then ran towards him.  
  
"Shota." Toya said and then instantly saw Shiso sitting across from him. "Shiso!"  
  
Shiso smirked and shook his head. "Hmph. Toya Kiritani... Toya Mizuki... just how many names do you have? Put the gun down, Toya."  
  
"Let the kid go." Toya replied. "Shota has nothing to do with this... let him go!"  
  
Suddenly there was the sound of a gun going off two times and Toya fell with a shot to each leg.  
  
"Agreed." Shiso said with a victorious smirk. "In exchange for you."  
  
"You should learn to finish off your enemies, Toya..." Lee said, standing behind Toya, his gun smoking from the shots he had just fired.  
  
"Doctor!" Shota shouted and then ran to his side. He then looked up at Lee. "Why did you shoot him!?"  
  
"Let Shota go... Shiso!" Toya shouted, wincing in pain from the wounds to his legs. "I won't run away! I won't! Let him go!"  
  
"Very well." Shiso said and then looked at Shota. "You may leave now, boy."  
  
"Do as he says." Toya said to Shota. "Don't worry about me. Just go by yourself, and quickly! After you go down the hallway, take the elevator on the left. I still have a few things to do..."  
  
"But ..." Shota objected. "You're hurt!"  
  
"I'm all right--after all, I'm a doctor; I'm not going to die from this." Toya replied with a forced smile. "Shota, your walking has improved so much... you'll do just fine at protecting your sister. Now go... quickly! For your sister's sake! I also have an important person waiting for me right now. I want to live for her sake, so you should for your sister's..."  
  
"Hey, kid." Shiso interrupted. "If you don't hurry up and go now, I might change my mind."  
  
"Go!" Toya shouted. "And if anyone comes looking for me, tell them not to bother! I promise I'll come back!" Shota nodded and quickly left the room.  
  
Shiso then walked over towards the fallen guards and inspected their bodies.  
  
"Amazing. You were able to take out all of these men without killing them, Toya. I must say that I'm impressed." Shiso then took a gun out from his pocket and looked at it. "Guns... I've never used them before, but they seem to have considerable power. I think I want to try it out for myself now. Stand up, Toya."  
  
Suddenly, Toya's codec rang and the call was automatically received.  
  
"Toya, can you hear me?" Yuhi's asked over the codec.  
  
"Yeah, I can hear you." Toya answered, pretending to ignore Shiso.  
  
"We'll be reaching the basement waterways soon... but Chidori's been shot!!"  
  
"Shot...is the wound serious?"  
  
"I'm afraid so." Riku said as his face appeared on the screen. "We'll be taking her to a hospital so she can be treated. I've sent Crow and Usagi after you to help you rescue Shota."  
  
"Don't bother." Toya replied. "Shota's already been freed just fine..."  
  
"That's good news." Yuhi said.  
  
"Yeah." Riku agreed. "Mission accomplished. We'll see you back at the Aogiri place."  
  
Before Toya could reply, Shiso ripped the codec away from Toya and crushed it.  
  
"No more interruptions, Toya." He said as he tossed the remains of the device aside.  
  
Back at Riku's Position:  
  
"What the..." Yuhi said as soon as Toya was cut off. "Shit! I can't hear him anymore."  
  
"Guess his must have run out of batteries." Riku said. "How much further till we get to the exit?"  
  
"We're almost there." Yuhi answered and then turned to Chidori. "Hey Chidori, cheer up... Toya said Shota's been freed!"  
  
Chidori sighed in relief. "And...Toya?"  
  
"I'm sure he's fine. He's tough like that, you know."  
  
"That's good... if anything happened to Toya... Aya would... tell her she shouldn't cry anymore... she ought to be happy."  
  
"You can tell her yourself, Chidori... she's staying with us now. Shuro also said she could take some time off, remember? Let's all go to karaoke again!"  
  
"Sounds good... to me... before that, I want to have some more of your cooking.... a lot..."  
  
"Okay! I can cook anything. What do you want?"  
  
"Anything... that you like too, Yuhi."  
  
"All right then! I'll let you eat my favorite food every day... you can come back and mooch off me again. I'll take care of everything for you, including Shota. You should transfer to a school near where I live! It's settled!"  
  
"I dunno why... but... I'm really cold. But... you're warm... so..." Chidori's voice was starting to grow faint.  
  
"Oh? Then you should hold onto me tighter!" Yuhi replied.  
  
Riku, who was following them a few feet from behind, and starting to feel like an intruder on their conversation, immediately sensed what was happening and quickened his pace.  
  
(I don't get it!) Riku thought as he rushed forward. (Her body's tiring out way too fast! If I don't do something quick then...)  
  
"Yuhi...would you like it better... if I stayed in my tennyo form?" Chidori asked weakly. "You don't like the childish look... do you?"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Yuhi replied, sensing that something was wrong. "You're attractive enough just the way you are." Yuhi's face reddened slightly as he said this.  
  
"Say... Yuhi... you didn't know, did you... that I've... been... about you, that is... for a long time..." Chidori's voice was barely above a whisper.  
  
"Huh? Chidori...? 'For a long time' what?" Yuhi asked and then noticed Riku right behind him.  
  
"Really hate to interrupt but..." Riku spoke and then placed his hand on Chidori's back. (Please don't let me be too late) he thought.  
  
Riku's body then seemed to temporarily glow with a red aura, which transferred over to Chidori before vanishing. Chidori stiffened up a little as this was happening before her body became more relaxed, after which, she lost consciousness.  
  
"What did you just...?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"I just saved her life by transferring some of my chakra over to her." Riku answered. "I noticed that she was starting to weaken a lot and she probably would've died if I hadn't done anything."  
  
"You mean you healed her?"  
  
"No I can't use my chakra that way. I just made sure that she didn't die from exhaustion from whatever it was that..." Riku then looked over at Chidori. "What the hell?!"  
  
Chidori's hair color had suddenly changed to a very light brown and her body had reduced in size, making her look like a girl in grade school.  
  
"The form Chidori was in before was her tennyo form." Yuhi explained. "She's our age, but she looks a lot younger in appearance. When she transforms, that's when her body well uh..." Yuhi started to blush as he tried to find a way to describe it.  
  
"You can tell me later." Riku replied. "Let's just keep going. Like I told you, I can't heal with my chakra. I only bought us some more time. I'm going to get us a chopper to take us to a hospital, that I doubt the Mikage are in control of, ASAP."  
  
"You can do that?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"Of course." And then Riku activated his codec and set it to Col. Campbell's frequency. He was not prepared for the nasty surprise that greeted him.  
  
"Drakken, I trust that you have a good reason to call." Matthew Reese said as soon as his face appeared on screen.  
  
"Where's the colonel?" Riku asked trying to conceal his disappointment at seeing Reese. (Just my luck...)  
  
"I'm afraid Colonel Campbell has more important things to oversee right now. So I'm overseeing your assignment in his place for the time being." Reese answered smugly. "Now what is it that you want?"  
  
"One of the people I was assigned to protect has been badly injured." Riku replied. "I am requesting permission for a helicopter to transport me, another, and the injured girl to the Japanese HQ for FOXHOUND so I can get her treated."  
  
"Permission denied." Reese answered indifferently. "Have you forgotten, Drakken, that this FOXHOUND operation is a covert one? I do not believe that a mere injury is cause enough for you to reveal our existence."  
  
"Excuse me Lieutenant, but it's my mission to protect these people so there is reason enough to..."  
  
"Do I have to repeat myself to you, soldier?" Reese asked threateningly. "I have neither the time nor the patience to engage myself into a debate with you, Drakken. You will follow my orders to the letter, understood?"  
  
"But..." Riku objected, struggling to keep from losing his temper at the man. "But sir, this girl is seriously injured, if I can't get her to a medical facility soon she will die!"  
  
"Then the fault will be entirely yours for your incompetence." Reese snorted. "I don't know why Campbell sticks his neck out for people like you, Masterson, and Kinezono so much. In my opinion, a loose cannon such as yourself should be retrained under the highest supervision, mine, and that will be the consequence for you as well as your two partners if you divulge FOXHOUND's existence to the people you are protecting."  
  
"Lieutenant, I really think that..." Riku was cut off.  
  
"Think? You are not part of FOXHOUND to think. Just to follow orders. And besides, I've had a look at your location and there's a hospital a few blocks from your current position. Bring the girl there."  
  
"Sir, I have been given information that the enemy likely has agents in that hospital. A member of the enemy's top personnel told this to me." Riku really had to struggle to keep from losing his temper.  
  
"Do you have any reliable proof to support this?" Reese asked.  
  
"I told you that I heard it from..."  
  
"That is not reliable proof. Now just do as I tell you, and if I get anymore pointless calls from you, I will be very displeased." Reese then ended his transmission.  
  
(God damn you, Reese!) Riku thought angrily. (One of these days...One of these days you're going to cross the line and when you do, I'll make you sorry you were ever born! I don't give a damn about prison!) Riku then forced himself to calm down so he could think of an alternate plan. (I guess I'd better take them there. I hope Yuji's available.)  
  
Riku then switched the frequency to Nanvel's.  
  
"Nanvel, I need to know if Yuji's free right now." Riku said as soon as Nanvel's face appeared on screen.  
  
"Yeah, he is." Nanvel answered. She could tell that from the seriousness in Riku's voice that the call was urgent. "Why are you asking?"  
  
"To make a long story short, one of my friends just got seriously injured and if I don't get her to a medical facility soon, she'll die. I need you to get me a lift to the Police Town hospital by chopper ASAP."  
  
"Will do Riku. Just tell me where you want Yuji to pick you up."  
  
"On the top floor of the Mikage International's parking garage." Riku answered. "And tell Yuji to get there as quick as he can, there isn't much time."  
  
"I understand." Nanvel replied. "He'll be there in about twenty minutes."  
  
"Thanks." Riku said gratefully. "We're on our way." And then the transmission ended. Riku then turned to Yuhi. "I've gotten our ride."  
  
"Thank you." Yuhi replied. "Especially for going out of your way to help Chidori even if it did get you in trouble with your commander."  
  
"Commander?" Riku asked. "Hold on, were you listening to..."  
  
"Yeah, I forgot to turn off the monitor." Yuhi answered. "I'm not entirely sure who you are, but you've helped us out enough that I trust you."  
  
"Thanks, and don't worry, I'll tell you about who my partners and I are later. Now let's get to the garage and quick."  
  
Meanwhile: At Police Town:  
  
Nanvel turned over to where Yuji Naruo was. He had his head down on his desk and appeared to be asleep. He also seemed to be mumbling something.  
  
Nanvel sighed and walked over to her friend and tried to nudge him awake.  
  
"Hey, Yuji, wake up." She said.  
  
"Ah...no Rio, not there!" Yuji said in his sleep. Nanvel sweat dropped as she realized what type of dream Yuji was probably having. She then pulled out a megaphone and put the front near Yuji's ear.  
  
"HEY!! WAKE UP!!" She shouted, her voice magnified enough that everyone in the room could hear her.  
  
"Arrgh! I'm awake, I'm awake!" Yuji shouted as he rubbed his ringing ear. "So why'd you wake me? I was having a really nice dream..."  
  
"Yeah, I heard you." Nanvel replied sarcastically. "Anyway, one of Riku's friends got injured in a mission and he needs you to get him and his friend to Police Town so his friend can be treated."  
  
Yuji could see from the seriousness in Nanvel's voice that this wasn't a laughing matter. "All right, I'll be there right away. Just tell me where I need to go."  
  
"Here's the address." Nanvel then handed a piece of paper to Yuji who took it and ran off to the helipad.  
  
Meanwhile: Somewhere in America:  
  
Farfarello stood in the main computer room for the American Branch of Mikage International. The bodies of several technicians and security guards, that he had personally killed, littered the floor. Farfarello calmly stepped over the corpses and then activated the main computer.  
  
(Make sure that you access the program that controls the distribution of the C-Genome vector.) Schuldich instructed telepathically. (I've already given you the password so you can access it. You remember it right?)  
  
Farfarello ignored his partner and kept on typing until he had accessed the program.  
  
"It's been done." Farfarello said. "Now what do you want me to do?"  
  
(Aw, don't tell me that you're still griping over that little interruption.) Schuldich replied. (Didn't taking out your frustrations on the good people of the Mikage, who were kind enough to volunteer, do anything?)  
  
"Stay out of my mind, Schuldich." Farfarello warned. "Now tell me what I need to do next."  
  
(Oh all right, if you insist. Here is what you must do...)  
  
As Schuldich gave him the directions, Farfarello did as he was instructed, ignoring the German's wisecracks that were directed at him.  
  
"All right, I have done everything." Farfarello said as soon as he finished. "All I need to do now is input the command."  
  
(Go ahead.) Schuldich replied. (And make sure to leave a few Mikage personnel alive. We'll need witnesses to ensure that our story is...plausible after I use my abilities to ensure that they tell the story we want. Anyway, if all goes well, I'll see you in Japan shortly, my friend. Tah tah!) And Schuldich's presence was gone.  
  
Farfarello then typed in the command and pressed 'enter'.  
  
"Warning." A computerized female voice said. "Command shall result in termination of the substance. Once confirmed, the command cannot be revoked. Do you still wish to...?"  
  
Farfarello hit the 'enter' button again, cutting off the transmission.  
  
"Command excepted." The voice replied. "Beginning termination process."  
  
"Farfarello what in God's name have you done?!" A voice shouted from behind. Farfarello turned and saw that it was the Director of Operations for the facility. A short and pudgy man with gray hair. He was accompanied by a small group of armed guards.  
  
"I merely disposed of that vector that you were planning on distributing to the American public." Farfarello answered.  
  
"What?!" The man shouted, enraged by what he had just heard. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?! The value of that substance was beyond comprehension."  
  
"To you perhaps, but to my employers it was a threat that had to be removed."  
  
"Kagami would never approve of this!"  
  
"I wasn't talking about Kagami. The ones that I am referring to are the ones who are truly in charge of C-Project. The ones you call the Patriots."  
  
"The La-li-lu-le-lo?!" The Director shouted. "You mean you're..." He then looked at the bodies of the personnel on the floor. "Then that means that you..."  
  
"Correct." Farfarello answered with a twisted grin. "I was the one who killed these employees of yours, and now that you've seen what you weren't supposed to see, I'm afraid that your time has ended." And he pulled out one of his knives and licked the blade in anticipation.  
  
The frightened man turned to his guards. "Shoot him!"  
  
The guards quickly lifted their M4s and were about to fire when something suddenly whizzed past the each one of them. The guards suddenly fell over dead, each one from a slash to the throat that seemed to just appear on their necks.  
  
The director looked at the dead bodies of his guards before looking at Farfarello, his face white with fear.  
  
"No please, don't!" The man pleaded.  
  
"Give my regards to God for me when you see him." Farfarello said as he threw a knife that plunged right into the man's forehead.  
  
"But then again, your destination could be Hell." Farfarello continued with a smirk as the director's corpse slumped to the ground, eyes open and staring. Farfarello then turned to the doorway. "And what are you doing here Shade?"  
  
"Ensuring that you don't screw up in this task that the Patriots gave you." A voice answered. A tall black haired man wearing a black trenchcoat and hat then stepped into the room. He was carrying a bloodstained chakram and had a series of scars all over the right side of his face.  
  
"Did Crawford send you?" Farfarello asked.  
  
"I've been assigned to give your group some aid from the shadows in this little assignment of yours." Shade replied. "That's all that you need to know for now."  
  
Farfarello struggled to keep from stabbing the man. He had only met Shade a few times and instantly detested him especially since Shade seemed to regard him as unimportant while he completely acknowledged Schuldich and Crawford as true assassins. Not as a gesture of respect, but as a sign that they were strong enough to be considered a threat if ignored.  
  
Shade looked over at Farfarello. He probably could have killed him with absolute ease if he wanted to, but it seemed like a waste of time.  
  
"Well, aren't you going to make your report to Crawford?" Shade asked insultingly. "Or have you gotten so caught in your bloodlust from killing that obese swine and his workers that you've forgotten your job?"  
  
"You do not have to remind me about my job." Farfarello stated as he took out a cell phone to dial Crawford's number. "And besides, you're the one who's left a job unfinished for quite some time. What was his name ...Hansen I believe?" He then felt something cool pass against his left cheek. He touched it and then found that his fingers were covered in blood. He looked just in time to see Shade's chakram return to his hand.  
  
"That was a warning, Irishman." Shade said calmly. "If you dare mock me again, it will be the last time you ever do."  
  
Farfarello pretended to ignore him and dialed Crawford's number.  
  
Meanwhile: Inside Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"How much longer are we going to have to wait for the elevator?" Tot asked Nagi as they stood in front of the elevator that they were going to use to follow Toya.  
  
"Who knows?" Nagi answered as he pressed the 'up' button again. "But when it does come, let's be ready in case some guards are riding it down here."  
  
The elevator then chimed, signaling that it had come to their floor. Nagi drew his M9 and pointed it at the door, while Tot faced the other way in order to keep an eye out for approaching enemy guards.  
  
When the doors opened, they revealed that the elevator's occupant was a young boy with short brown hair who looked to be around ten. He immediately jumped at the sight of Nagi, afraid that he'd run into one of the Mikage guards.  
  
"Are you Shota Kuruma?" Nagi asked, slightly lowering his M9.  
  
"Y-yes..." Shota answered nervously. "A-are you one of the Mikage's guards."  
  
Nagi immediately put his M9 away since he saw that it was frightening the boy. "No, we're here to help rescue you. We're with Yuhi's group." Nagi then turned back to Tot. "Usagi, we've got Shota now."  
  
"That's good." Tot said as she kept her eyes forward. "Is Toya with him?"  
  
"It doesn't look like it." Nagi then turned to Shota. "Do you know where Toya is?"  
  
"He stayed behind..." Shota answered miserably. "He said he'd be fine, but he was shot and I think he's been captured."  
  
Nagi was silent for a moment before turning back to Tot. "Usagi, I need for you to do me a favor."  
  
"What is it, Crow?" Tot asked.  
  
"I need you to take Shota and get out of the building. I'm going to go and get Toya."  
  
"Now hold on a minute, Na- Crow!" Tot shouted. "I am not going to let you go and face that many people all by yourself!"  
  
"Usagi, one of us needs to make sure that Shota gets out of this all right. I trust you enough to do that." He could then see Tot's worried expression. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm one of our groups' psychic soldiers after all."  
  
"I still worry about you, Crow." Tot replied, almost calling him Nagi. "I am your girlfriend after all."  
  
"Um, excuse me." Shota said. "Doctor Kiritani, told me that if anyone came to get him I was to tell them not to."  
  
(Is he crazy?) Nagi thought, but before he could say anything, some more guards came around the corner.  
  
"Usagi, get in here!" He shouted. Tot nodded and got in pressing the close button. Nagi then looked at the buttons for each floor before finally selecting the one to the storage facility.  
  
"Where are we going?" Shota asked.  
  
"To the storage facility." Nagi answered and then turned to Tot. "Usagi, I'm going to drop you and Shota off there. All storage facilities have a loading place for their trucks, and that's where you'll find an exit. I'll go and get Toya."  
  
"But the doctor said that..." Shota protested.  
  
"I'm just going up to wait for him." Nagi reassured him. "I'm sure he'll do just fine, but someone needs to hold the elevator for him."  
  
"Um...okay." Shota agreed.  
  
After a few minutes, they reached the designated floor. Shota stepped out of the elevator but Tot stayed behind and turned to Nagi.  
  
"You promise you'll be careful, right Crow?" She asked.  
  
"Of course." Nagi answered. "And I won't forget that other promise I made to you. I'll try not to use my powers too much."  
  
Tot smiled at Nagi and then kissed him before stepping out of the elevator.  
  
"Be careful, Crow." She said as the doors closed. Tot then turned to Shota. "Well Shota, let's get you to the outside. Your sister's probably waiting for you."  
  
"Thank you Miss Usagi." Shota said. "So which way do we go?"  
  
Tot looked around at five different corridors to take and sweat dropped.  
  
"Um...well..." After a few minutes of debating which way to go she decided and pointed in the chosen direction. "This way."  
  
"Are you sure?" Shota asked. (Why do I get the feeling that we're going to get lost?)  
  
"Of course I am." Tot answered. "Always trust a girl's intuition."  
  
(But I really wish that I'd asked Nagi for directions before he left.) She thought to herself.  
  
Meanwhile: At the Parking Garage:  
  
"We're almost at the top." Riku said as he and Yuhi climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. "But still, of all the days that the elevator for this has to be out of order..."  
  
"How much time till your friend arrives?" Yuhi asked as he supported an unconscious Chidori with almost no sign of exhaustion. He then glanced back at her and sighed with relief when he saw that she was still breathing evenly. (Hang on, Chidori, we'll get you to a hospital soon.)  
  
"Five more minutes." Riku answered after looking at his watch. "Let's hurry and..." Riku suddenly heard a loud beeping sound as he and Yuhi walked into the parking floor. He turned and saw some C4 attached to SEMTEX set around the doorway that they had come through.  
  
"Those explosives have been set with infrared sensors and connected to more SEMTEX that have been set throughout this entire building." A new voice said causing Riku to turn around. "If you try and run away, then this place will blow up along with your friends."  
  
The speaker was a big man in his forties with long gray hair and a large mustache. He was wearing a gray fireproof outfit that almost looked like armor, and was carrying a large flamethrower that was connected to a large fuel tank strapped to his back.  
  
"So you're one of the FOXHOUND commandoes sent to interfere with C- Project." The man said. "The boss told us they'd send someone from your organization to interfere with Kagami's plan."  
  
"I thought Kagami was your boss." Riku replied. (That kid from before didn't seem to know about us being from FOXHOUND, so how does this guy know about us?)  
  
The man laughed before speaking again. "Kagami Mikage our boss? That fool? Hah! Why would I, Pyro Bison, swear my loyalty to a man stupid enough to betray the Patriots after they offer him a seat in their Wiseman's Committee?"  
  
"Kagami is a Patriot?" Riku asked, shocked at hearing this.  
  
(FOXHOUND...Patriots...Wiseman's Committee...) Yuhi thought as he listened to the conversation. (What the hell is going on here? Riku...just who in the world are you, Nagi, and Tot?)  
  
"Would be Patriot." Bison corrected. "Kagami was given the honor of becoming one, but he spurned that honor and that is why he will soon know the fate of traitors."  
  
"I really don't care what happens to that bastard." Riku replied. "Right now my only concern is getting Chidori to a hospital; if you don't get out of my way now, then I will not hesitate to kill you."  
  
"This can all be solved easily if you give the girl to me." Bison suggested.  
  
"So the Patriots can use her as an experiment? How stupid do you think I am?"  
  
"Stupid enough to think you can challenge the Patriots." Bison then pointed his flamethrower at Riku. "Now hand Chidori Kuruma over to me if you want to live."  
  
"Like hell I will!" Riku then drew his USP and pointed it at Bison. He then glanced at Yuhi. "Yuhi, run over to the exit; when you reach it, use your gun to take out the green flashing thing next to the explosives. That way, you and Chidori should make it out of here."  
  
"But..." Yuhi objected.  
  
"I'll be fine. I'll just take care of this small fry and then catch up, all right?"  
  
"All right." Yuhi then ran past Bison and towards the stairway, holding his gun in his right hand.  
  
"Don't think I'll let you..." Bison said as he pointed his flamethrower at Yuhi.  
  
"Shadow Step!" Riku then teleported and appeared right next to Bison with a kunai shuriken drawn. Bison's eyes widened in surprise as Riku stabbed the shuriken's point towards Bison's heart. The shuriken buried itself into the man's armor but didn't go any further.  
  
Riku was suddenly knocked back as Bison clubbed him on the side of the head with the butt of his flamethrower.  
  
"I must admit, you managed to surprise me, FOXHOUNDer." Bison said as he pointed the flamethrower at Yuhi. "Now throw away your gun and put your hands on your head. That is, if you care what happens to these two, and don't think the girl's life matters to me. There are plenty more C-Genomes that the Patriots can use for testing." Then he glanced at Yuhi. "Drop your gun too."  
  
Riku glared at Bison and threw his USP off to the side as Yuhi did the same.  
  
"Very good." Bison said with a triumphant grin; suddenly he turned and pointed the flamethrower at Riku and pulled the trigger, sending a jet of flame that immediately covered him in fire.  
  
"No!!" Yuhi shouted and then looked at Bison in anger. "Why the hell did you do that?! He wasn't even armed!"  
  
"My orders were to eliminate any of the ones FOXHOUND sent to interfere with C-Project." Bison answered as he let go of the trigger for the flamethrower. "You on the other hand, I can spare as long as you let me have the girl."  
  
"I'm not handing Chidori over to you!" Yuhi shouted. "I'm not going to let anyone use someone I care for as an experiment!"  
  
"Come, come now." Bison said. "You should know that it's pointless to defy the Patriots."  
  
"The Patriots?" Yuhi asked. "Who the hell are you talking about?"  
  
"Oh I see. So the FOXHOUNDer didn't tell you, did he? Oh well, take what happened to your FOXHOUND friend as an object lesson. Now hand over the girl."  
  
"Wait." Riku's voice said from behind Bison, causing him to turn around. "You still haven't finished with me."  
  
Both Bison and Yuhi gaped at the site of Riku standing amidst the fire caused by Bison's flamethrower, completely unharmed. Bison then pointed his flamethrower at Riku and unleashed a larger jet of flame.  
  
Riku laughed and held out his right hand. The incoming flames then began to slow down and then condensed into a large fireball that formed in the palm of Riku's hand.  
  
"Fire is useless against me." Riku stated with a grin. "Fire could never kill a flame master." The flame then began to take shape and form into that of a large dragon and Riku grinned at Bison's shocked expression. "My how the tables have turned. Are you ready to give up?"  
  
Bison's face contorted in fear and he dropped his flamethrower and pulled out a handgun. "God damned freak!" He shouted as he fired the gun at Riku.  
  
Riku effortlessly dodged each shot while holding the fireball in his hand.  
  
"I really don't like being called that." He said. "Now please just drop your weapon. If you do, I'll spare your life."  
  
Bison then turned and pointed the gun at Yuhi as he tried to pick up the gun he'd dropped.  
  
"Stay where you are!" Bison shouted. "If you don't then..."  
  
"Shadow Step." Riku said and then appeared between Yuhi and the gun. "This is your last chance. If you want to live..."  
  
"Die already!" Bison shouted as he fired the gun again. Riku sighed and threw some senbon needles at the bullets, knocking them out of the air.  
  
"Fine, if that's the way you want it..." Riku then swung his hand forward, sending the dragon shaped fireball directly at his target. "Infernal Dragon!!"  
  
Bison stood where he was, paralyzed in fear as the fire dragon rushed towards him, jaws outstretched. There was a loud crash as the dragon struck its target and plunged headlong into the wall.  
  
(Man, who would have thought my variation of Shizuma's attack would turn out to be that powerful?) Riku thought. He then looked at his watch. (Looks like Yuji will be arriving anytime now. I'd better hurry.)  
  
Riku then turned around and walked towards the door. He turned to Yuhi.  
  
"May I borrow your gun?" He asked. "I'm going to need it to disable the SEMTEX."  
  
"Huh?' Yuhi said, still in shock from seeing Riku's attack. "Oh yeah, sure." He then handed it to Riku who took it and shot the sensors. "By the way, thanks for helping me there."  
  
"Don't mention it. After all, you kept that kid assassin from shooting me." Riku replied as he handed the gun back to Yuhi. "Now let's get to the roof."  
  
"All right." Yuhi said and they walked up the stairs. As they were, Yuhi looked back to where the fire dragon had struck and then saw a burnt imprint that looked human shaped. He shuddered slightly and looked at Riku. (Sis, you sure hired some powerful people. Whoever they turn out to be, I just hope they're on our side, and just who were these Patriots that Riku and Bison were talking about?)  
  
Meanwhile: Inside Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
Kagami Mikage was talking to some of the technicians in his office when one of the security guards came in.  
  
"Sir, a helicopter has been sited landing on top of the parking garage." The man reported.  
  
"It must be the intruders' planned way of escape." Kagami said. "Have one of our choppers prepare to intercept it. Is there anything else to report?"  
  
"Yes sir." The guard answered. "The chopper appears to be the kind used by either police or military."  
  
"Is that so? Very well, have that chopper tracked instead. Oh and one more thing, have Schuldich and Viper returned?"  
  
"Yes sir. I immediately had them prepare to attack the intruders."  
  
"Well done, now return to your station."  
  
"Yes sir." The guard replied and left the room.  
  
(Either the military or the police are involved in this attack now.) Kagami thought. (But that doesn't make sense, we've made the necessary payments to insure that the police turn a blind eye to our progress and we have full endorsement from the Patriots. Just what is going on here?)  
  
Meanwhile: Somewhere in South America:  
  
Crawford stood in his quarters at the South American branch of Mikage Intl.; he was talking on a cell phone.  
  
"Wiseman's Committee, it has been done." Crawford reported through his cell phone. "The vector that the Mikage were planning on releasing into the United States has been terminated, all key personnel for the American branch have been eliminated, and everything has been set so it will appear that it was all FOXHOUND's doing."  
  
"Excellent work, Crawford." One of the Patriots replied.  
  
"Yes, I would expect no less from one of your family, who have served our cause faithfully ever since the founding of the United States." Another said. "Ever since then, your family, with their precognitive abilities, has served us as our personal seers. Making us able to insure that we made the correct choice in deciding the future for our country. So valuable was their aid that quite a few of your forefathers were members of our committee. A pity that when GW is restored the need for seers will be obsolete. "  
  
"Indeed." Another Patriot agreed. "However, your Schwartz will make fine personal assassins for our causes, and if you continue your loyal service you shall be offered the same seat that your forefathers sat on years ago."  
  
"You flatter me with your praise. Though I hardly think I deserve it." Crawford replied humbly. "But I must inquire what the purpose of all of this was, if I may."  
  
"Of course." The first Patriot replied. "The plan is for Kagami to believe that it is FOXHOUND that is his enemy. While the Mikage and FOXHOUND battle, we shall take over C-Project for ourselves. Now all we need to do is wait until the second part of our plan gets underway. Let us hope that it all happens according to plan."  
  
"That is my hope too, Wiseman's Committee." Crawford replied. (As long as both our plans go along the same path, of course, but when that time ends, I'm afraid that the future that I want may not have your existence.)  
  
Back at Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"Thanks for picking us up, Yuji." Riku said gratefully as he and Yuhi got in the chopper that Yuji Naruo was piloting. Chidori was carefully laid onto a stretcher before the chopper took off.  
  
"Don't mention it, Riku." Yuji replied. "And don't worry, I'll get us to Police Town on the double." He then turned to Yuhi. "My name's Yuji Naruo. I'm a friend of Riku's and an ace pilot."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Yuhi said. "By the way, you said we were headed for Police Town. Are you a cop?"  
  
"Sort of. Actually, he's part of a group known as Team Warrior." Riku said. "It's similar to the group my partners and I are with, except it's made up mostly of women." And then he pointed to Yuji. "Him being the only male member."  
  
"Hey, you don't have to tell him that!" Yuji exclaimed. "By the way, where are those partners of yours?"  
  
"Finishing their part of the mission." Riku replied. "Which reminds me, have Lilica and Nanvel been able to ID any of the photos I sent?"  
  
"Not yet." Yuji answered. "I'm sure they'll contact you as soon as they do. Now let's..." Yuji then noticed something off to the side. "Oh great."  
  
"What's wrong?" Riku asked and then looked to the side and saw a smaller helicopter approaching from the side. The right door to it was open and a man carrying a sniper rifle was aiming at them. "Don't these Mikage guys know when to give up?"  
  
"You mean they'll really attack us?" Yuji asked.  
  
"I don't know." Riku answered. "This is a police chopper so maybe..." He then looked over at Yuhi. "You know these guys better than I do. Will they?"  
  
"In all likelihood, they will attack." Yuhi replied. "These guys usually won't go after their target's in broad daylight unless they have to but..." He then turned to Yuji. "I think we'd better get out of here and quick."  
  
"Got it." Yuji replied and suddenly there was the sound of a gun going off followed by the sound of a bullet striking the side of the chopper. "Though, it'll be tough with that sniper targeting us. Why didn't I bring Maya along?"  
  
"Yuji, open the side door, then make a rush towards that chopper, and make sure that side passes the one that the sniper is on." Riku instructed taking out a throwing star shuriken. "I'll handle the sniper."  
  
"You're not planning on killing him, are you?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm just going to make sure he won't shoot us." Riku assured him. "Besides, I try not to kill my enemies unless there's no other option. That guy with the flame thrower was one of them." He then opened the side door before looking at Yuji and nodding.  
  
"Time to play a little chicken." Yuji said with a grin before glancing at Riku. "You ready?"  
  
"Ready." Riku then prepared to throw the shuriken.  
  
"Here we go." Yuji then steered the chopper so that it was facing the enemy chopper and then made it charge forward, slowly steering it to the side so it would just pass the other chopper by.  
  
Riku waited until the right moment before finally throwing the shuriken and was rewarded by a scream of pain as the sniper dropped his rifle and clutched his injured arm. He then turned to Yuji.  
  
"Problem solved. Let's get out of here." He said.  
  
"No problem." Yuji replied and then steered the chopper back to its original position and headed for Police Town.  
  
Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
Nagi stood in the elevator that was taking him up to the level that Toya was at. He kept his eyes on the door in case a guard happened to try and use that same elevator. The elevator suddenly stopped and the doors opened. Nagi's eyes widened as he saw who it was that stepped in.  
  
"Nagi my old friend, what a pleasant surprise." Schuldich said with a pleasant smile as he entered. "How have you been?"  
  
Nagi immediately drew his beretta and aimed at Schuldich's heart.  
  
"It looks like my guess was right." Nagi said. "You guys are the Mikage's lapdogs after all."  
  
"Gosh, that's an unfriendly way to greet an old buddy." Schuldich said in mock astonishment. "Didn't those FOXHOUND people teach you any manners?"  
  
"You and I are not friends, Schuldich." Nagi replied. "Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now."  
  
"Well for starters..." Schuldich began and then swiftly knocked the gun out of Nagi's hands. "I'm much faster than you are. Besides today I'm only here as a messenger, so I've only come here to talk."  
  
"As Crawford's messenger, I'll bet, and I could care less about what he wants to tell me. Especially if it's to ask me to rejoin Schwartz, because I won't."  
  
"Even if we let you keep that girl with you? I'm sure if I talked to the boss a little, some arrangements could be made."  
  
"Yeah, so you could use her as a hostage to ensure my good behavior." Nagi replied sarcastically. "I think I like it better at FOXHOUND, at least there no one tries to invade my mind while I sleep." Nagi grimaced at the memories in which he almost always had to defend himself mentally each time Schuldich had tried to enter his mind while he was sleeping.  
  
"Dear me, you certainly hold grudges." Schuldich said with a grin. "But seriously, you should consider what will happen once the people of FOXHOUND discover you and you're girlfriend are former assassins. What do you think they'll do then? Treat it like it's nothing? I seriously doubt either of you would enjoy being treated like criminals, even if you do have the support of that Hanabishi fellow."  
  
"And your point is?" Nagi asked, this response almost surprising Schuldich. "I'm fully prepared to face that possibility. Besides, I've been shunned for what I am before so I can go through it again. At least this time I won't be alone."  
  
"You truly are a simpleton in the end, Nagi." Schuldich replied. "Oh well, I didn't really come to try and get you to rejoin us, at least not yet. I just want to tell you that whatever you think this C-Project is, it's probably not."  
  
"What do you mean?" Nagi asked suspiciously. The elevator suddenly chimed as it reached the floor Nagi wanted to get to. He quickly picked up his gun using telekinesis and made to leave.  
  
"Oh you'll know soon enough." Schuldich answered. Nagi glanced back at him before stepping out of the elevator. "Bye." And then the doors closed.  
  
(Crawford, what the hell are you up to?) Nagi thought and then shook his head. (Forget that, I need to go and help Toya.)  
  
Meanwhile: Back in the Elevator:  
  
(It looks like everything's going according to plan.) Schuldich thought. (That little talk I had with Nagi should have delayed him enough that he won't arrive in time to save Toya, and once Toya is gone then the only way Ceres can obtain a hagoromo is from the Mikage themselves. And once the Mikage obtain Ceres, that's when the Patriots shall make their move and then things are going to get very interesting indeed.)  
  
Meanwhile: Elsewhere on Nagi's Level:  
  
"Where is the hagoromo?" Toya asked.  
  
"What?" Shiso asked in reply.  
  
"The hagoromo. I know that you're trying to manufacture them in the laboratory here."  
  
"Now I see..." Shiso said as his eyes seemed to darken in anger. "So that's what's going on. Kagami, you son of a bitch..."  
  
"Why don't you just return it Ceres...to Aya?" Toya asked, returning Shiso's attention back to him. "The Hagoromo belongs to the Tennyo! Give it back! Why don't you release her from this blood-soaked curse?!"  
  
Shiso glared at Toya angrily before raising his gun and shooting Toya in the shoulder.  
  
"Don't speak another word about MY woman." He growled.  
  
"Aki... stop retreating inside of Shiso..." Toya pleaded. "Aya has been waiting for you..."  
  
"Shut up!" Shiso shouted as he shot Toya again.  
  
"Come back to her--Aki! Come back to your sister!"  
  
"I said shut the fuck up!" This time Shiso didn't stop firing his gun.  
  
"Aki...! Give the Hagoromo... back to Aya...!" Toya's voice weakened as he collapsed onto the ground. "Now... only you... can save... Aya."  
  
"All right!" Shiso said as he pointed his gun at Toya's forehead. "You want to die so badly, Toya? Then fine. I was going to let you live in order to lure Aya here--"  
  
Meanwhile: Aogiri Household:  
  
Aya sat where she was, thinking again about what she was going to tell Toya when he came back.  
  
(What's this feeling... uneasiness?) She thought (No... it's because it's been a long time since I spent a night without Toya. And... I'll know for sure when I go to the hospital tomorrow. Toya'll be surprised when he comes back... what should I tell him? How is he going to react to it?)  
  
She then smiled and lay back. (Nah... it's going to be okay. Toya will smile... and he'll say "let's have it". Or maybe he's going to be the happiest man in the world.)  
  
Nagi's Level:  
  
Nagi raced down the hallway following the sounds of the gunshots. Suddenly there was one final shot that somehow seemed to be louder than the rest of them before there was only an ominous silence.  
  
(Please don't let me be too late.) Nagi thought as he ran towards where the sound had come from, fearful of what he might find.  
  
He finally reached an open room and saw Lee standing over the fallen body of Toya with his finger pressed against his hand to check for a pulse. After a minute, he let Toya's hand drop limply. Nagi quickly went to the side of the door, drew his M9, and carefully listened in.  
  
"If that's the end of Toya... then it was far too soon." Lee said as he shook his head. "Dr. Howell won't like this very much, and Mr. Mikage has a very professional attitude towards things like this, but I'll try and explain it to them."  
  
He then looked over at Shiso and noticed what seemed to be a shocked expression on his face.  
  
"I'll take care of getting this cleaned up and getting my hand treated." Lee continued. "Please take a rest in another room, Master..."  
  
The gun then clattered to the ground.  
  
"To...Toya." Aki said as he looked at the body of his friend and then suddenly collapsed to the floor unconscious. Lee immediately rushed to his side to support him.  
  
"Shiso--Aki... Mikage...?" Lee said to himself. "That's impossible!!"  
  
"What's impossible?" Nagi's voice asked from behind. Lee suddenly felt the barrel of Nagi's M9 pressed against the nape of his neck. Nagi had snuck up behind Lee while he had rushed in to support Aki.  
  
Lee tried to turn around but couldn't as if something were holding him in place.  
  
(How could I have been so stupid and let my guard down like that?!) Lee thought as he tried in vain to move. (I should have known Toya would have back up! And how the hell is this guy keeping me from moving?)  
  
"Don't bother struggling." Nagi said as he held Lee in place using telekinesis. "You won't be able to move unless I let you. Now tell me what happened here."  
  
"You really think I'll tell you?" Lee asked.  
  
"After you hear the alternatives, I'm sure you will." Nagi answered. (I just hope he doesn't figure it out that I'm bluffing.)  
  
Storage Level:  
  
"Okay, it's this way." Tot said as she pointed down a corridor to her right.  
  
"Miss Usagi, we've gone that way already." Shota replied. "Are you sure we're not lost?"  
  
"Of course not." Tot assured him as she looked around. "Now I remember, it's this was."  
  
(We are lost.) Shota thought.  
  
After a few minutes, they came to a large double door with an exit sign on the ceiling in front of it.  
  
"You see?" Tot said triumphantly. "I told you to trust a girl's intuition."  
  
(Why do I think that this was just luck?) Shota thought.  
  
"Well, let's get going." Tot said as she opened the door. "I'm sure your sister's worried about you."  
  
"I just hope she's all right too." Shota said. "She's the only family I have left now."  
  
Tot felt a large amount of pity for the boy since she knew what it's like to lose people like family.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine." She said happily. "One of my partners is probably with her."  
  
"Is Yuhi with her too?" Shota asked.  
  
"He is." Tot answered. "Why are you asking?"  
  
"No reason." Shota said smiling a little. "Now I'm sure that sis will be all right."  
  
(I see...) Tot thought. (So he wants those two to get together, eh? Maybe after this I can help them with that.)  
  
"Say, Miss Usagi." Shota spoke. "Are..."  
  
"Look out!" Tot shouted suddenly sensing danger and she pushed Shota aside with one hand while drawing her Muramasa with the other. She quickly brought it up in a defensive position just before a whirring metal object struck it.  
  
The object then whirled back till it came to the hand of a man in his forties with long black hair and appeared to be of Australian descent. He was standing on top of a large crate and had hawk perched on his shoulder.  
  
"So your one of the FOXHOUNDers sent over here." The man said with an Australian accent. "Looks like the Patriots were right about you blokes interfering." He then looked and saw Shota. "Looks like you managed to rescue the hostage. Too bad, looks like we'll have to let the little mite join his family sooner."  
  
As soon as Tot heard this, a shadow seemed to pass over the upper half of her face as she spoke. "Does that mean that you're the one who killed this poor kid's grandparents?" Her tone was a grim one.  
  
"Maybe." The man answered. "Why are you asking? One hostage is more than enough, and killing a few others as an example ensures the captives coopera-."  
  
"SHUT UP!!" Tot shouted and looked at the man angrily. "If there's one thing I don't like, it's people who kill other people's families right in front of them just for the heck of it!" Tot then pointed her katana at the man. "And I'll be the one to clobber you for what you did!"  
  
"I must admit, girl, you've got some spirit." The man replied as he prepared to throw his boomerang. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Slasher Hawk one of Black Arts Viper's most trusted men."  
  
"And I'm Usagi Ninja. Here to take out the garbage." Tot then turned to Shota. "Shota, I think you'd better leave the room and wait until this fight's over. I don't want to risk you getting hurt, okay."  
  
"Sure." Shota greed and then ran to the door that they'd come in from and left the room.  
  
"No more interruptions, rabbit girl." Hawk said with a smile. "Let's see you've got!"  
  
AN: And that's the end of chapter 13! I was originally planning to make this chapter longer but things have been pretty hectic with school and all so be glad that you at least got an update. Don't worry, I'll probably have much more time to write once the finals are over. Anyway a few more things. To Shardclaw, thanks for the attack lists. I can't wait to see them used later on in COE and Soldier X. To GreyWolf4, thanks for the review and I hoped that you liked Shade's brief appearance. Don't worry, he'll make a much bigger one later on, and I'll have Michael show up as soon as I can find a place to introduce him in. To those of you who haven't seen Ceres, and are wondering what was going on between Toya and Shiso, here's a brief explanation of what was going on. Shiso and Aki share the same body and starting in this part of the series, Aki does temporarily regain control of his body from time to time. Think of it as a typical form of possession. Aki being the host and Shiso being the possessor. To those of you who haven't seen Ceres or read the manga and are confused about things, I can send you the manga translations if you e-mail me and ask for them. Well, that's all for now. Please review. 


	14. Chapter 14: Aftermath Part 1

AN: Chapter 14 has arrived and so has summer! I hope you enjoy this update folks.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own anything except for Riku and the story. Need I say more?  
  
Chapter 14: Aftermath Part 1  
  
Police Town:  
  
Riku looked out the window of the chopper being piloted by Yuji Naruo as it landed. He saw that there was a medical team waiting by the launch pad.  
  
"I guess Nanvel must have told Maki about this." Yuji said as he landed the chopper. Then he glanced back at Riku. "How's she doing?"  
  
"I can't say for sure." Riku replied. "I'm just glad we made it to the hospital in time." He glanced at Yuhi and saw him sitting right next to Chidori, his hand holding onto hers. Yuhi's expression was unreadable, but Riku could see that a lot of things were probably running through his mind.  
  
(I'm no psychic but I can tell that Yuhi's obviously worried about Chidori.) Riku thought to himself. (Poor guy; he probably blames himself for what happened, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's starting to realize what he feels for her. If that's the case...he's probably feeling even worse for what happened.) The sound of the side door to the helicopter opening quickly broke his chain of thought.  
  
One of the medics got in and instantly saw where the bandaged wound was.  
  
"Looks like you got here just in time, Yuji. This girl's injury is a pretty nasty one." The medic said and then turned to the other medic. "Alright, let's get this girl to the ER on the double, and hurry, we don't have any time to waste."  
  
"Got it." The other medic replied with a nod. The two of them quickly and carefully laid Chidori onto a stretcher and they quickly ran towards the building.  
  
Riku and Yuhi got out of the helicopter and then Riku turned back to Yuji.  
  
"I've probably said this already, but thanks a lot for the ride, Yuji." He said. "You have no idea how much this helps."  
  
"Don't mention it." Yuji answered and then looked over at Yuhi. "Listen, Riku, I know this is asking a lot, but you should try talking to that guy over there. He's obviously worried for that girl we brought in." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Are they...?"  
  
"I think so." Riku answered. "But by the looks of it, either neither of them has told the other how they feel or they're just starting to realize how they feel for one another." Riku then smiled. "Don't worry, I'll talk to Yuhi. By the way, is there anything else I should do while I'm here?"  
  
"Yeah, when you get the time to, you'd better explain all this to Maki." Yuji replied. "I'm not really one to pry, but if a large conglomerate like the Mikage are doing things that require FOXHOUND's attention, then you should probably let us know what's going on. We might even be able to give you some support from the shadows."  
  
"Sounds like a good idea." Riku replied. "Well, I'll get Yuhi to the lobby and then talk to Maki about the mission, ja ne." And then he walked over to where Yuhi was standing and spoke to him. "I think we'd better head over to the lobby for now and wait until the doctors say it's alright for you to see Chidori."  
  
"Wha...Oh yeah, sure." Yuhi agreed and then he and Riku walked over to the hospital's entrance.  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"Alternatives?" Lee said. "Like what? Don't think torturing me is going to get you anything from me, kid. I've been trained to resist that." He then moved his eyes to the side and then noticed something. "But I suppose I can tell you since this isn't classified information."  
  
"I'm glad to hear that." Nagi replied. "Now tell me and no lies."  
  
"Certainly not. You do know about Aki Mikage's possession by the spirit of the progenitor of the Mikage family, I presume?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, it seems that Master Aki is beginning to regain some control over his body again. It seems Toya's last words had some effect after all; a shame he couldn't live to see it." There was a mocking tone in his reference to Toya.  
  
"Yeah, thanks to you sickos." Nagi said. "Now tell me what is it that makes Aki's regaining control impossible."  
  
"Master Aki's possession is similar to that of when his sister, Aya Mikage transforms into Ceres." Lee answered. "When that happens, it is impossible for the host to regain control."  
  
"Transforms...Ceres..." Nagi said. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"You mean the Aogiris haven't told you?" Lee asked incredulously and then burst out laughing. "Unbelievable! They hire you to rescue a C-Genome and you don't even know anything about them or Ceres!"  
  
"And who is Ceres?"  
  
"Why don't you ask the Aogiris; if they tell you, that is." Lee smirked. "I think it's time for us to end our little conversation for now. Guards!!"  
  
Nagi instantly heard the sounds of the approaching men.  
  
"That was a stupid move, mister." He said to Lee.  
  
"Oh really." Lee replied. "And what are you going to do? Shoot me with that tranquilizer gun?"  
  
"How did you...?" Nagi asked and then he looked to the side and noticed a small mirror on the wall.  
  
"Unlike most, I can tell what sort of weapons my enemies use against me." Lee answered. "You shouldn't have put your gun in my sight."  
  
"Sir!" One of the guards shouted as soon as he arrived. Three more followed and pointed their M4s at Nagi.  
  
"It looks like my men have arrived." Lee said with a smirk and then called out to the guards. "The gun he has isn't dangerous. Shoot the boy if he doesn't do exactly as I tell him."  
  
"Understood." One of the guards shouted as they prepared to fire.  
  
"You sure you want your men to do that?" Nagi asked. "You'll be shot too."  
  
"I'm wearing bulletproof armor under my uniform, and most of the bullets will hit you." Lee replied. "Now, if you don't want to die, lower your weapon and then raise your hands in the air."  
  
Nagi glared at Lee before he slowly put his M9 away and then raised his hands above his head.  
  
"Now release me." Lee commanded.  
  
"Sure." Nagi said and then released his hold on Lee. Suddenly a ball of energy appeared in his right hand. "Psyche Shot!" A loud explosion rocked the room and the guards quickly opened fire.  
  
"Hold your fire men!" Lee shouted as the bullets struck only him. The impacts of the bullets on his armor knocking Lee back a little. He quickly looked around the room and saw that Nagi was gone. He then noticed a large whole in the floor.  
  
(Clever move. That was probably what that kid was planning all along.) Lee thought and then he turned to the five guards. "You, I want you get to the nearest elevator control panel and engage the emergency stop. If that kid is inside it, he'll be trapped. You two, head for the stairs and pursue the boy in case he's using the stairs instead, and the last two will accompany Master Aki and me to the infirmary."  
  
"Yes sir!" All five guards shouted in unison and then attended to their tasks.  
  
(One thing still bothers me.) Lee thought as he lifted Aki's unconscious form onto his shoulder. (That boy's power was definitely not that of a C-Genome; whatever he is, he has a good chance of being a major threat.)  
  
Meanwhile: Storage Level of the Building:  
  
"Well, little girl, shall we begin our fight?" Hawk asked as he prepared to throw his boomerang at Tot.  
  
"I have a couple of questions first." Tot replied. "First, what do the Patriots have to do with this whole thing? Does that scumbag Kagami work for them?"  
  
"Ah, so you remember my little mention of my employers, eh?" Hawk said. "Well, to answer your question, I'm afraid Kagami has decided to betray the Patriots and after all they did for him. How's that for ungrateful?"  
  
"You mean he's not with the Patriots?"  
  
"No he isn't, not any longer anyway. You see, Kagami's plan for C- Project is quite different from that of the Patriots' plans for it."  
  
"And what are their plans?" Tot asked while thinking to herself. (So Kagami used to work for the Patriots, then he turned against the Patriots because his plans were different, and since the Patriots also had different plans they're turning against Kagami, but Kagami was already against them so that would mean...Arrgh! This whole thing is making my head hurt! I'll just explain all this to Nagi and Riku and see if they can make any sense out of this.)  
  
"If you want to know...BEAT ME!!" And then Hawk threw his boomerang at Tot.  
  
"Ha! Too easy!" Tot shouted as she brought up her Muramasa in a defensive position. The boomerang struck the sword before spinning back to its thrower. Tot then prepared to attack before Hawk could get his weapon back. "Dodge this! Water Snake!" She then swung her sword downward sending a snake-like water apparition directly at her opponent.  
  
Hawk quickly caught the boomerang and tried to leap out of the way, only to have the snake strike his shoulder. Hawk gave a yelp of pain before he threw the boomerang again. As Tot brought up her sword in a defensive position, Hawk reached to his side, pulled out a pistol, and fired it.  
  
As the boomerang struck the blade, Tot used her free hand to grab the scabbard of her sword and she quickly swung it in the direction of the incoming bullet, effectively countering the shot.  
  
"Gosh that was a close one." Tot said as she put the scabbard back and she looked at Hawk. "Alright mister, I'm going to give you this one chance to surrender. If you don't, then prepare to be beaten by my secret weapon!"  
  
"You've certainly got a lot of nerve asking me to give up now, missy." Hawk replied. "We haven't even gotten started yet."  
  
"Are you kidding?" Tot asked. "From what I've seen, the only thing you can do is throw your weapon at people and then shoot them while their guard is down. Not only is that a dirty trick, it's so easy to see through. You're not only ugly; you're disappointing too. Oh well, I guess that's what's to be expected from a common murderer like you."  
  
"You little bitch!" Hawk shouted angrily. "Fine, if you're so confident, let's see you try this!" He then threw the boomerang again, and as soon as he threw it, Hawk took out another boomerang and threw it. He then drew his pistol and prepared to fire it.  
  
Tot just looked at the incoming boomerangs as they approached her and quickly sidestepped from the first one. She then concentrated and swung her blade at the incoming boomerang. "Mizuchi!" The force of the slash quickly combined with the moisture in the air and instantly sliced the boomerang in half. The two halves of the boomerang whizzed harmlessly passed Tot, missing her by a few inches, before striking the floor behind her.  
  
Hawk quickly pointed his gun at Tot, but she had already anticipated this and, using her free hand, she drew out a large beak-like metallic device attached to a chain and ball. She then threw it at Hawk as hard as she could. "Rabbit's Feet!"  
  
Hawk's breath was knocked out of him as the head of Tot's new weapon struck him hard in the stomach, causing him to drop his gun. Suddenly the device's beak-like jaws opened and then closed around Hawk's right arm. Before Hawk could react, the device's chain-link suddenly seemed to come to life and then quickly wrapped itself around its new captive, trapping him.  
  
Tot then yanked the chain forward, pulling the now trapped Hawk towards her and then quickly drew out her sword and yelled, "Rabbit's Tail!" Striking Hawk with a vertical and then upward slash, which sent him flying back a few feet where he landed onto the ground unconscious.  
  
"Looks like I win!" Tot said cheerfully as she flashed the victory sign. (Who would have thought that madogu that Riku's Uncle Domon gave me would've come in handy?)  
  
Flashback: 1 Month Earlier:  
  
"Nagi, Tot, I'd like to introduce you to my uncle Domon Ishijima." Riku said, indicating a large man in his thirties. He was wearing a white t- shirt and black pants, had black hair, which was brought into a mowhawk hairdo and he also had a nose ring on.  
  
Riku, Nagi, and Tot were in a house in old Tokyo to visit two of his relatives; Domon Ishijima and his wife Aki Ishijima.  
  
"Great to meet both of you." Domon said as he shook their hands. "Recca and Yang have told me a lot about you two."  
  
"Pleased to meet you Mr. Ishijima." Tot said happily.  
  
"Likewise." Nagi added with a friendly smile.  
  
"Please just call me Domon. You're friends of Riku's after all." Domon replied and then turned to Riku. "So what did you come here for anyway? Knowing you, you're probably here on FOXHOUND business, right?"  
  
"Sort of." Riku replied. "You see, Nagi and I have special abilities, but Tot doesn't; so we came to get something that could help her make up for it."  
  
"Oh, so you're here for one of our madogu for your friend to use." Domon said. "Alright, I'd better talk to Aki about this first. After all, her Kotodama (Spirit of Words) is one of her most precious possessions."  
  
"Uncle Domon, we're not here for the Kotodama." Riku corrected. "We're here for the Kuchibashio (Beak King) madogu."  
  
There were a few minutes of silence until Domon spoke. "Why do you need that madogu?"  
  
"Do I really have to repeat myself?" Riku asked. "Look, uncle, I know that technically it's your memento to the Urabutosatsujin Tournament so I promise that Tot will take good care of it. How's that?"  
  
"Are you sure that you need that one?" Domon asked. "I mean..."  
  
"So it's alright for me to give up my madogu, but not yours?" A new voice asked.  
  
They all turned and saw a woman in her thirties with short blue hair enter the room. She was looking at Domon with a peeved look on her face.  
  
"Wait it isn't what you think, dear." Domon said sheepishly while rubbing his head.  
  
"Oh really." The woman said skeptically and then turned to Riku. "So, Riku, aren't you going to introduce me to your partners?"  
  
"Oh yeah, sorry Aunt Aki." Riku answered and then turned to Nagi and Tot. "This is my aunt Aki; she's Uncle Domon's wife."  
  
"I've heard quite a lot from you from, Kurei, Neon, and Recca." Aki said and then smiled. "Just by looking at the three of you, it's obvious that you make a good team."  
  
"You really think so?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Kid, when you've been part of a team like the Uruha, you learn these things." Aki answered. "I remember all the things my sisters, Neon and Miki, and I did back then like they were yesterday. The good and the bad." She then paused. "But that's a story for another time. Now let's get back to the present subject." She then turned to Domon. "Dear, I think you and I should have a little talk about this, privately."  
  
Domon reluctantly followed his wife out of the room. A few minutes passed before they heard Domon shout again.  
  
"No!" He screamed, almost in fear. "You wouldn't!"  
  
Riku and Nagi sweat dropped at hearing Domon's cry.  
  
"What do you think happened?" Tot asked curiously.  
  
Riku smiled and was obviously trying not to laugh.  
  
"Aunt Aki probably threatened to do something...or should I say 'not do something'?" He said with a grin.  
  
"What do you mean?" Tot asked, not understanding.  
  
"Do you really want to know?" Riku asked slyly.  
  
Tot immediately recognized Riku's tone of voice.  
  
"On second thought, maybe I should ask Nagi instead." She said.  
  
"By all means do." Riku replied and turned to Nagi. "Well, explain away Nagi."  
  
"Why do you always, have me explain stuff like this to Tot?" Nagi asked, blushing furiously.  
  
"You're her boyfriend." Riku answered. "And besides, you two will probably be getting to all of that sooner or later."  
  
"That isn't a good enough reason!" Nagi shouted.  
  
"You aren't by any chance making any dirty remarks about Nagi and me are you?" Tot spoke suddenly, brandishing her harisen threateningly at Riku.  
  
"Oh no, it isn't about the two of you." Riku replied with a nervous smile then his eyes strayed to the side and saw Domon and Aki reenter the room. Domon was carrying a large beak-like item with a long chain and ball attached to it.  
  
"This is the Kuchibashio madogu." Domon said and then made as if to hand it to Tot before suddenly looking at his old weapon mournfully. "It seems after all these years it's time for us to part ways, my old friend. I'll never forget all those times you saved my ass in tough situations, farewell."  
  
Everyone else in the room sweat dropped until Aki spoke.  
  
"Um, dear..." She said. "I think it's time you realized that thing isn't a person."  
  
"I know that!" Domon replied. "But if weren't for this, I would have lost that match with Minamio."  
  
"Uncle, you did lose that match." Riku spoke. "It was a double knock out."  
  
"He hit the ground first!" Domon shouted in reply.  
  
"Yeah, but you still lost." Aki reminded him causing Domon to fall over (anime style).  
  
"Why is everyone picking on me today?" Domon asked no one in particular. "Not even my wife is on my side."  
  
"Cheer up Domon." Aki said as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Besides, aren't our memories mementos enough for that tournament?"  
  
Domon looked over at Aki and then smiled slyly at her. "You know dear, you're right. In fact, I remember the start of our match like it was yesterday and I must say that you're illusion was very accurate."  
  
Aki blushed furiously. "Domon, not in front of the children!"  
  
"What are they talking about?" Nagi asked.  
  
"Oh about how Aunt Aki started her fight with Uncle Domon way back then." Riku answered. "You see, her Kotodama madogu can create illusions and the illusion that she created at the start was..."  
  
"Riku..." Aki said threateningly appearing behind her nephew. "If you tell them you'll see first hand what the Kotodama can really do!"  
  
"Actually, it wasn't anything at all." Riku finished hastily and then turned to Domon. "So uncle, can we have the madogu?"  
  
"Alright." Domon replied and handed the Kuchibashio to Tot. "Just promise you'll take good care of it."  
  
"Okay." Tot said. "You can count on me. Mr. Ishijima."  
  
"Please call me Domon. You make me sound like an old man or something." Domon pleaded.  
  
"Okay Mr...I mean Domon." Tot replied.  
  
End Flashback.  
  
(Ack! What am I doing spacing out like this?) Tot thought and then looked at the unconscious Hawk who was still wrapped up in Kuchibashio's chains. "First things first, I need to get some more information from the bad guy." She then walked over to her unconscious opponent with her Muramasa drawn and sweat dropped when she saw that he was asleep. "Better wake him up first."  
  
Meanwhile: Police Town:  
  
"And that's pretty much all that's happened, Maki." Riku finished. He was sitting in an office in front of one of his friends, Maki Kawasaki, a tall woman with short blue hair and round tinted glasses. She was wearing her typical green, skintight uniform.  
  
"A large conglomerate like the Mikage family funding human experiments." Maki shook her head after hearing Riku's story. "Well, I guess that's what we can expect from a group being supported by the Patriots. If you want, we can give you some support."  
  
"That would be very much appreciated." Riku replied. "But could you make the support from the shadows for now?"  
  
"Alright." Maki said. "But why from the shadows?"  
  
"There are various reasons. First of all, the Mikage have some of the police under their payroll and if you guys give me support in broad daylight, there's a chance they might come after you to get to me, and I couldn't live with myself if any of you guys got injured on my account; not to mention that Greg would probably kick my ass for that too."  
  
"I appreciate your concern, Riku, but I think we can handle a few hit men." Maki then smiled a little. "But I guess you know what you're doing, so I'll make sure that Warrior helps you from the shadows, and if worse comes to worse I assume you're going to have your family from the Uruha give you some assistance."  
  
"You read my mind, Maki."  
  
"Fine, I guess if your uncle Kurei and his group are backing you up you don't have very much to worry about." Maki smiled as she remembered meeting the Uruha along with Greg, Linn, Rio, and Lilica.  
  
Flashback: 1 Year and a half Earlier:  
  
Greg, Linn, Rio, Lilica, and Maki stood in front of the Uruha mansion with Riku in the lead.  
  
"Welcome to the Uruha mansion." Riku said with a smile. "It's not very much, but my uncle Kurei and the rest of the Uruha call it home."  
  
Everyone except for Maki was gaping at the large mansion in front of them. Finally, Rio spoke.  
  
"Not much!" She exclaimed and then looked at Riku. "Riku, most of the other mansions I've seen look like regular houses compared to this! You never told me that your family was loaded like this!"  
  
"Actually, it's my uncle's side of the family with the big money." Riku corrected.  
  
"Forget which side of the family has it, just how big is this place?" Greg asked.  
  
"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure." Riku answered, rubbing the back of his head, causing everyone's eyes to widen considerably at that.  
  
"Just how many rooms does this house have?" Lilica asked as she looked at the mansion.  
  
"Good question." Riku answered and then put a hand to his chin to ponder just how many rooms were in the house.  
  
"You mean you don't know?" Linn asked.  
  
"Well, I guess around fifty..." Riku replied.  
  
"Fifty?!" Linn shouted. "That's like a small village!"  
  
"Well this was the Uruha's base of operations." Riku said. "So they'd need a lot of space."  
  
"Man, I'd hate to be the one who cleans the place." Rio said and then turned to Maki. "Hey Maki, is it just me or are you the only one who isn't surprised about this?"  
  
"Yeah." Greg agreed. "Don't tell me you were expecting something like this?"  
  
"Well, Riku did say that this was a mansion." Maki replied with a shrug causing everyone to sweat drop. She then turned to Riku. "So are you going to introduce us to your family yet?"  
  
"Of course." Riku answered and then paused before knocking. "By the way, where's the rest of Team Warrior?"  
  
"I'm afraid the others couldn't make it." Lilica answered. "Maya's taken a short vacation to visit her family and Nanvel's working on some new gadget."  
  
"And Yuji?" Riku asked.  
  
"We had to leave him back at Police Town to call us if anything came up." Rio replied. "Too bad he's missing out on meeting the infamous Uruha assassin group."  
  
"Retired assassin group." A new woman's voice corrected.  
  
Everyone turned and saw a red haired, and obviously pregnant, woman in her forties standing at the door.  
  
"Aunt Neon." Riku said as soon as he saw her. He then walked up to her and embraced her and afterwards spoke. "Great to see you, but are you sure you should be up and about? I mean..."  
  
"Riku, after not visiting for almost a whole year, you'd better have more to say than that." Neon replied. "And besides, the baby isn't due for a few more months."  
"Sorry about that." Riku replied. "But I've been doing a ton of missions for FOXHOUND lately."  
  
"That's all right, but you should at least call us from time to time."  
  
"Alright Aunt Neon, I will." Riku promised. (Sheesh, she's starting to sound like a mom already.) "Oh yeah I should introduce you." Then he turned back to Greg and co. "Guys, this my aunt Neon, one of the members of the Uruha, the leader of Uruha Sound, and my uncle Kurei's wife." He then turned to Neon and gestured to each person as he spoke. "Aunt Neon, these two are Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki; two friends of mine from FOXHOUND, and over here are Rio Kinezono, Lilica Ebett, and Maki Kawasaki; members of Team Warrior and Greg's foster family."  
  
"Pleased to meet you." Neon said as she shook each of their hands. "My nephew's told us a lot about you guys."  
  
"Well that's good to hear." Greg replied. "So is your husband around?"  
  
"Of course." Neon answered. "Follow me, I'll take you to him."  
  
Later:  
  
"I am pleased to meet you, Gregory Kinezono and Linn Aramaki." Kurei said as he shook their hands. "It's also a pleasure to meet some of the members of the famous Team Warrior."  
  
"I bet Riku's told you a lot about us, huh?" Rio asked.  
  
"Indeed." Kurei answered and then he turned to Greg. "So you're the famous psychic soldier for the new FOXHOUND. I can tell just from your appearance that you're a strong fighter."  
  
"I can say the same about you too." Greg replied with a friendly grin. "Riku told me that you and his father were his primary senseis, so I'm pretty interested in how strong you are. Also, one of my senseis told me that, from what he saw at the Urabutosatsujin tournament, you were a very formidable fighter."  
  
"Really? Was this one a participant?"  
  
"No, actually he was a spectator. The guy who ran that tournament invited him to his mansion as one of his honored guests."  
  
"Oh I see, a friend of Koran Mori's I presume." There was a note of extreme hatred as he said the man's name.  
  
"Not really. My sensei didn't really care all that much for the man, he was more interested in the tournament itself." Greg replied. "I take it this Mori guy wasn't on your list of favorite people."  
  
"No, he wasn't."  
  
"Or anyone else's for that matter." Riku added. "Koran Mori was a heartless bastard who had no regard for human life whatsoever. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some connections to the Patriots while he was still alive."  
  
"Your theory might actually be correct, Riku." Kurei said. "Ever since Solid Snake told us about them, I've been investigating Mori's operations when he was still alive, both finished and unfinished, and it seems that he may have actually had a great deal of support from the Patriots. But enough about that for now." He then turned back to Greg. "Could you tell me who this sensei of yours is?"  
  
"Have you ever heard of Geese Howard?" Greg asked in reply. This question caused even Kurei's eyes to widen from surprise.  
  
"You mean the infamous crime leader of South Town!?" Riku asked. "You actually know that guy?"  
  
"From how you're reacting, I guess you know about his reputation, huh?" Greg replied. "That's the reason I haven't mentioned him to you or anyone else."  
  
"No kidding." Riku said. "From what I've heard about him." Riku paused and shuddered. "Are you sure he's trustworthy?"  
  
"To a certain point." Greg answered and then looked at Kurei. "You seem to know him."  
  
"I've met the man a few times." Kurei answered. "All when I was doing some job for Mori. Quite a fearsome fellow really." Then he smirked. "That one was one of the few people that Mori was actually afraid of. He probably invited Geese to the tournament because he was afraid that he'd take offense to not being invited. Well, that answers my question. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"  
  
"I was wondering if you'd like to have a little sparring match with me sometime." Greg replied. "It would be pretty interesting to fight one Riku's senseis."  
  
"Certainly." Kurei answered. "After what I've heard from Riku, I think it would be a pleasure as well as an honor to fight you."  
  
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Greg said. "You're flame's purple and Riku and his father's flame is red, right?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"I was wondering...Are you guys any relation to the Kusanagi or Yasakani clan?"  
  
"I don't think so, but then again I don't know much about the Hokage clan's history. Kagero might know something about that."  
  
"Who's Kagero?" Linn asked.  
  
"My grandmother." Riku answered. "While I doubt we're any relation to Kyo or Iori, I'll ask about it. Grandma should know; she's over 400 years old or so..."  
  
"Nani!!" Everyone, minus Riku and Kurei shouted in surprise.  
  
"Y-you're joking right?" Rio asked.  
  
"Nope." Riku answered simply.  
  
"Riku, it's impossible for someone to live for that long." Lilica said.  
  
"Oh there are ways to live for quite a long time." Riku replied. "But I'll tell you about my grandma's case some other time." He then turned to Maki. "By the way Maki, didn't you have something you wanted to discuss with my uncle?"  
  
"Yes, but I'm afraid this will have to be a private conversation between Warrior and the leader of the Uruha, so could you, Greg, and Linn please leave the room." Maki replied.  
  
"Hold on, Aunt Maki, why does this have to be private?" Greg asked.  
  
"I have my reasons, Greg." Maki answered. "I've also talked this over with Rio and the rest of Warrior, and it would be best if you didn't know about what we need to talk to Kurei about, at least for now."  
  
"Oh alright." Greg said reluctantly. "But, you'd better tell me about this sooner or later."  
  
"Let's try not to worry about it, for now." Riku said. "Come on, I'll introduce you and Linn to the rest of the Uruha while these guys are talking and then maybe we can train using the VR simulators here."  
  
"You have VR simulators here!" Linn shouted in surprise. "Riku just how rich is your uncle?"  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know that either." Riku answered and then turned to Kurei. "Hey uncle, just how much money did you inherit from Mori after you killed him?"  
  
"Quite a lot." Kurei replied. "Somewhere in the billions I think." He then looked at Riku sharply. "Don't even think about it Riku, the money's just fine where it is."  
  
"But I've never been rich before, uncle." Riku said wistfully.  
  
"Then you won't really miss it, will you?"  
  
"You're a hard man, uncle." Riku said dramatically. "To leave your poor nephew sunk in deprivation like this." Then he shook his head. "Oh well, I suppose if I had more money than I knew what to do with, things would be too dull." He turned to Greg and Linn. "Alright, I'll introduce you to my two aunts, Miki and Aki, first. They're probably with Aunt Neon right now."  
  
They then left the room. As soon as the door closed, Kurei turned to his right and spoke.  
  
"Raiha, Joker, you can come out now." He said.  
  
As soon as he said this, Joker appeared, this time wearing casual clothes and a cap that hid most of his face, along with a man in his forties with long dark hair. The man was dressed in a traditional ninja garb and had a katana strapped to his back.  
  
"I take it these are your men." Maki said as soon as she saw them.  
  
"My most trusted." Kurei replied. "As well as two of my oldest friends. Both of them are members of the Uruha."  
  
"Sheesh, I didn't even sense those guys until they appeared." Rio said and then looked at Joker and the ninja. "You guys must be pretty skilled."  
  
"Thank you, Miss Kinezono." The ninja said politely.  
  
"Man, who'd have thought Riku would know women this sexy?" Joker said with a grin. "Man, am I jealous."  
  
"Joker, if Menou could hear you now..." The ninja said with a smile.  
  
"You wouldn't!" Joker shouted.  
  
"Excuse me." Lilica said. "But could you two please introduce yourselves?"  
  
"Oh yeah, sorry." The ninja replied. "My name's Raiha, one of Riku's tutors in martial arts."  
  
"Not to mention Kurei's right hand man." Joker added. "I'm Joker, another one of Riku's tutors in martial arts."  
  
"Pleased to meet you." Maki replied as she shook their hands.  
  
After introductions had been exchanged, Kurei looked at Maki.  
  
"So what was it that you wished to discuss with me, Miss Kawasaki?" He asked.  
  
"This involves both Greg and Riku." Maki answered. "Team Warrior and the Uruha have two things in common; one we aid FOXHOUND and Philanthropy in combating the Patriots' operations from time to time and two is that we have family in FOXHOUND."  
  
"I assume that what you want is for us to make some agreement concerning our respective students, am I correct?" Kurei asked.  
  
"Precisely. You see, while none of us at Warrior have any doubts that Greg can take care of himself, and I assume that it is the same with the Uruha to Riku, I have a feeling that there may come a time when they, and quite possibly all of FOXHOUND, could get in over their heads."  
  
"I see where you're getting at." Raiha replied and then turned to Kurei. "I think we really should consider what they're saying, Kurei-sama."  
  
"Let's wait until they finish." Kurei replied and turned back to Maki. "Please continue."  
  
"I believe that we should make an agreement that says that, should the need arise, we'll come to Greg and Riku's aid and you and your group will do the same for both." Maki said. "What do you say?"  
  
A few minutes of silence as Kurei considered what Maki had told him and then he spoke.  
  
"Very well, I accept your agreement." He said and then stood up. "I, Kurei, upon my honor as leader of Uruha and member of the Hokage ninja clan, swear that I shall lend you the full support of Uruha if the need should arise."  
  
"Gosh, you ninjas sure can be dramatic." Rio said. "But I'm glad to have your support."  
  
"If you want, we can sign a contract for you written in blood." Joker suggested.  
  
"What?! No!!" Rio and Lilica shouted at the same time, both creeped out at the thought.  
  
"Only joking." Joker said with a snicker.  
  
"That wasn't funny." Rio complained.  
  
"Oh one more thing." Kurei spoke. "I think it would be best if you talked with my younger brother, Recca, and his wife, Yanagi. They have connections that I don't."  
  
"Actually, I've talked with them already." Rio spoke. "So far we've gotten the assurance that the Hokage team and Team Ku will give assistance in case of need."  
  
"I doubt my big brother or Riku will be glad to hear about this when we eventually tell them." Lilica said. "But this is for their own good."  
  
"No one really said they had to like it." Joker said with a shrug and he turned to Kurei. "Yo Kurei, shouldn't we tell Neon and her sisters about this?"  
  
"Of course." Kurei replied. "Is there anything more that you wish to discuss?"  
  
"I think that will be all for now." Maki replied. "But I think a tour of the mansion would be nice."  
  
"Of course."  
  
End Flashback...  
  
Present:  
  
"Hey Maki." Riku's voice instantly brought Maki back to the present.  
  
"Sorry." She said. "Just reminiscing a little."  
  
"Probably about when I introduced you guys to my family from the Uruha." Riku replied. "Someday, you'd better tell me what it was you and Uncle Kurei were talking about back then. Anyway, is there anything else you want me to tell you?"  
  
"Yes. Did your grandmother find out if you're related to Kyo or Iori?"  
  
"Oh yeah, that. No, there's no relation. The Hokage clan did have a few interactions with the Kusanagi and Yasakani clans a long time ago but nothing big. As far as Grandma can tell, the flames are just a coincidence. Anything else?"  
  
"Not for now, you can go."  
  
Just before Riku's hand touched the doorknob, Maki called out to him.  
  
"One last thing." She said causing Riku to turn around. "Good luck with the rest of your mission."  
  
"Thanks, Maki." Riku smiled and then left the room.  
  
Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
Nagi was a little surprised when the elevator that he was in suddenly stopped moving. He looked and saw that the emergency stop icon was flashing.  
  
"Not a bad move." Nagi said. "In normal cases, this would have worked, but in my case..."  
  
Nagi then focused on his powers and the elevator creaked a little before it started to move again.  
  
"It wasn't very affective." Nagi finished as he concentrated on moving the elevator down steadily with his mind.  
  
After a few minutes, the elevator reached the floor with the storage facility. Nagi then opened the doors using telekinesis and then stepped out of the elevator. As soon as he had done this, Nagi released his hold on the elevator, and as soon as that happened, the elevator plummeted down until it reached the bottom floor with a loud crash.  
  
"I wonder how much all the damage we've caused will cost that bastard Kagami." Nagi wondered with a smile. "Like the saying goes, 'If you really want to hurt someone, attack their wallet'."  
  
He turned around and then noticed five possible corridors to take.  
  
(Now which way did Tot go?) Nagi wondered. (Oh well, I guess there's nothing to do but try each corridor until I find her and Shota. I hope they're not lost.)  
  
Meanwhile: Storage Room:  
  
The first thing Hawk heard as he came to was Tot's voice.  
  
"Okay, mister, time to start answering some of my questions." Tot said.  
  
Hawk noticed that he wasn't bound up by chains but instead had Muramasa's point against his throat.  
  
"Well, are you going to tell me what I want to know?" Tot asked.  
  
"Maybe." Hawk answered. "First tell me this: Can you FOXHOUND people offer me protection in exchange for whatever information I offer?"  
  
"Maybe." Tot replied.  
  
"Maybe is better than nothing." Hawk said. "Fine, I'll answer whatever questions that you and your mates have for me." The he grinned at Tot. "Heh. I'm not stupid enough to let myself be tortured or killed for a job. Only fools do that."  
  
"Fine." Tot didn't bother to hide her disgust at the man's disloyalties. "First tell me what Kagami's plans are."  
  
"Kagami's plans are to use the C-Genomes to create a new race of man." Hawk replied. "He believes that some catastrophe like Second Impact will happen sometime and he plans on populating the planet with these new humans immediately afterwards. I don't know how exactly he plans to protect himself from this catastrophe, but I believe that the main base for C- Project has a shelter for that."  
  
"The main base?" Tot asked.  
  
"Don't tell me you thought everything was done here?" Hawk replied. "They only test the Genomes' here. Their base is where the Genomes are kept."  
  
"And where is the base?"  
  
"It's on an island not too far from Japan. The original was in Japan, but Kagami decided to move it to an island privately owned by the Mikage." Hawk smiled before continuing. "If you guys are planning on trying to infiltrate the place, then you're bound for failure their. While this building has pathetic security, the main base doesn't. The ones guarding the base are expert mercenaries. Not only that, there are a few Metal Gear RAYs that patrol the waters around the island day and night."  
  
"I thought they were all destroyed during the Big Shell incident." Tot said.  
  
"The Mikage picked up the wreckage of some of the mass produced models from that incident and rebuilt them." Hawk explained. "It was quite easy for them since they had worked on developing Metal Gears before."  
  
(Oh great, now we're going to have to deal with Metal Gears now.) Tot thought before speaking to Hawk. "What about the Patriots' plans for all of this? What are they?"  
  
"They're quite different from Kagami's plans." Hawk answered. "They're planning on using whatever data that C-Project produces plus the Genome embryos to..."  
  
"Genome embryos?" Tot asked.  
  
"Every C-Genome that has been captured is impregnated with a certain embryo to ensure that a stronger C-Genome is produced." Hawk explained.  
  
(That must have been that surgery they were planning for Chidori.) Tot thought. (Just when I think these Mikage people can't get any worse...)  
  
"So what does all this have to do with the Patriots' plans?" She asked.  
  
"In a couple of years, the Patriots are planning to..." Suddenly Hawk shrieked as if something were causing him tremendous pain and clutched his head. "Aaarrrgghh!! They...I see so that's..." Hawk screamed again and then fell to the floor in convulsions.  
  
"Hey what's..." Tot wasn't sure what to do.  
  
Suddenly the screams ceased and then Hawk stood up. Tot could see that his eyes were completely vacant.  
  
Hawk suddenly dashed towards the gun he had dropped earlier, grabbed it, and then pointed it at his head.  
  
"Question me now." Hawk said, his voice without any emotion in it, and then pulled the trigger.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
On a higher floor of the building, Schuldich watched as Hawk's corpse fell on the screen of his laptop computer. He had used the little knowledge he had of computer hacking to get into the Mikage Intl HQ's security system and was able to get a view of whatever went on inside the building.  
  
"A good thing I used my powers and stopped our little bird from singing." Schuldich said with a grin. "Too bad we weren't able to see any of Nagi's new strength yet, but there's plenty of time for that I suppose." He then turned off his laptop. "Now to start my part in this little charade. I've already manipulated the minds of the surviving personnel into saying what I need for them to say. All I need to do now is persuade Kagami to bring Crawford back to Japan and then we can start provoking his attacks against FOXHOUND so the Patriots can take over C-Project for themselves."  
  
He then got up and left the room.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Nagi instantly heard the gunshot and then turned and ran in the direction that it had come from. He soon reached the door and found Shota standing in front of the door.  
  
"Where's T-I mean Usagi?" He asked.  
  
"She's inside..." Shota began.  
  
"Stay here." Nagi said and then shoved the door open, fearful of what he'd find.  
  
He saw Tot standing a few feet away from him, standing in front of the body of a man he didn't recognize.  
  
"Usagi, are you alright?" Nagi asked, causing Tot to turn around. She immediately ran to Nagi and then threw her arms around him. Nagi could immediately tell from the way that she was trembling from shock that something was wrong. "What happened?"  
  
"I-I don't know." Tot replied holding onto Nagi tighter. "I started to ask him a few questions and then suddenly he..." Tot couldn't finish.  
  
"Don't worry, Tot." Nagi assured her, not bothering with the codenames. "I'm here, don't worry."  
  
It took her a few minutes to calm down, then Tot let go of Nagi and looked at him.  
  
"Nagi, I...I'm sorry for breaking down like that." She said. "I shouldn't have done that in the middle of a mission."  
  
"Tot, it's alright." Nagi replied. "It's your first mission and these things can happen. You shouldn't..."  
  
"I know that Nagi, but..." Tot paused for a minute. "It's just that I don't want to drag you and Riku behind by being a burden like..."  
  
"Tot, you're not a burden." Nagi said. "You're anything but a burden, especially to me. Tot..."  
  
"Nanami." Tot said suddenly.  
  
"Nanami?" Nagi asked, confused.  
  
"That's my real name. Nanami Hibino." Tot/Nanami replied. "After I joined Schrient, I more or less forgot my name, so everyone just called me Tot. A month ago, I started to remember parts of my life before I joined Schrient and that was one of them."  
  
"Nanami. That's a pretty name, you know." Nagi said. "Are you sure you're alright, Nanami?"  
  
"Yes." Tot/Nanami answered and then she smiled at Nagi. "It feels good to hear you call me that, you know." She then threw her arms around Nagi and kissed him.  
  
"Wait, N-Nanami! We're still in the middle of a mission!" Nagi said, blushing a little.  
  
"Oh yeah, sorry." Tot/Nanami said with a cheerful smile and she let go of Nagi.  
  
(Looks like she's back to her cheerful old self.) Nagi thought. "So um...Nanami, do you want me to call you that from now on or..."  
  
"You can call me whichever you want, Nagi." Tot/Nanami replied. "But I guess I'd feel more comfortable if it was just you or Riku who called me Nanami for now."  
  
"Alright." Nagi said. "Well, I guess we should get Shota and head outside now. Those mercs from the Aogiris are probably waiting for us."  
  
As soon as they opened the door and let Shota in, he looked at Nagi.  
  
"Where's Dr. Kiritani?" He asked.  
  
There was a sudden look of sadness in Nagi's eyes that quickly passed before he spoke.  
  
"Let's get outside first." He said.  
  
Tot immediately knew from the look in Nagi's eyes what had happened.  
  
(Poor Aya...) She thought regretfully. She then noticed Hawk's hawk had landed onto the chest of its dead master and was pecking at the corpse as if to check to see if Hawk was really dead. (But what was it that happened to that man?)  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Kagami Mikage was not having a very good day at all. He had just finished listening to the reports of one of his guards.  
  
"So they're withdrawing?" He asked.  
  
"It seems that way." The guard replied. "Also we've found Asamu. He's suffered from quite a lot of strange injuries, but he should survive."  
  
"I'll await his report then." Kagami replied. "And what is the status of the other guardinals?"  
  
"Lee has just gotten an injury to his hand treated, but it seems he can still fight, Schuldich and Viper are making sure that the Aogiris' men are gone, we've lost contact with Hawk..."  
  
"And Bison?"  
  
"We found him, or what's left of him."  
  
"You mean he's dead?"  
  
"I'm afraid so, sir." The guard answered. "We're still trying to determine the cause of death, but all evidence seems to point that the Aogiris might have a C-Genome that can use control fire or heat."  
  
"Please explain."  
  
"Of course. To begin with, the wounds on Asamu consist of a bullet wound to the arm, multiple bruises, and multiple burns; also, Bison's remains have been scorched almost beyond recognition."  
  
Kagami was silent for a few minutes before speaking.  
  
"Have we been able to track the chopper from before?" He asked.  
  
"Yes sir." The guard answered. "It appears to have landed in Police Town."  
  
"Police Town? So it appears the Aogiris do have connections to the police after all. Is there anything else to report?"  
  
"According to our sniper and the pilot of our chopper, the chopper in question was carrying our recently stolen C-Genome. Shall I send some of our men to Police Town?"  
  
"Yes and Lee shall be in command of them. Tell them that they are to recapture Chidori Kuruma and this new C-Genome that killed Bison."  
  
"It shall be done, sir." The guard replied.  
  
Meanwhile: Police Town:  
  
Yuji Naruo looked at the bullet hole in the side of his chopper. There was something about it that bothered him.  
  
(I don't know why, but there was something wrong in the way that sniper shot at us.) Yuji thought as he took out a pair of pliers and began to pull out the bullet. After a few minutes of pulling, the bullet came out and as soon as it did Yuji saw that the bottom end of the bullet was flashing. (I'd better take this to Nanvel.)  
  
A few minutes later Yuji was showing the strange bullet to Nanvel.  
  
"Well, what is it?" Yuji asked.  
  
"Yuji, you'd better warn Riku quick." Nanvel answered. "That sniper missed you intentionally. The flashing thing is a tracking device."  
  
Meanwhile: Police Town Hospital:  
  
Riku walked over to where Yuhi was sitting and then spoke to him.  
  
"Hey, Yuhi, I've talked with the doctors and they say that Chidori's going to be fine." He said. "They even say she'll be able to have visitors in a few minutes so..."  
  
"I don't have the right to speak to her." Yuhi said miserably.  
  
"What?" Riku asked. "Look Yuhi, if it's about what happened then don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault and it could've happened to anyone. I don't mean sound all preachy and all, but you shouldn't keep attacking yourself for what happened in the past. Nothing good will come of it."  
  
"It's not just that." Yuhi replied. "It's because of what's happened before between Chidori and me up until now. Damn it! How could I have been so stupid, so blind?!"  
  
"What do you mean?" Riku asked.  
  
"I...I'm not sure if I want to talk about it, at least not here." Yuhi answered.  
  
"No problem, just use your codec and we'll use nanocommunication so no one can listen in." Riku then noticed Yuhi's reluctance. "I won't force you, man, but I think you should talk to someone about this."  
  
"Alright." Yuhi said and then activated his codec and turned off the monitor. A few minutes later, Riku's face appeared on screen.  
  
"So can you tell me what you meant earlier?" Riku asked.  
  
"Alright...Before meeting Chidori, I fell in love with someone else." Yuhi answered. "That one was Aya. Look, I know she's with Toya now and I've come to terms with that, but beforehand I tried getting Aya to fall in love with me, but it was obvious that the one she loved was Toya and she'd only see me as a friend. I still kept trying though. And then Chidori showed up..." Yuhi stopped talking for a moment.  
  
"So what happened?" Riku asked.  
  
"She sort of developed a crush on me and started flirting with me." Yuhi almost smiled as he remembered. "Back then I thought she was being annoying that way but...well, after a while that stopped and we usually argued a lot. Then suddenly she tried getting me together with Aya. I didn't really think much about it then, but now I understand that she wanted me to be happy even if it meant that I ended up with someone else." He then smiled bitterly at Riku. "How's that for stupid? The one who really loved me was right there in front of me, while I just ignored her and went after Aya, and just ended up getting in the way of her relationship with Toya, and in the end causing Chidori more heartache."  
  
"So?" Riku said. "That still doesn't sound like a good enough reason to me." He then looked at Yuhi with a serious expression. "Yuhi, you're human just like the rest of us. So you made a mistake; why don't you just try and make up for it?"  
  
"That's easy for you to say. You have no idea what I'm feeling right now."  
  
"Yeah, you're right about that. But tell me, how do you feel about Chidori?"  
  
"I..." Yuhi blushed before continuing. "I love her."  
  
"Well, at least you're not trying to deny it." Riku shrugged. "The only advice I can give you is to talk to her and tell her how you really feel. I can't guarantee things will turn out right though, that all depends entirely on the two of you."  
  
"You're making it sound easy." Yuhi replied.  
  
"Is anything worth doing or achieving ever easy?" Riku asked in reply. "Look Yuhi, I'm a ninja, and to a ninja there are only two rules in life that truly count. What a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can tell Chidori how you feel about her or you can't. Like it or not, you have to choose which one."  
  
Yuhi was silent and Riku sighed and continued.  
  
"Yuhi, I don't really blame you if you don't want to listen to what I have to say. I don't really say much that's worth listening to anyway. I've still got way too much to learn to actually tell someone what to do or how they should live their life. But there's one thing I know for sure, and that's that guilt and remorse shouldn't stop you from living. Like I told you, just stop blaming yourself. Whatever choice you make, you've got to move forward even if it's just one step at a time."  
  
"Move forward...." Yuhi said and then he started to reflect back on each memory he had ever since the whole thing with the Mikage started. After a while he spoke. "You're right." He smiled gratefully at Riku and then turned off his codec. He then spoke to Riku face to face. "If I don't, I won't be able to help anybody. Thanks, Riku."  
  
"Don't mention it." Riku replied with a smile. "Anyway, want me to grab you something from the vending machine? After all, the first step to moving forward is eating something."  
  
"Sure."  
  
A few minutes later, Riku returned carrying a couple of snacks and two cans of soda.  
  
"Hey Riku, can I ask you a question?" Yuhi said as he opened his can and took a drink.  
  
"Of course, ask away, friend." Riku replied as he drank from his can.  
  
"I guess we are friends now, huh?" Yuhi said. "Well, I was wondering, who exactly are you and your partners. Toya said that you had nanomachines in your body and that only government agents have those, but Toya didn't think you were from the government."  
  
"I'm not." Riku answered. "My partners and I are part of a group known as FOXHOUND, which is a part of the anti-Metal Gear organization Philanthropy."  
  
"I've heard a little about Philanthropy but nothing about FOXHOUND." Yuhi answered. "What exactly are you guys anyway?"  
  
"Well, we're..." Riku began.  
  
"Excuse me, sirs, but the patient, Miss Kuruma, is allowed to have visitors now." A nurse interrupted. "I just felt you should know."  
  
Thank you, miss." Riku replied and then looked at Yuhi. "Why don't you go and see her now. After that, I'll explain to you and Chidori a little about FOXHOUND and then I'll tell you the rest once we're all back at the Aogiri house."  
  
"Alright, Riku." Yuhi said and then turned and walked to where Chidori's room was.  
  
"Hope things work out for those two." Riku said to himself and then turned and saw a woman with short green hair carrying a large amount of heavy weaponry. He immediately recognized her and called out to her. "Hey Maya!"  
  
Maya Jingu immediately turned and saw Riku.  
  
"Riku, I was looking for you." She said.  
  
"How come?" Riku asked. "And what's with all the weapons, or do I want to know?"  
  
"Riku, I'm afraid that the Mikage have tracked you and your friends to Police Town." Maya answered.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Nanvel found some kind tracking device attached to Yuji's chopper, so there's no question about it. I'll be staying to protect you guys just in case they decide to try anything."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling you really wouldn't mind if they did try something?" Riku asked.  
  
"You're right about that." Maya replied. "With all the weapons I'm carrying right now, my trigger finger's itching to shoot something!" There was a tone of excitement mixed with frustration in her voice as she said this.  
  
"Uh...The safety is on all of those, right?" Riku asked nervously.  
  
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me to take the safety off." Maya said.  
  
"I didn't mean..." Riku then heard his codec ring. (Must be Nagi or Tot.) He answered it.  
  
"Drakken here." He said and Nagi's face appeared on the screen. "Crow, how'd your part of the mission go?"  
  
"Okay, I guess." Nagi answered. "We were able to rescue Shota, but... Forget about that now, where are you anyway?"  
  
"I'm at a hospital in Police Town." Riku replied. "Chidori was shot so..."  
  
"She was shot!?" Nagi exclaimed. "How is she?"  
  
"Don't worry, she's going to be just fine. I'll tell you more about what's happened when we regroup at the Aogiri residence."  
  
"Alright." Then Nagi suddenly spoke as soon as he remembered something. "Drakken, I was right. Schwartz is working for the Mikage; I ran into Schuldich just moments ago."  
  
"Those guys..." Riku said and shook his head. "We'll have to deal with that later, is there anything else that happened?"  
  
"Yes. It's about that man we met who was with the Aogiris. Toya."  
  
"What about him?"  
  
"He didn't make it." Nagi said miserably. "I'm going to contact Suzumi now. Should I tell her what happened?"  
  
"I'm afraid we don't have any choice." Riku answered. "Crow, if you want, I'll tell her."  
  
"No, that's alright. I'll do it." Nagi paused for a moment. "I'll talk to you later. Crow out." His transmission ended.  
  
(Damn it.) Riku thought. (Now how am I going to explain this to Yuhi and Chidori?)  
  
Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:  
  
Suzumi immediately heard her codec ring and answered it. She then saw Nagi's face appear on the screen.  
  
"You're Nagi Naoe, right?" Suzumi said. "How did things turn out?"  
  
"We were able to rescue both Shota and Chidori, unfortunately Chidori was shot by one of the enemy." Nagi answered. "And..."  
  
"Is Chidori alright?" Suzumi asked.  
  
"According to my partner, Riku, who's with both her and Yuhi, Chidori's fine. She's at a hospital in Police Town right now."  
  
"That's a relief." Suzumi said. (So Yuhi's with Chidori, huh? This should turn out interesting.)  
  
"I'm afraid that's the good news, I've got some bad news too..." Nagi said.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Aya Mikage suddenly woke up. She had seen brief flashes of the day's events in her dreams and felt her heart beating rapidly.  
  
"Did I... did I take a nap without realizing it?" She said to herself. (What the... was all of what I just saw... a dream? And this uneasy feeling... why have I been feeling this way so much--no! Could it be...?)  
  
Aya then got off her futon and wandered the Aogiri residence until she heard Suzumi's voice.  
  
"Are you sure that's all that happened?" Suzumi asked over the codec. "Alright, I'll contact your partner as soon as possible so I can find out Chidori's condition. I'll see you when you get here." She then ended her transmission.  
  
(What's going on?) Aya wondered.  
  
"I can't believe that this would happen. Toya...that man is..." Suzumi said to herself. "How am I ever going to explain this to Aya...!"  
  
"What happened?" Aya asked, feeling a sense of dread at what she was going to hear.  
  
Suzumi immediately turned around at the sound of her friend's voice.  
  
"Aya!" She said in surprise. "Aya, I..." She wasn't sure how to continue.  
  
"Hey... what about Chidori? What about Toya?" She asked she then saw the pained expression on Suzumi's face. "TELL ME! What the hell happened to Toya?!"  
  
"Aya...I...Toya is..." Suzumi began.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
AN: Sorry for the long wait, but that's writer's block for you. Anyway, I'll write the next chapter as soon as possible. But for now, I'll tell you about a few references I made in this chapter.  
  
The first thing Riku says to Yuhi is based off of what Jack Sparrow says to Will Turner in 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. I couldn't help it, that's one of my favorite movies and I thought Johnny Depp did an excellent performance as Jack Sparrow.  
  
The second thing Riku says to Yuhi is based off what Sorata says to Kamui in the anime 'X'. That couldn't be helped either. One, Sorata's my favorite male character in that series, and two, my OC Riku is based off of him (and some other anime and game characters).  
  
Well that's all I've got to say for now. Please R and R. 


	15. Chapter 15: Aftermath Part 2

AN: And now Chapter 15 has arrived. I hope you enjoy reading this one, especially if you're a Yuhi/Chidori fan. Also, some interesting info on GreyWolf4's villain character Shade will be revealed. I'd also like to say thanks to TempestDynasty for giving Riku a new weapon. Well, good reading!  
  
Disclaimer: Please see previous disclaimers  
  
Chapter 15: Aftermath Part 2  
  
Outside Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
One of the Aogiri mercs looked at his watch and shook his head.  
  
"They're late..." He muttered and then turned to the rest of the mercenaries. "Alright fellas, let's get prepared for departure immediately."  
  
"Hold on a minute." Another objected. "Some of our guys still aren't back yet, and we haven't even gotten the people we were assigned to help rescue."  
  
The first man sighed. "It's already past the scheduled rendezvous time... they probably won't be back."  
  
"I still think we should wait a little longer."  
  
"And I think that's not a good idea. We can't afford to take any unnecessary risks. Look, I don't want to leave anyone behind anymore than you do but..." The merc suddenly stopped as he heard a sound from the bushes behind him. He quickly turned around and pointed his gun in the direction the noise had come from.  
  
"Wait don't shoot!" Nagi shouted as he came out of the bushes with Tot and Shota in tow.  
  
"Oh, it's you guys." The merc said as he lowered his weapon. "Sorry about that. Where are the others?"  
  
"I'm afraid Chidori was injured and my partner and Yuhi took her to a hospital for treatment." Nagi answered.  
  
"And Toya?"  
  
"He's dead." Nagi said regretfully.  
  
"Dead?!" Shota shouted in surprise. "But that can't be! The doctor said that...he said that he would..." Shota broke down and started crying.  
  
Tot then walked over to Shota and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry...I really am."  
  
"This...this isn't fair!" Shota cried. "Everyone was alive not too long ago." He then turned to Tot. "I'm just dreaming right? This can't be happening!"  
  
"Shota..." Tot said, feeling sympathetic towards the boy. "I know it's tough, but you have to hang in there. For your sister's sake and your own."  
  
"I really hate to break this up, but we need to get out of here and quick." The merc spoke. "Let's go... the car's waiting."  
  
"Alright." Nagi replied and then he, Tot, and Shota walked to where the merc directed them.  
  
Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:  
  
"Hey, Suzumi!! Don't just leave it at that! Finish what you started!" Aya demanded. "What happened to Toya and Chidori?! What the hell happened?!"  
  
"Aya, while you were resting we received a package from the Mikage..." Suzumi began and proceeded to tell Aya everything about what happened.  
  
"Is Chidori alright?" Aya asked after Suzumi had finished.  
  
"She was injured during the escape and is currently at a hospital in Police Town." Suzumi answered. "One of the mercenaries I hired brought her and Yuhi there. I'll contact them shortly."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"  
  
"Toya asked me not to. He didn't want to worry you and he also wanted to check on the progress the Mikage have on the restoration of the hagaromo." Suzumi paused before continuing. "Shota...is safe. Toya saved him...so I was told."  
  
"What about Toya?" Aya asked quietly.  
  
Suzumi was unable to answer and tears started to flow freely down her face.  
  
"Tell me..."  
  
"They heard a gunshot while everything was winding down... they tried to reach him constantly, but didn't get a response... and nothing since..." Suzumi answered sadly and then tried to be optimistic. "Even so, he must be fine. He's amazingly tough..."  
  
Aya suddenly doubled over in pain clutching her stomach.  
  
"...Aya?!" Suzumi exclaimed, startled, and then rushed over to her. She then turned to one of the servants. "Call an ambulance, quickly!"  
  
Meanwhile: Kagami's Office:  
  
"What do you want?" Kagami asked as soon as Schuldich entered his office. "If you've come here for idle chatter then leave. I have no time for..."  
  
"Aren't you the least bit curious about those three mysterious fellows who were with the Aogiris?" Schuldich asked. "Wouldn't you like to know who sent them, who they are, etc. etc.?"  
  
"I can find that out on my own, thank you very much." Kagami replied.  
  
"Aren't you even curious how those guys' abilities don't register as that of a C-Genome?" Schuldich asked knowing that would grab Kagami's attention more than anything else. "Especially when one of them destroyed the lab."  
  
"What do you know about them?" Kagami asked in reply.  
  
"Oh, quite a lot of things, really." Schuldich answered offhandedly. "I happen to know one of the members very well, too. Though I must confess that Crawford knows him much better than I do."  
  
"Just answer my questions." Kagami growled in irritation. "You're contract with the Mikage clearly states that..."  
  
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you." Schuldich said with a grin. "Which would you like to learn first, sir? Who those guys are with or how I know one of the members so well?"  
  
"First tell me who sent them."  
  
"Oh they're with a little group known as FOXHOUND." Schuldich answered casually. "I'm sure you know who they are."  
  
"A motley group of fools who believe that they can oppose the Patriots by interfering with their operations. I doubt they'll be any more than a minor nuisance to us."  
  
"Call them whatever you want, but a nuisance can quickly turn into a threat if not dealt with properly." Schuldich grinned at Kagami. "You should know that."  
  
"I'll ignore your sarcasm." Kagami replied. "Now tell me how you know so much about one particular member."  
  
"Because that member was formerly of our group. My how things can change; why it seems like yesterday he was fighting for us and the four of us were like a big happy family..."  
  
"I have no time for your insolence, Schuldich!" Kagami shouted. "Now tell me what you know!"  
  
"Oh alright." Schuldich replied. "Please get comfortable, sir, while I tell you about our ex-member Nagi Naoe or Mystic Crow as he's known in FOXHOUND..."  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"We're ready to move out sir." One of the Mikage's men said to Lee.  
  
"Good work, now let's head for Police Town and locate our targets." Lee replied and then got into one of the cars and began to think.  
  
(So the Aogiris have a genome that we haven't heard of before...) He thought. (Interesting. The chief told us to bring this one in alive but he never said anything about bringing him in unharmed, and I'll make sure to make him pay for killing Bison and injuring Asamu.)  
  
Meanwhile: Police Town Hospital:  
  
Yuhi Aogiri stood in front of the door to Chidori's room, wondering whether to enter or not.  
  
(What am I supposed to say to her?) Yuhi asked himself. (How am I supposed to tell Chidori how I feel about her? Well, I definitely can't say something like 'Chidori, I've changed mind, I love you instead of Aya'; that would probably make me sound like a complete jackass.) Yuhi thought for a minute before shaking his head in frustration. (Forget that for now, Chidori's just lost her grandparents and I should support her through this.) He then put his hand to the doorknob and then opened the door.  
  
Chidori was sitting on the hospital room bed and her head immediately turned in Yuhi's direction when she heard the door open.  
  
"Yuhi." She said as soon as she saw him and then sighed with relief. "You're alright." Chidori suddenly remembered. "Where's Shota?"  
  
"Shota's just fine." Yuhi answered. "Toya notified me and told me that he'd rescued him. I guess you don't remember me telling you earlier, huh?"  
  
"No, I guess not." Chidori replied and then she suddenly recalled what she said to him earlier.  
  
(Say... Yuhi... you didn't know, did you... that I've... been... about you, that is... for a long time...) Chidori blushed slightly as her own words echoed in her mind.  
  
"Um...Yuhi, if I said anything that was ...well, weird or offensive to you then I'm sorry. I was probably just delirious." She stammered nervously.  
  
"Chidori..." Yuhi then noticed that her eyes were reddened from grief and he immediately felt concern for her. Yuhi walked over to Chidori and put his hand on her shoulder supportively. "Chidori are you sure that you're alright?"  
  
Chidori looked like she was going to answer 'yes' and then saw the deep concern for her on Yuhi's face. She suddenly felt that she couldn't lie to him about this and then felt tears start to form on her eyes.  
  
"No, I'm not alright." She answered as she began to cry. "My grandparents were killed right in front of me and there wasn't anything I could do to protect them!" Chidori then started sobbing. "I couldn't even use my powers to protect them or Shota, I..." Chidori suddenly felt Yuhi's arms around her as he held her close to him. "Yuhi..."  
  
"Chidori, it's alright for you to grieve for your family, I know that from experience." Yuhi said. "But I also know that you shouldn't go through all of this alone either. Chidori, I know that that you're going to have to be strong to support Shota through all of this, and I want to help the both of you through this too. So if you ever feel sad then...I just want you to know that I'll be there for you whenever you need me."  
  
"Yuhi...I..." Chidori wasn't sure what to say, but the feeling of Yuhi's arms around her made her feel reassured and she rested her head against his chest and started crying, letting out the grief and remorse that she had felt ever since the loss of her grandparents that day.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"So that's how they tracked us." Riku said after hearing what Maya had heard from Nanvel. "I should have known something was weird about that sniper shot. So has the device been disabled?"  
  
"Yeah. Nanvel disabled it as soon as she got it." Maya answered. "But that still doesn't change the fact that those Mikage people know where you are. Is that girl that you brought in able to move?"  
  
"Yeah, the doctors said she could as log as she didn't do anything to stress herself so her wounds could fully heal."  
  
"Alright, we should probably head for..."  
  
"Could you wait for a few more minutes?" Riku asked, interrupting her.  
  
"I guess." Maya answered. "How come?"  
  
"Well...err, there's a good reason."  
  
"I don't know what it is, but make sure that it doesn't take too long. As much as I want to shoot something, I'm not entirely comfortable with having a gunfight in a hospital."  
  
"Not to worry. I have a safeguard against that." Riku replied with a confident smile. "Anyway, I'll go and get some regular clothes over this sneaking suit while waiting. Be right back." And he turned and walked to the restroom  
  
Later:  
  
After Chidori had finished crying, she suddenly realized the position that she and Yuhi were in. She immediately, and somewhat regretfully, let go of him.  
  
"Um...Yuhi, it's alright, you can let go now." She said.  
  
"Oh! Uh...sorry." Yuhi said as he quickly let go of her, all the while blushing as soon as he did. He then looked at her. "Chidori, I was wondering what was it that you were going to tell me? You said for a long time that you...what were you going to tell me?"  
  
Chidori blushed considerably when she realized what Yuhi was talking about.  
  
(Why did I have to go and tell him that?) She asked herself. (And why does Yuhi want to know? It couldn't be that he...) Suddenly she remembered what Nagi had said to her earlier when she asked him what Yuhi felt about her.  
  
(That's something that you'll need to find out on your own.) Nagi's voice echoed in her mind.  
  
(That guy was right.) Chidori thought. (I have to tell Yuhi how I feel whether he feels the same way about me or not. If I just keep making up excuses and run away from my true feelings, then I'll never know.)  
  
"Yuhi, what I want to tell you is that..." Chidori gulped a little before pushing back her nervousness. "Yuhi, I...I've always loved you!" Chidori then blushed furiously as she realized what she'd just told Yuhi. "If you still love Aya, then I understand. I just had to tell you, otherwise I know I'd regret it if I didn't."  
  
"Chidori, I love you too." Yuhi spoke suddenly, surprising her. He then smiled at her regretfully. "I'm sorry that it took me this long to realize this. I feel so stupid now for not noticing how you really felt about me all this time. You really cared for me even if I was in love with someone else and didn't even bother to consider your feelings. Can you forgive me?"  
  
"There's nothing to forgive, Yuhi." Chidori answered. "But are you sure about this? I mean...I'm seventeen and I still look like a kid and I don't think I'll... well, develop very much more."  
  
"Chidori, I don't mind that at all. I told you before, you're attractive enough just the way you are."  
  
Chidori blushed after hearing that.  
  
"Do you really mean that, Yuhi." She asked.  
  
"Yes, I really do." Yuhi answered.  
  
Then the two of them drew their faces in close to each other and kissed for the first time. As they were, Chidori could feel that Yuhi was telling her the truth.  
  
Meanwhile: Somewhere in America:  
  
Farfarello lay on a stretcher inside a chopper that was transporting him, and the surviving personnel of the American branch for Mikage Intl., to an airport where they would be taken to the main headquarters in Japan for questioning.  
  
He then glanced at the bandages wrapped around his arms, legs, and chest. Some of the injuries were the ones he had gotten in the fight with Silent Scorpion, but the rest were self inflicted ones. In order to avoid suspicion, Farfarello had injured himself and then placed himself among the group of guards that Shade had killed. The Mikage reconnaissance team had found him and then had him treated. While that was going on, Schuldich had taken care of slowly manipulating the minds of the survivors to make sure that they told Kagami the story that he was supposed to hear.  
  
Farfarello's thoughts then drifted back to Shade. He wasn't sure where the man was, but in all likelihood, Shade was probably already in Japan or on his way there.  
  
(I've completed my part of the job.) Farfarello thought. (Now Schuldich has to complete his part and then Crawford will be back in Japan soon enough. That's when we'll get to the meat of this job.)  
  
Meanwhile: Police Town Hospital:  
  
Riku, now wearing casual clothing over his suit, looked at his watch.  
  
"I guess we'd better get going now." He said and then turned to Maya. "I'll go get Yuhi and Chidori and we'll meet you downstairs."  
  
"Alright." Maya replied and then walked towards the elevator and got in. As the elevator went down, her codec rang. Maya then answered it. "Maya here."  
  
"Maya, is Riku with you?" Lilica asked as soon as her face appeared on the screen.  
  
"Yeah, he just went to go and get those two friends of his that he brought over here." Maya answered. "Why are you asking?"  
  
"Could you tell him that Nanvel and I have gotten some of the intel that he wanted as well as some info on the Mikage that he should know about?" Lilica asked in reply. "We'll be waiting for him at the ramen restaurant in Neo Tokyo."  
  
"Alright, I'll tell him."  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Riku had just reached Chidori's room when the door opened and Yuhi stepped out.  
  
"Where's Chidori?" Riku asked.  
  
"She's getting dressed." Yuhi answered. "Let me guess, we're leaving soon?"  
  
"Yeah, the Mikage have tracked us and it would probably be best that we leave before they get here." Riku then remembered something. "So how'd things go between you and Chidori?"  
  
"They turned out just fine, actually." Yuhi replied, blushing a little.  
  
"I see..." Riku smiled. "So the two of you are an item now, eh?"  
  
"Yeah." Yuhi said with a sheepish grin on his face.  
  
"By the way." Riku added with a sly grin. "You two took an awfully long time back there. Were you...?"  
  
"OF COURSE NOT!!" Yuhi shouted, his face completely red.  
  
"Only joking." Riku said.  
  
"Joking about what?" Chidori asked as she stepped out of her room wearing casual clothing that the doctors had left her. The clothes were old and mismatched but seemed to fit.  
  
"Oh nothing." Riku answered. "Yuhi just told me that things seem to have gone well for the two of you. Congrats."  
  
"Um...thanks." Chidori said, blushing a little.  
  
"You're welcome." Riku smiled. (After all that's happened today, those two deserve some happiness.)  
  
"Have you gotten any word on how the rest of the rescue went?" Chidori asked. "Is my brother alright?"  
  
"Shota's just fine." Riku answered, hoping that they wouldn't ask anymore. "Well, let's get going."  
  
Yuhi seemed to notice something about Riku's expression and spoke.  
  
"Something happened, didn't it?" He said.  
  
"Well..." Riku wasn't sure what to say.  
  
"What happened?" Yuhi asked, feeling a sense of dread as soon as he saw Riku try to avoid his gaze. "Tell us!"  
  
"I think it would be better if you found out when we get back." Riku answered. When he saw that neither of them agreed he added something. "And besides, from what I've seen so far, you guys haven't been completely open with my partners and I about certain things. For example, Chidori's transformation or that the Mikage have been able to make one of those hagoromo things you mentioned."  
  
"They what?!" Yuhi shouted.  
  
"Are you saying you didn't know that?" Riku asked.  
  
"No." Yuhi answered.  
  
"I knew, since they forced me to use my powers to make it." Chidori said.  
  
Riku sighed and shook his head.  
  
"It looks like we've all got a ton to talk about soon." He said. "Alright, let's just get going."  
  
"Fine, I guess you have a point in what you said." Yuhi said in agreement. (Riku said that Shota was safe but what about...no, it can't be...)  
  
They then walked over to the elevator and rode it down to the lobby. When the doors opened, Riku immediately saw where Maya was and walked over to her.  
  
"Okay Maya, we're ready to leave." Riku then looked back at Yuhi and Chidori. "Oh yeah, these are two friends of mine; Yuhi Aogiri and Chidori Kuruma." He then turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "This is a friend of mine from Team Warrior. Her name's Maya Jingu."  
  
"Pleased to meet ya." Maya said as she shook both Chidori and Yuhi's hands.  
  
"Uh...pleased to meet you too." Yuhi said, trying, unsuccessfully, not to look at Maya's ample chest.  
  
"Enjoying the view, Yuhi?" Chidori asked from behind with a jealous expression on her face.  
  
"Wait, Chidori, it's not what you think!" Yuhi said nervously.  
  
"Oh really?" Chidori asked. Then she suddenly smiled pleasantly at him. "Okay, I believe you."  
  
"Really?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"Of course." Chidori answered. It was at that moment that Chidori's foot connected with Yuhi's. Yuhi yelped in pain and then clutched his sore foot.  
  
"Love hurts, huh?" Maya said.  
  
"You said it." Riku agreed.  
  
"Oh yeah, Lilica called me and said that she and Nanvel have gotten some of the intel you asked for and some data on the Mikage for you." Maya said. "They'll be waiting at the ramen restaurant in Neo Tokyo."  
  
"I guess we can take a little detour." Riku replied and then looked at Yuhi and Chidori who were talking in front of him and Maya like they weren't there. "Sheesh, they just get together and they already sound like an old married couple. This could last for awhile."  
  
Meanwhile: Aogiri Mercs' Car:  
  
Nagi glanced over at Tot and saw that she was sitting next to Shota. She had obviously felt sorry for the boy and was trying to be supportive even though she'd only just met him.  
  
(Nanami sure is good with kids.) Nagi thought to himself. (Poor Shota; now his only family left is his sister. I just hope she's all right too.) Nagi then remembered what he had heard from Schuldich earlier. (But what did Schuldich mean about what he said about C-Project? Maybe that guy who Nanami fought told her something that might help me make sense of it all.)  
  
He then saw the car make a turn and then park in the driveway for the Aogiri residence.  
  
(What am I going to tell them?) Nagi wondered and then noticed the driver for the vehicle had parked the car and was suddenly talking with one of the servants. After a few minutes the driver turned to Nagi.  
  
"Looks like we'll have to make a detour to the hospital." The merc said. "We'll drop you. Your partner, and the kid off there and then we'll head back to the main house and collect our fee."  
  
"Why the sudden change?" Nagi asked.  
  
"I'm not entirely sure, but Ms. Suzumi's there waiting for you guys." The merc answered.  
  
"A hospital? Are we going to go see my sister?" Shota asked looking at Nagi.  
  
"No. The hospital she's at is in Police Town." Nagi answered and then noticed Shota's worried expression. "Don't worry, my partner who's with her and Yuhi said that your sister is fine and that they'll be here soon."  
  
"Is that true?" Shota asked.  
  
"Of course." Nagi replied. "They're probably on their way right now as we speak."  
  
Shota then smiled.  
  
"Thanks Mr. Crow." He said.  
  
"My real name's Nagi. You can call me that if you want."  
  
"Okay, Nagi."  
  
Nagi then looked over at Tot and then focused on his powers.  
  
(Any word from Riku yet, Nanami?) He asked her telepathically.  
  
Tot/Nanami was a bit startled at this but answered.  
  
(Um...none so far.) She replied. (I didn't know you could do this, Nagi.)  
  
(That's one of the things I learned from Schuldich.) Nagi answered. (It's been awhile since I've tried it though.)  
  
(I think it's neat.) Tot/Nanami then smiled at Nagi. (That was really nice of you to reassure Shota like that.)  
  
(Speaking of which, how is he?)  
  
(I can't really say, but...after losing both his grandparents and then someone who was obviously his friend...)  
  
(You don't need to finish.) Nagi spoke. (Let's just hope Chidori and Yuhi are alright.)  
  
Tot/Nanami's eyes suddenly seemed to brighten with interest.  
  
(That's it!! Nagi, I could kiss you!) She exclaimed telepathically.  
  
Nagi blushed before he answered.  
  
(W-wait a minute, Nanami.) He stammered. (We shouldn't...what's it?)  
  
(I know just how we can cheer Shota up.) Tot/Nanami answered happily. (Here's what we should do...)  
  
Meanwhile: Wei's Car:  
  
"It seems they've discovered the tracking device." Wei Fei Lee said as he looked at the tracking screen in front of him and saw that the indicator wasn't showing up. "Oh well, no matter. We know that they're somewhere in this area." He then turned to the hit man next to him. "Alright, have all the men search the area until they find our targets. When they locate them, have them contact me and we'll converge on their position."  
  
"Yes sir." The man said and then activated his cell phone to contact his men and give the order.  
  
Meanwhile: Neo Tokyo:  
  
"Rio, Nanvel, Lilica, these are my friends, Yuhi Aogiri and Chidori Kuruma." Riku said as he introduced them. He then Turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "Yuhi, Chidori, these are more of my friends from Team Warrior, Rio Kinezono, Nanvel Nambel, and Lilica Ebett."  
  
After greetings were exchanged, Riku turned to Lilica.  
  
"So you guys got the info I needed?" He asked.  
  
"We sure have Riku, though we weren't able identify that weird looking object that was in some of the pictures." Lilica replied she then handed him a disk. "This disk has the info on the Mikage personnel as well as information about their activities."  
  
"I suppose you got them the usual way." Riku said with a smile.  
  
"Yep. Hacking through the Mikage's files was a piece of cake. Well, minus the ones that were too well protected for me to get through them." Lilica replied.  
  
"Those must be really well protected if you can't hack them." Riku said.  
  
"If you want, I'll give it a try."  
  
"Maybe later, for now this will do. Anyway, while I'm here, I might as well grab some ramen." He then turned Yuhi and Chidori. "You guys want some ramen, my treat and the ramen's pretty good."  
  
"You're probably right, Riku." Chidori said and then looked at Yuhi. "But I'm sure that my boyfriend could make better ramen." Then she smiled at Yuhi. "Right Yuhi."  
  
"Hold on, you're a cook?" Riku asked before Yuhi could answer.  
  
"A cook in training." Yuhi replied. "I need to finish school though and..."  
  
"How good is your boyfriend's cooking?" Riku asked Chidori.  
  
"Very good." She answered. "Practically gourmet quality."  
  
Riku smiled and turned to Rio.  
  
"Is it alright if he can use the kitchens to prove this?" He asked. "I'll be paying so if it turns out bad..."  
  
"Go right ahead." Rio answered. "And besides, I won't pass up an opportunity like this if it turns out good."  
  
"Isn't anyone going to ask me first?" Yuhi asked.  
  
Chidori then gave him a puppy like look at him.  
  
"Won't you do this one small favor for me?" She asked innocently. "Please?"  
  
Yuhi blushed considerably at her.  
  
(Why me?) He thought. "Alright, I'll do it. I'll show you guys some real cooking."  
  
Meanwhile: Somewhere in South America:  
  
"Well now...this is quite an interesting bit of information." Crawford said as he read a file he had come across while browsing for information on his group's new accomplice Shade. He had heard many rumors about the man and was curious as to whether they were true or not. "According to this, a man who went by the same name and had the same physical description fought in not only in the first, but also the second Sino-Japanese War. Not to mention a series of sketchy reports of a hitokiri (assassin) for the Ishin Shishi that fought in the Meiji Revolution who matches the description as well. If this all isn't just a coincidence, which I highly doubt it is, then that means that either the name Shade is a name and possibly position passed down through a family of assassins or Shade himself is over 160 years old." Crawford then smiled to himself. "Whichever the case, this promises to be a very interesting assignment indeed."  
  
(But then again, if Shade truly is over 160 years old, then how has he managed to stay alive for all this time?) Crawford wondered.  
  
Meanwhile: Police Town:  
  
Yuhi stepped out of the restaurant kitchen and handed Riku a bowl of the ramen he had just made. Riku immediately took it and then took out some chopsticks and proceeded to slurp up a large portion of the ramen. He immediately smiled at the taste.  
  
"Man, Chidori you said Yuhi's cooking was good, but this is better than good!" Riku exclaimed before slurping up another large portion of the ramen that Yuhi had made. He then turned to Rio and co. "Try some you'll definitely like it."  
  
"Okay." Rio said as she took the bowl of ramen Yuhi offered her and then took a bit and ate it. Then she started to act strangely. First, she gasped and moaned in ecstasy before she licked her small, and soft, glossy lips as she let out a moan. Then, she began to rub her long legs together as her moans kept getting higher, as if she was going to climax.  
  
Riku's face reddened slightly and he started to feel both his nostrils burn (AN: He's a little used to this...a little) and then he glanced to the side and almost laughed as he saw Yuhi's face was completely red and he was struggling not to get a nosebleed, much to Chidori's displeasure.  
  
"Rio, do you have to eat your ramen like that?" Riku asked.  
  
"I can't help it." Rio replied. "Not when it's this good." She then turned to Yuhi. "Hey, if you want to, after you finish school, maybe you can come and work here. We'd get customers by the truckload then."  
  
"Thanks, but I'm afraid I already have plans for opening my own restaurant with..." Yuhi stopped and blushed a little.  
  
Rio glanced over and saw Chidori was blushing too and then patted Yuhi on the shoulder.  
  
"I see. Well good luck to you on that." She said with a smile. "And family owned restaurants are usually opened by married couples anyway, and they almost always turn out good."  
  
The both of them blushed even more at that.  
  
"Still, you could come and work here during the summer if you want." Rio said hopefully. "It would help you out in preparing for opening your own restaurant."  
  
Yuhi stopped to consider that.  
  
"I'd take the summer job if I were you, Yuhi." Rku said with a grin. "There'd be a lot more benefits to the job besides the training, if you know what I mean."  
  
Chidori also knew what Riku meant.  
  
"Excuse me, but if Yuhi decides to take the job, is there any chance I could work here too?" She asked.  
  
"Sure." Nanvel answered. "The more the merrier, right Rio?"  
  
"Of course." Rio replied.  
  
(That's a relief.) Chidori thought. (This way, I'll be able to keep an eye on Yuhi in case he gets any funny ideas about any of these women.)  
  
"So, what do you say?" Rio continued. "Will ya take the job, or not?"  
  
"I'll think about it." Yuhi replied. "It depends on how things turn out later on."  
  
"Oh, you mean with that thing with the Mikage and all?" Rio then turned to Riku. "Do the best you can to finish this mission before the summer, Riku."  
  
"Gosh. You must really like Yuhi's cooking if you want him to work for you that badly." Riku replied. "How would you rate his cooking?"  
  
"The ramen he made is almost as good as my Greggie's, though it's still a ways from it." Rio answered.  
  
"Coming from her, that's quite a compliment, Yuhi." Riku said to his friend. "Too bad Greg isn't here so we can see who's better."  
  
"Who's Greg?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"A friend of mine from FOXHOUND." Riku answered.  
  
"FOXHOUND?" Chidori asked.  
  
"It's the group I'm with." Riku answered. "I'll tell you as soon as we get back. For now, just enjoy ..." Riku paused for a moment as he noticed something outside the window. He then grabbed his bowl of ramen, shoveled the rest of the serving into his mouth, and swallowed it in one large gulp. He turned to Yuhi. "Hey Yuhi, I just remembered something I need to check on. Could you guys stay here for a bit? I won't be gone long."  
  
"Alright." Yuhi replied. "But come back quick."  
  
"Don't worry, like I said, this shouldn't take long." And Riku walked over to the restaurant door and was gone.  
  
A Few Minutes Later:  
  
Riku cautiously walked behind the man in black that he had been following since he had left the restaurant. He had noticed that the man had been talking on a cell phone while darting quick glances in through the front window. Riku might have let the matter drop had the outfit the man was wearing not matched those of the personnel he had seen in the Mikage HQ.  
  
The man suddenly stopped to turn around to make sure he wasn't being followed and Riku immediately darted behind a car parked along the side of the road. After a few minutes, the man walked into an alleyway and Riku immediately followed him.  
  
The man stopped and took out his cell phone and dialed a number and began speaking.  
  
"Sir, I have confirmed that the people in question are our targets." He said. "There is another with them who I assume is our new C-Genome."  
  
"Good, I've traced your phone to your location and the rest of us will be here shortly." A man's voice answered. "As soon as we do, we'll head to that restaurant and retrieve our C-Genome as well as the other."  
  
"But what will we do about the Aogiri boy and the owners of the restaurant?" The man asked.  
  
"The Aogiri boy should be useful as a hostage to ensure that his family no longer interferes with the Mikages' affairs, so we'll capture him. The rest will have to be disposed of. After all, we can't allow any witnesses"  
  
"Understood, sir. I'll await your arrival." The man then turned off his cell phone.  
  
As soon as that happened Riku took out a pair of senbon needles, aimed carefully for the right spot on the neck, and threw them at his target. The man gave a sharp jerk as the needles embedded themselves into his neck before collapsing onto the ground.  
  
"I think I'll be the one doing the waiting." Riku said as he walked over to the unconscious man.  
  
30 Minutes Later:  
  
Lee walked towards the alleyway followed by twenty-five men wearing black dress uniforms as well and carrying berettas. He was surprised when he saw that the man he had contacted minutes ago wasn't there.  
  
"Are you sure this is where we were supposed to meet him, sir?" One of the men asked.  
  
"Yes and this is also where the signal from his phone was coming." Lee answered. "This is definitely..."  
  
"I'm afraid your hit man needed to take a bit of a rest." Riku's voice said from above. As Lee looked above, the unconscious body of the man he had came falling down to the ground at his feet from above. Riku was standing on the fire escape looking down at Lee and his men.  
  
"Oh by the way, despite the needles in his neck, your guy is still alive." Riku added. "Just unconscious."  
  
"You're the one who contacted us earlier just before the Aogiris attacked." Lee said, instantly recognizing Riku.  
  
"Glad that I left a memorable impression." Riku replied with a smile and then leaped off the fire escape and landed a few feet in front of Lee and his men. The goons immediately drew out their guns and started forward, but stopped when Lee held his arm in front of them.  
  
"Where are Yuhi Aogiri and Pallas?" Lee asked.  
  
"Pallas...? Who's that supposed to be?" Riku asked in reply.  
  
"Chidori Kuruma, designated 'Pallas Type-A' per celestial nomenclature." Lee answered. "Now where are they?"  
  
"I'm assuming that you mean that's what you guys call Chidori since I didn't understand half of what you just said, and I'm not telling you anything about where she and Yuhi are." Riku replied and then glared at Lee. "And also, you guys sure have a lot of nerve. I take some new friends to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants and you guys go and interrupt my meal, and just when I was staring to enjoy it too. I think that's grounds enough for me to kick your ass!"  
  
"You want to fight us?" Lee asked arrogantly and then drew out his link whip. "Fine. Just remember that you asked for it." Then he turned to his men. "Don't kill him, we'll need him alive."  
  
"Before we fight, I'd like to ask you one question." Riku spoke. "Why did you people kill Chidori's grandparents?"  
  
"For one, they were in the way." Lee answered. "Two, it was under the Chief's orders."  
  
"You mean Kagami?" Riku asked. "Why would you obey an order to kill innocent people? Nothing's worth doing that."  
  
"Hmph. Say what you want, boy, but it was necessary for the advancement of C-Project. After all, C-Project is worth far more than a few insignificant lives."  
  
"So you're telling me that it's alright to kill innocents as long as it suits you people?" Riku's expression darkened and suddenly his right arm became engulfed in flames. "Ah. That's cold, man, really cold." Then he pressed his hands together. "Well maybe you think innocent people deserve to die for this C-Project of yours, but in my opinion that's just evil. RUI!"  
  
As soon as Riku called the dragon's name the area around them suddenly seemed to change and they were suddenly standing in a large arena, which was a replication of the one for the Urabutosatsujin tournament.  
  
"Welcome to this illusion that I've created." Riku said with a grin. "A place we can fight without any worries of damaging the surrounding area."  
  
"Quite a useful trick, and since you're wielding flames, that must mean that you're the one that injured Asamu and killed Bison." Lee said. (This one isn't a C-Genome though, that's for sure. If he were one, I'd see some of the signs. Whatever he is, I think the Chief will be pleased once we bring him in for an analysis.)  
  
"Guilty as charged." Riku answered. "Oh, one more thing, while this may be an illusion, whatever injuries you get in here, your brain will sense as real. So it's quite possible for you to be hurt or killed here."  
  
"I assume that also applies to you as well, boy." Lee said.  
  
"Of course." Riku replied. "This illusion is a combination of genjutsu and kekkai (barrier) no justu. The only way you can get out is if either I release you or you kill me."  
  
"Unfortunately, we can't do that. I doubt that the chief would be very happy if I delivered the corpse of what could have been a useful test subject. We'll simply overpower you and then make you release us."  
  
Lee then signaled for his men to attack. The men charged forward weapons drawn. Riku smirked at them.  
  
"You may be used to capturing helpless kids, but this time, you've bitten off more than you can chew." He said before suddenly vanishing.  
  
"What the..." The closest man started as he saw Riku vanish and then looked down just in time to see Riku deliver a rising flip kick that caught him in the jaw and sent him flying before he struck the ground unconscious.  
  
"Come on, don't tell me this is the best you can do." Riku said with a grin. "One down and twenty four more to go. So are you guys going to attack me, or are you just going to stand there and wait till I die of old age."  
  
"You little punk!!" One of the men shouted.  
  
"Let's get him!" Another shouted and they all charged towards him.  
  
"This is the best you losers can do?" Riku asked. "I just don't believe it." And he easily parried an incoming blow from one of the men before delivering a sharp kick into the pit of his enemy's stomach followed by a sharp blow to the side of the head before quickly dodging another man's punch.  
  
"Shall I tell you what you're lacking?" Riku asked as he jumped away from the group and landed a few feet from them. "Passion, thought, idea, brains, intelligence, originality, and most of all..." He then pressed his hands together. "You're way too weak. Nadare!" The dragon immediately emerged and fired a volley of fireballs at the enemy.  
  
The fireballs struck eight of the hit men, their impact knocking them out as well as burning them. One of the men who hadn't been hit drew out his beretta and aimed it at Riku.  
  
"Shadow Step!" he said and then teleported right next to the gunman, and suddenly his right fist became engulfed in flames. "Dragon Strike!" He shouted as he struck the man hard in the face sending him crashing into another one of the hit men.  
  
Another of the goons pulled out a knife and charged at Riku from behind to stab him. Unfortunately for him, Riku sensed him, drew out a kunai shuriken with his left hand, and parried the blade with it.  
  
"Nice try." Riku said with a smile and then the flames that covered his right hand condensed into a small fireball. "Scorching Touch!" He then thrust the fireball at his opponent setting him on fire and then jumped into the air and kicked at his head. "Dragon Tail Lash!" The man immediately collapsed in a heap.  
  
Riku turned towards the remaining twelve Mikage goons, who were starting to look a lot less sure of themselves. Then he shook his head in disappointment and turned to Lee.  
  
"If this is the best you can offer, then let's settle this right now; I really don't think you want to lose anymore men." He said to Lee. "You'll need these guys to carry the wounded back to your base. So, will you fight me?"  
  
"Very well." Lee replied and then looked at his men. "Stay out of this." He turned back to Riku. "Prepare yourself!!" He then lashed his whip at Riku.  
  
Riku jumped to the side to avoid the whip as it crashed down destroying one of the stadium tiles.  
  
"Not bad." He said. "If you're going to use a long distance weapon, then so will I." He then pressed his hands together. "Saiha! Homura!" Saiha's fire blade appeared at Riku's wrist followed by the spiraling flame whip, which joined with the blade into a chain sickle made entirely of flame. Riku immediately took hold of it and pointed the sickle end at Lee.  
  
"Take this!" He shouted and then hurled the sickle at Lee who dodged the blade and then threw a set of long needles at Riku.  
  
Riku then pulled sharply on the chain to pull the sickle end back and started to twirl the chain part, causing it as well as the sickle to spin in a rapid circular motion, which deflected the incoming needles. Riku then pulled the sickle end back so the handle landed back into his waiting hand.  
  
Riku prepared to throw the sickle end again but suddenly noticed something in the stadium seats. He then made a gesture, and the chain sickle suddenly changed back into Saiha's blade alone.  
  
"Looks like I don't have anymore time to play with you." He said to Lee. "I'm ending this fight now." Then he pressed his hands together and suddenly some cherry blossoms started to fall from above. Almost as quickly as they arrived, the petals started to spin around in a large flurry, which engulfed Lee and his remaining men.  
  
"What!?" Lee exclaimed as he looked around desperately to see something and then swung his whip around in a vain attempt to cut through the flurry of petals. (Damn it, where is he?)  
  
Suddenly he felt something hot under his chin and the cherry blossoms suddenly vanished. Lee glanced down at his throat and saw that a sickle like fire blade was being held against it. He immediately knew that Riku had succeeded in catching him off guard.  
  
"This fight's over." Riku stated simply and then made a simple gesture and the illusion suddenly seemed shatter apart like glass leaving them standing in the alleyway.  
  
"That little show was part of one of my signature techniques, Dragon's Fang." Riku continued. "If I had completed it, your throat would be slashed. Now drop your weapon and tell your men to drop their weapons too or I will complete the technique."  
  
Knowing he was beaten, Lee gritted his teeth in frustration before speaking. He then dropped his whip onto the ground.  
  
"Do as he says." Lee growled. The men looked at Lee and then reluctantly threw down their guns.  
  
(This is the third time today that someone has managed to catch me off guard like this.) Lee thought. (Two of them were just kids too! Whom ever the Aogiris hired are definitely professionals despite their age.)  
  
Riku then lowered his fire blade and then shoved Lee forward.  
  
"Before you leave, I want you to deliver this message to Kagami or the Patriots, I don't really care." Riku said grimly. "If they insist on proceeding with C-Project and to hurt anymore innocent people, then they'll both end up as kindling to the fire I'll start with them."  
  
"I'll never deliver such a message!" Lee snarled and then suddenly noticed what Riku said. "Why did you include the Patriots in your message?"  
  
"Heh. Nice try, but I know about the Patriots involvement in C- Project." Riku replied. "Your comrade, Pyro Bison told me about it. He was their employee after all."  
  
(Bison was working for the Patriots!) Lee thought in amazement. (Then that means that Hawk and Viper might also be...this changes everything! I need to return to HQ as soon as possible.) Lee then looked at Riku.  
  
"I really must thank you for telling me this." Lee said. "Allow me to show you my appreciation." He then started to raise his arm as if to shake hands.  
  
"Riku, look out!" Yuhi's voice warned from above. Riku's eye darted up as he heard.  
  
"Stay out of sight!" He shouted.  
  
"You should know better than to take your eyes off an enemy." Lee said as he threw a pair of darts at Riku that he had concealed in his sleeve.  
  
"Dragon Armor!" Riku shouted.  
  
As the darts sailed towards Riku, a wall of fire suddenly appeared between him and the darts, incinerating them before they could even touch their target. Lee then made a quick grab for his whip and then lashed it out at Riku in a direction around the flame wall.  
  
The flame wall suddenly moved and blocked the attack and then some of the flames shot out from the wall and coiled around the whip, reducing it to ashes. Then the flames that made up the wall suddenly expanded and took the shape of a large multi headed dragon that reared and hissed at the Mikage hit men who stepped back in fear at the sight.  
  
"It's painfully obvious what will happen to you lot if you come any closer or try to go after my friends on the roof." Riku said and then looked at Lee, who was looking at the flames in shock. "But I'd better make a better point just in case."  
  
Riku suddenly threw what looked like a small tube with a barbed arrowhead, which struck Lee in the shoulder. Lee grunted in pain and clutched his shoulder.  
  
"Now you have to make a retreat." Riku said. "Because if you don't..."  
  
"What will happen?" Lee asked. "A simple wound from a small dart isn't going to..." He then looked closer at the dart sticking in his shoulder and noticed blood was starting to trickle out of some small holes in the tube.  
  
"This is a..." Lee said and then reached for the bolt.  
  
"You don't want to do that." Riku warned. "The barbs on the arrowhead are designed to dig themselves quite firmly into the flesh, so you'll tear up your arm quite a bit to get it out. If I were you, I'd get to a doctor quick so he can remove it before you bleed to death." He then looked at his watch and then started to speak to Lee almost conversationally. "Judging by the type I used, I'd say you've got forty five minutes left and the fact that you've got quite a ways to your headquarters doesn't really help you much. I'd recommend that you should get an early start just in case I'm a few minutes off."  
  
Lee gritted his teeth in rage as he realized his defeat.  
  
"I won't forget this, boy." He growled at Riku. "I admit you defeated me because I underestimated you, but that won't happen again." He then turned to his men. "Retrieve the wounded and let's withdraw."  
  
As the hit men gathered up their wounded, Lee looked at Riku.  
  
"What's your name?" He asked.  
  
"Drakken. Resident fire starter of FOXHOUND." Riku replied with a grin.  
  
"How fitting. We will fight again, Drakken." Lee promised and then turned to his men who were quickly leaving, while carrying their fellows, before following them and was gone.  
  
As soon as Riku was sure that they were all gone, he extinguished the dragon shaped flame and looked up at the roof of one of the building and saw Yuhi and Chidori accompanied by Rio.  
  
"Alright, you three get down here and explain what you're doing here." He said.  
  
It took the three of them a few minutes to get down the buildings fire escape until they stood in front of Riku.  
  
"It was my idea, Riku." Rio spoke. "I just noticed something wasn't right about how you just left so I decided to follow you and see what was wrong."  
  
"And Yuhi and I decided on our own to follow you, so don't blame Miss Kinezono." Chidori added.  
  
"Fine." Riku conceded. "What's done is done, I suppose. At least they didn't see you, Rio."  
  
"Why should that matter?" Rio asked.  
  
"Because I don't want the Mikage to come after you guys to get to me." Riku answered. "Do you have any idea how guilty I'd feel if that happened? Not to mention how it would affect Greg and Linn if you guys got hurt." He paused for moment before speaking. "Look, I have no problem with you guys helping me from the shadows, but that's as far as it should go. A shinobi does not put friends or kin in danger needlessly."  
  
"I understand what you're saying, Riku." Rio replied. "But still...are you sure you'll be alright? We really wouldn't mind backing you up and also I'd like to meet those two partners of yours."  
  
"Another time, I'm afraid." Riku said, and then smiled. "Hey, you shouldn't worry about me. It's not like I'm a genin (amateur ninja); as ninjas go, I'm a full-fledged jounin (expert ninja)."  
  
"That may be, but you've also succeeded in making an enemy of at least that Chinese hit man and not to mention most of the Mikage family."  
  
"Rio, as a member of FOXHOUND I've had lots of enemies. A few of them are even still alive." Riku then shrugged. "If that guy, Wei Fei Lee, or his boss, Kagami Mikage, wants to pursue the matter, then I'm sure we can discuss it privately some day, or perhaps late one night when our discussions won't disturb anyone."  
  
"I don't have any problem with that." Yuhi said. "But what was that thing you did when you started your fight with those guys?"  
  
"Like I said before, an illusion." Riku answered. "It's something I use to battle enemies while using my powers. It creates a space for us to fight undisturbed and is very handy. One, it helps insure secrecy, and two, it makes it that I can use my powers to whatever extent I want without any worry about damaging the surrounding area." Riku then smiled proudly. "I'm a wanton destroyer, but I'm also a good citizen. I wouldn't want to trouble the general public."  
  
(I don't really think being a wanton destroyer is something to be proud of.) Chidori thought as she sweat dropped.  
  
"And what about that thing you threw at Lee?" Yuhi asked.  
  
"That was type of throwing weapon generally used for either interrogation or assassination called 'Vampire'." Riku answered. "They are actually simple hollow metal tubes with a barbed arrowhead. After piercing flesh, the hollow tubes provide a channel for blood to leak out. The barbs are pretty painful, since they dig deeply into the victim's flesh for a good anchor; ripping one out is definitely a bad idea since it would result in terrible tearing of muscle and fat, and not to mention a lot of pain. As long as the tubes stay in, the victim will continue to bleed out, unless of course it's removed by someone with the right medical experience."  
  
"Hold on, you'd actually use something like that to kill someone?!" Chidori asked in shock.  
  
"Of course not." Riku replied. "I just used that to scare him off. He actually has about an hour and a half till the vampire does its job, not forty five minutes."  
  
"You mean you lied to him?" Chidori asked and then considered something. "You know, he'll probably check that thing and then realize that you tricked him. I don't think he'll be very happy with you once he finds out."  
  
"What a shame." Riku said with a smile.  
  
Riku was about to say something else when he heard his codec ring and he answered it.  
  
"Riku, I'm glad I was able to reach you." Suzumi said as her face appeared on the screen. "How's Chidori?"  
  
"Calm down, Miss Suzumi, Chidori's just fine." Riku said since he could see that she seemed to be desperately worried about something. "And here's some news that should brighten up your day. Yuhi and her seem to have gotten together."  
  
"They..." Suzumi stopped and smiled and then her expression suddenly turned sad. "I'm glad that things turned out that way for them. Unfortunately..."  
  
"You're talking about Toya, right?"  
  
"Yes." She paused before speaking again. "Have you told Yuhi or Chidori about this?"  
  
"No, not yet. I didn't want to upset either one of them." Riku answered. "Should I tell them now?"  
  
"I'll do that." Suzumi volunteered. "But before I do, I need you to get to this hospital as soon as possible. I'm sending you the address now." A minute later it was sent and Riku memorized it.  
  
"Who got injured?"  
  
"Don't worry it wasn't Shota or one of your partners. I received a call and they should be here soon." Suzumi's eyes then lowered. "The one in the hospital is Aya."  
  
"I see..." Riku said feeling sorry. "I guess the news of Toya's death must have devastated her."  
  
"More than you think, I'm afraid." Suzumi replied. "You see, we just found out she's pregnant with Toya's child."  
  
"Oh my god..." Riku said feeling miserable. It took him a few minutes before he could speak. "Are they both alright?"  
  
"For now, they are."  
  
"We'll be on our way as soon as you're done talking to Yuhi and Chidori." Riku said. "I'll arrange for transport." He then deactivated his codec, took his last spare one out of his pocket and handed it to Chidori and then looked at both her and Yuhi. His expression was completely serious and also sad.  
  
"Suzumi wants to speak with you two." He said. "But I'm afraid you won't like what you're going to hear. I'm sorry."  
  
Yuhi was about to ask Riku what he meant, but stopped when he saw the look in Riku's eyes. He then activated his codec and showed Chidori how to get hers to work.  
  
Riku then turned to Rio.  
  
"Rio, I'm going to need you to drop my friends and me off at this hospital." He said and then he told her the address.  
  
"No problem, Riku." Rio replied and then remembered something. "Oh yeah, Nanvel said she wanted to give you this to help with your mission." She then handed him a small box. "It's an updated version of the first one so it'll have a few more uses."  
  
Riku looked at the box and saw the words 'Roach Motel' labeled on the box.  
  
"I see." Riku said with a smile. "This should be really useful in spying on the Mikage's activities. Tell Nanvel thanks for me." His smile then faded when he heard both Yuhi and Chidori cry out in grief as they heard the news from Suzumi.  
  
"Could you give them a few minutes though, Rio?" Riku asked miserably. "I really would appreciate that...you know."  
  
"Of course." Rio replied, feeling pity for the two teens. "They can take as much time as they need."  
  
"Thank you." Riku said gratefully.  
  
Later: Mikage Intl. HQ:  
  
"And that's the gist of it all, Mr. Mikage." Schuldich finished. "So, do my buddies and I get a bonus for telling you such valuable information?"  
  
"That will depend on how this information serves us in the end." Kagami replied. "And it seems as if your other two teammates will be rejoining you soon."  
  
"Oh?" Schuldich asked.  
  
"The American branch has lost its C-Genome vector supply and it will take over half a year for us to replace it. Until then, it's useless for now. Your comrade Farfarello as well as the surviving personnel shall be transferred to here until further notice. I shall also have Crawford transferred back here from South America within the next week."  
  
"Why the sudden change, sir?"  
  
"If FOXHOUND has joined forces with the Aogiri family, then we will be dealing with what could turn into a fearsome opponent. Since Asamu is injured and Bison, as well as Hawk, according to recent reports, has been killed, then we'll need more people to combat FOXHOUND's."  
  
"A very good idea." Schuldich agreed. "Well, I'll be going now." He then got up from his seat and left the office leaving Kagami alone with his thoughts.  
  
(It will take some time and money to repair the damages caused today.) Kagami thought. (Though the discovery of these non C-Genomes with paranormal abilities more than makes up for it. The pyrokinetic and the former Schwartz member will be ideal candidates for experimentation. Perhaps we will be able to find something in their DNA which could be used to cure our C-Genomes of that odd strain that, until now, only affected the ones whose bodies rejected he vector.)  
  
Kagami suddenly turned at the sound of his phone ringing and answered it.  
  
"Yes?" He said.  
  
"I thought I should inform you, sir, that Lee-sama and his men have returned." The caller spoke.  
  
"Were they able to recapture Pallas?" Kagami asked.  
  
"Unfortunately, it seems the mission failed." The man reported. "Over half of Lee-sama's squad, including Lee-sama himself, require medical attention and are in the medical facility as we speak."  
  
"Very well, have their injuries treated as soon as possible and have Lee report to me once he has recovered."  
  
"Understood." The man then hung up.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Alexander Howell had finally succeeded in defeating with I-NO with Dizzy to and had just finished beating a GGX2 mission that had a regular Slayer up against a Gold Eddie when he heard the news. He threw down his controller and ran towards the medical facility.  
  
He slammed open a pair of double doors with an agonized look on his face, and saw two men wheeling a gurney with a body bag on it. He slowly stepped towards it.  
  
"Doctor Howell?" One of the men asked as he and his partner stopped the gurney.  
  
Alec ignored them and pushed them aside before cautiously opening the end of the bag, fearful of what he was going to find.  
  
As soon as he looked inside, Alec immediately wished he hadn't. He clapped a hand over his mouth as he saw Toya's corpse covered in blood along with a gunshot wound in the forehead.  
  
"Toya..." Alec could hardly believe what he was looking at. "Dear God no,...I can't believe this...impossible...this is...horrible...too cruel!!"  
  
"May we proceed Dr. Howell?" The man asked. "This needs to be delivered for autopsy."  
  
"AUTOPSY?!" Alec exclaimed, too shocked to be angry yet.  
  
"It's a direct order from the Chief. After the autopsy, his tissue and the rest of the remains will be kept as samples for further study."  
  
"Even after he's dead..." Alec said through gritted teeth, his hands clenched in fists of rage. Suddenly a strange but cute thingoid with an antenna on its head appeared on Alec's shoulder (AN: This happened in the manga, so the thingoid does not belong to me. I assume it's something Alec made.).  
  
"THE CHIEF'S GOING TO KEEP ON USING HIM?" Alec screamed.  
  
"AYE!" The thingoid replied.  
  
Alec then started towards the two men.  
  
"What the-!" One of them exclaimed as he saw the thingoid, which immediately zapped them both with an electric shock, which knocked them out cold.  
  
"I'm not going to just stand by quietly anymore!" Alec declared and then grabbed the gurney. "This won't be much, but at least I know I'm doing the right thing!"  
  
The cute thingoid on Alec's shoulder applauded him as he started to run towards the elevator.  
  
A Few Minutes Later:  
  
"I see... very well." Kagami said as he hung up the phone after hearing the report on Alec. "So it's Alec, this time. Every fool with half a mind is doing their own thing today... Asamu kills one of the guards, gets thoroughly beaten, and in the process loses one of the C-Genomes, Hawk and Bison get themselves killed, Wei fails a mission and just before he does that he and Shiso killed Toya!"  
  
"Excuse me, Chief." One of technicians said as he entered the room. "Is it all right for us to keep Shiso sedated?"  
  
"Let him sleep for a while." Kagami answered. "It's rather unfortunate that he found out about the restoration of the hagoromo. According to Wei, he reverted to Aki for a moment... I guess the shock of killing Toya called him back from his slumber."  
  
Kagami paused and then spoke again. This time to himself.  
  
"Anyway... who were you really, Toya... after all—." He said before his phone rang. Kagami immediately picked it up and then got a look of astonishment on his face. "Wiseman's Committee? To what do I owe this honor?" He then gestured at the technician and the man immediately left the room.  
  
"Spare us the pleasantries, Kagami." One of the members spoke. "We have received information that both your main and American branches were attacked by members of FOXHOUND. We would like to hear your report on this matter now."  
  
"This is quite sudden, sirs." Kagami replied. "I'm afraid that I'm preoccupied with an important matter right now. As soon as I can. I shall contact Ragnalek and they shall..."  
  
"We shall hear what you have to say now, Kagami." The speaker's voice had a finality in it.  
  
"Of course." Kagami said. (It seems that this occurrence is one thing I cannot hide from the Patriots. I shall have to deal with this as quickly as possible.)  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
"Well now, look whose back." Schuldich said to Lee as he walked into the medical facility.  
  
Lee was sitting on a chair with a bandaged shoulder, examining the vampire that Riku had used on him, when he looked up at Schuldich. His expression was anything but friendly.  
  
"What do you want?" He asked.  
  
"Just to check on a colleague's health, of course." Schuldich answered with a friendly grin. "Why all the suspicion? I'm merely coming to see how you're doing out of the goodness of my heart, honest."  
  
"How touching." Lee replied sarcastically. "Why don't you devote some of that energy to your duties then. After all, you were nowhere to be found when those headquarters was attacked. It seems you Schwartz people are overrated in the end. You turn out to be useless and unreliable and your knifeman ended up failing in his duty to protect the American branch."  
  
"There's no need to be so insulting. After all, who got most of his men injured and came crawling back to base with his tail between his legs after only receiving a minor injury from a little throwing dart." Schuldich's voice had instantly taken a mocking tone.  
  
"Watch what you say, assassin!" Lee warned Schuldich.  
  
"Alright, I'm sorry." Schuldich said. "Since your opponent was Drakken, or Riku Hanabishi, from FOXHOUND, I suppose you would have lost anyway."  
  
"FOXHOUND...I thought they disbanded after the Shadow Moses incident."  
  
"My, you certainly are behind the times, aren't you? Don't worry, I'm sure Mr. Mikage will probably explain it all to you, or at least what he feels you need explained to you."  
  
"You also seem to know this FOXHOUND kid." Lee added.  
  
"My group and I have run into him a couple of times." Schuldich replied. "By the way, how's your partner Asamu doing?"  
  
"Get out." Lee growled in irritation.  
  
"Oh come on, don't you want to spend more time in the company of friends?" Schuldich asked.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir, but if the patient wants you to leave, then I'm afraid I must insist that you do." One of the medics spoke causing Schuldich to turn to him. "And by that, I mean immediately."  
  
"Alright, I know when I'm not wanted." Schuldich replied with a grin and then left the room.  
  
(Drakken. German for 'dragon'.) Lee thought. (Among my people, as well as among the Japanese, the dragon is viewed as a symbol of good fortune and is considered a creature closest to the gods. The Chinese Empire even used it as its national emblem. Though among the Christians and the Hebrews, it is viewed as creature that symbolizes destruction, death, and evil. Whichever the case, it is truly a fearsome beast indeed.)  
  
Lee then smiled.  
  
(However, while it may be close to the gods, the dragon is not a god itself.) He thought. (That boy from FOXHOUND will be helpless against the power of the tennyo once we have completed C-Project.) Then his thoughts drifted back to what Riku had told him. (Still, if Bison was indeed working for the Patriots, and Viper and Hawk are as well, then that means that the Patriots have been keeping a closer eye on us than we suspected. Could they know of C-Project's true purpose and not the one that we told them?)  
  
Meanwhile: Hospital:  
  
"Are you sure you just want me to drop you guys off, Riku?" Rio asked as he, Yuhi, and Chidori got out of the car.  
  
"Yeah this is fine, thanks Rio." Riku answered. "I'll call you guys when I need some assistance."  
  
"Alright, see ya, and good luck with the rest of your mission." Rio then glanced over at Yuhi and Chidori. "I also hope you can help those two through whatever it was that happened."  
  
"Don't worry, I will." Riku replied.  
  
Rio then nodded and then waved goodbye before driving off.  
  
(What a miserable start for a mission.) Riku thought regretfully as he followed Yuhi and Chidori into the hospital. ( As soon as I find out how this whole thing started, I'd better call the colonel, make my report, and see if I can get any back up. I just hope Nagi, Tot, and I can keep the Mikage from doing anymore-awful things to these people.)  
  
AN: Chapter 15 is done. Sorry for taking so long to update, but I've had a lot to do with getting ready for college and all so please bear with me. Anyway, I'll have the next chapter ready as soon as I finish my Zone of the Enders fic. Now stay tuned for a little omake:  
  
Omake: Wanker's Counterattack (attempted)  
  
DF: (hears the front door of my house crash down and walks to where the noise comes from and immediately sees an enraged Kagami Mikage standing there)  
  
Kagami: (points at me) You! I've been looking for you!  
  
DF: Great you found me. Now go away, wanker man, before you meet the same fate as your wanker kinsman Gendou Ikari.  
  
Kagami: (ignores me) How dare you humiliate me in your story! First you have that psychic brat destroy my laboratory, you have FOXHOUND ruin my plans, you have Schwartz and the Patriots conspire to manipulate and then murder me, you have your ninja wannabe-recruit humiliate me in front of my subordinates, you make your recruit and his partners make my best fighters look like a joke, you then make them cause damage that will cost me billions, you also give me the villains from 'Ghost Babel' but your recruit ends up slaughtering one and the other commits suicide, and if that wasn't enough, you have me completely cowed by the Patriots! How could you do this to me?!  
  
DF: (smiles proudly) Keep going, hearing this is definitely brightening up my day.  
  
Kagami: I'll show you! I've brought one of your most hated characters, Kikyo from Inuyasha, to deal with you!  
  
Kikyo appears behind Kagami and summons those soul stealer thingies.  
  
Kikyo: I shall steal your soul. Especially for supporting stories that not only pair Inuyasha up with Kagome, but also bash me or make me a villain.  
  
DF: That's exactly what you deserve, you sadistic clay pot. (turns to Kagami) You bring an ally, then I'll bring my own too. I call Kamui Shirow of X!  
  
Kamui appears right next to me (ninja style)  
  
Kamui: Something you want me to do for you, Mike?  
  
DF: Yeah, take out this clay pot and the wanker next to her, please? If you do, I'll try to write an X fic that pairs you up with Kotori and not a guy like most fics.  
  
Kamui: (smiles) I'd appreciate that and besides, I'm an Inuyasha/Kagome fan myself. (Lifts up his right hand and then vaporizes Kikyo with a single psychic blast)  
  
DF: (claps) Great job.  
  
Kamui: I'm just getting started (Looks at Kagami). You know, for trying to force yourself on Aya in volume 2 of Ceres, I think I'll make things a little special for you. (draws out the shinken)  
  
Kagami edges towards the door sweating in fear.  
  
DF: (I suddenly remember a detail from the Ceres series and get a disgusted look on my face) (turns to Kagami): Hey, I just remembered, Aya's your cousin too. Man, you're one sick bastard to try and force yourself on a relative.  
  
There are multiple sounds of retching from the audience  
  
Audience Member 1: Take that creep out for us Kamui!  
  
Audience Member 2: He deserves whatever he gets!  
  
Gendou Ikari (somehow hiding in the audience): Yeah! He's worse than me. I never did something like that!  
  
A riot erupts in the audience  
  
Audience Member 1: Hey what are you doing here, wanker man? I thought Shardclaw-sama killed you!  
  
Audience Member 2: Must have used some trick with the Evangelion renewal series to resurrect himself!  
  
Audience Member 3: I've watched volume 1 for that three times already and I hated him more each time!  
  
Audience Member 1: Let's get him!  
  
Everyone in the audience pulls out a random assortment of weapons (most of them are the kind of knives used by Vamp and Farfarello) and then swarms over the incredible wanker man. (what happens next cannot be described due to the rating of this fic)  
  
DF: (eyes widen as he sees the multitude of nasty stuff done to Gendou) Maybe I should have given Kagami over to the crowd too. Oh well. (turns to Kamui) Carry on, man.  
  
Kamui: Right!  
  
Kamui then charges forward and uses a variation of Cloud Strife's Omnislash on Kagami, which slices him into sashimi.  
  
DF: Nice job, Kamui! (turns to the audience) Anyway, one last thing I should mention, that thing Riku says about being a wanton destroyer is something Sorata says in volume 1 of the X manga. Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure anyone whose seen Burn Up excess knows what gadget Riku received from Nanvel. Well, that's all for now, please review. 


	16. Chapter 16: Exchange of Stories

AN: Here we are at chapter 16! Hope you enjoy this one. Anyway, in this chapter the Ceres storyline will sort of be summarized, just to let you all know. Plus there will be some references to the last chapter for TempestDynasty's 'Bloody Hands'. Anyway, enjoy reading this chapter.

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers. Don't own Ranma ½.

Chapter 16: Exchange of Stories

Somewhere in South America:

(So how did it all go?) Crawford asked Schuldich telepathically. (According to plan, I hope.)

(It couldn't have gone better, boss.) Schuldich answered. (Everything's going exactly as planned, and you were right that FOXHOUND would send Nagi's group after the Mikage. Unfortunately, he hasn't done anything with his powers to show whether or not he's gained any increase in them. I'm afraid circumstances weren't in our favor their.)

(That doesn't matter at the moment.) Crawford replied. (We should have plenty of opportunities to see my student's progress. For now, let's just focus on the task at hand. For starters, how are our allies doing?)

(Both Hawk and Bison are dead.) Schuldich reported. (Bison had a run in with that fire ninja, Hanabishi, and came out second in their confrontation. Fortunately, he had already finished his appointed job, so his death isn't of much consequence.)

Crawford chuckled suddenly.

"I see." He said to himself. "So that's what it meant."

(What do you mean?)

(While checking Bison's records, I had a sudden vision where all I saw was fire. That must have been it. But never mind that; how did Hawk meet his end?)

(He managed to get beaten by Nagi's little pet and was about to spill the beans on not only C-Project, but 'it' as well. Fortunately, I was able to silence him.)

(The usual way, I suppose?) Crawford inquired with a smile.

(I simply entered the man's mind and he suddenly came down with a sudden bad case of dead.) Schuldich replied. (Nothing too spectacular.)

(Just make sure that you don't overdo things.) Crawford reminded him. (When shall I be heading back to Japan, according to what you've heard?)

(Within about a week, I should say. Oh, incidentally, the carrier has been killed just as the Patriots predicted. By the progenitor himself. It shouldn't be long before Aya Mikage, or Ceres, comes here for the hagoromo that the Mikage have made.)

(Do they suspect that you know about it?)

(Not in the slightest, and they have no idea that Viper is on our side.)

(Good, and make sure it stays that way.) Crawford ordered. (Once the three of us are back in Japan, all we need to do is wait until Miss Mikage comes to Kagami for the hagoromo and then we begin the real part of our job that the Patriots gave us.)

(Speaking of that, what's Shade's part in this?) Schuldich asked.

(I'll tell you as soon as I get back.) Crawford answered. (Now if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of important business calls to make.)

(Of course, boss.)

Meanwhile: Hospital:

"Sis!" Shota shouted as soon as he saw Chidori enter the lobby, along with Yuhi and Riku. He immediately ran over and embraced his sister. "I was so worried when I heard that you were hurt. I'm so glad that you're alright!"

"You don't have to worry, Shota." Chidori said smiling at her brother. "The wound wasn't that serious and I had a lot of help." She then gestured at Riku. "This guy, Riku Hanabishi, helped me get to a hospital, and Yuhi, he..." She then looked at Yuhi and blushed furiously. "Well, he helped me... a lot."

"Thanks, Chidori." Yuhi said, blushing too.

Nagi immediately saw what was going on.

(Looks like we won't have to do any matchmaking after all, Nanami.) He said to Tot/Nanami telepathically.

(Oh well. As long as those two are happy.) Tot/Nanami replied and then she remembered something. (Say, Nagi, was that codec conversation you and Riku had with Yuhi about this, by any chance?)

(It was.) Nagi answered. (I guess it's pretty obvious now.)

(Yeah, it is.) Tot/Nanami agreed. (By the way, Nagi, have you told the colonel about any of what's happened yet?)

(Let's wait until we have a chance to talk to Riku.)

Meanwhile, Yuhi had started to speak with Suzumi.

"How's Aya doing?" He asked her.

"Not very well, I'm sorry to say." Suzumi answered with a sad expression. "I've tried talking to her, but..." Tears started to form on her eyes then.

"What's wrong?" Shota asked and then turned to Chidori. "What happened to Aya-san?"

"She's, well...she's sick." Chidori answered, trying not to look sad. "We, er...just need to talk to the doctors and find out what's wrong with her. Could you just wait in the lobby while the rest of us find out?"

"I'll stay with him." Tot volunteered. "You guys go ahead." She then turned to Shota. "Want to grab a snack while we're waiting?"

"Um...alright, Tot-san." Shota replied and then followed her out of the lobby.

"Knowing Tot, she's probably going to take a while to decide what she's going to get from the machine." Nagi said as he watched them go and then turned back to everyone else. "I think we can talk now."

"So what happened?" Riku asked Suzumi as soon as Tot and Shota had left.

Suzumi looked away for a moment and then turned back to them and started speaking.

"Like I told you, she collapsed after hearing what happened to Toya..." She began. "We rushed her to the hospital and she woke up after a while..."

Flashback: 1-Hour Ago:

"Aya you..." Suzumi started as Aya's eyes fluttered open. "Aya, you're awake..."

Aya glanced around slowly. She was lying down on a bed in a hospital and wearing a hospital gown.

"This place..." She said slowly. "Where am I?"

"The obstetrics and gynecology department." Suzumi answered and sighed with relief. "I'm glad you're alright... I was worried that you'd had the same situation I did."

"Huh?"

"Your baby's all right. As we thought, you're pregnant. Three months pregnant, at that."

(My baby...) Aya thought and suddenly remembered Toya and everything that had happened. (Toya's...) Aya then rolled over so she faced away from Suzumi, and started sobbing.

"Aya... I'm sure Toya is all right..." Suzumi said, though she didn't believe what she was saying herself. "The most important thing for you to think about right now is your baby..."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Aya screamed and then her voice descended into almost a whimper. "...just leave me alone... please..."

End Flashback

Present:

"I can't believe this is happening..." Yuhi said trying to fight back from crying. "Haven't the Mikage done enough? Aya didn't deserve this!"

"It gets worse." Suzumi spoke. "Both Aya and her child are healthy, but Aya, she's...not too long after that she slipped into a catatonic state and nothing seems to be getting through to her."

"WHAT?!" Chidori and Yuhi shouted at the same time.

After a few minutes of silence, Chidori spoke, tears coming freely down her face.

"This...this is all my fault." She said between sobs. "If I...if I had just been able to fully use my powers, none of this would have happened."

"Chidori..." Yuhi said and then quietly embraced her. "Don't blame yourself for this."

"He's right." Nagi said to Chidori. "If anyone's to blame for what happened to Toya, then I'm the one who is at fault." Nagi then clenched his fist in frustration. "If I hadn't let Schuldich distract me, I would have gotten there in time to save Toya!"

"Alright, that's enough from all of you!" Suzumi said sternly. "It doesn't matter if anyone is at fault here, it still won't change what's happened. The most we can do for Aya now is wait and pray that she'll recover."

"We should also plan what our next move will be." Riku added. "But first, I think that my partners and I had better explain who we really are."

"Riku...are you sure that we should...?" Nagi began.

"I've already let it slip that we're from FOXHOUND. There wasn't any choice in the matter." Riku replied and turned to Suzumi, Yuhi, and Chidori. "Besides, if we kept you guys in the shadows, it would do more harm than good to you guys as well as the three of us." Riku's expression was serious as he continued. "But in return, you must tell us the complete story of what is going on here. Don't worry, you can trust us, you have my word as a shinobi."

"Alright." Suzumi agreed. "But let's wait till we get back to the house and since we're going to be having a lot of new residents, we should also discuss living arrangements."

"Living arrangements?" Nagi asked.

"Well, for starters, Chidori and Shota will be moving in until further notice." Suzumi answered. "The three of you shall as well."

"I suppose that makes sense, us being your bodyguards and all." Riku spoke. "Want us to go and get Tot so we can go?"

"Could you give us a few minutes so we can see Aya?" Chidori asked.

"Of course." Nagi answered. "We'll wait here for you guys until then."

"Thank you." Yuhi said and then he and Chidori followed Suzumi into the hall where Aya's room was.

As soon as Nagi saw that they were gone, he looked at Riku.

"A miserable start for a mission, huh?" He asked.

"Some missions turn out that way, I'm sorry to say." Riku conceded. "For now, just tell me how your side of the mission went."

Later:

Riku's expression was troubled after Nagi finished telling him about his meeting with Schuldich and Tot's conversation with Hawk before his mysterious demise.

"It looks like we might end up fighting on two fronts." Riku surmised. "If the Mikage were working for the Patriots then this mission would be tough, but still manageable for the three of us. However, now that it seems there's been a schism between the two factions, we have two enemies to fight at practically the same time." He then turned to Nagi. "Are you sure that Tot heard correctly about the Mikage having metal gears guarding their main base?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Nagi answered. "You think we can handle this?"

"I'm afraid we might not be able to." Riku replied. "When I make my report to the colonel, I'm going to see if we can get any back up. In fact, we're already getting support from some friends of mine outside of FOXHOUND; from the shadows only, though."

"I guess that's better than nothing. So what do we..." Nagi then noticed Tot come into the room with Shota in tow.

"I'm sorry it took us so long." Tot apologized. "But there were so many things to choose from in the vending machines."

"That's alright, Tot." Nagi said. "All we're doing right now is waiting for everyone else."

"Where are sis and Yuhi at?" Shota asked.

"They went to go check on Aya." Riku answered. "I'm afraid that she's going to have to stay over at the hospital for a while until she gets better, so they're probably making arrangements with the doctors here."

"Oh, I see." Shota said. "So Aya-san's in a condition similar to the one I was in. I hope she gets better. Dr. Kiritani would have wanted that."

"I'm sure he would have, Shota." Riku agreed and then noticed Yuhi, Chidori, and Suzumi enter the lobby. Suzumi looked at Riku, nodded, and they all walked out of the lobby.

Later:

The drive to the Aogiri residence had been quiet, no one wanting to speak about what had happened. Shota had fallen asleep, but the others were awake. As they were getting close to the house, Riku broke the silence.

"By the way, where's that other person who was with you guys?" He asked.

"Oh, you mean Mrs. Q?" Yuhi replied. He then turned to Suzumi, who was driving. "Hey, we didn't leave her behind, did we?"

"Of course not." Suzumi answered. "I left her behind to look after the house." She then glanced back at Chidori. "Chidori, for the time being, you and Shota will be staying with us, along with Riku, Nagi, and Tot."

"Are you sure we have enough room, sis?"

"We should." Suzumi replied. "You, Riku, and Nagi will share a room, Shota will sleep in the room across from yours, and Chidori and Tot will sleep in the guest room."

"Won't we be pretty cramped up?" Riku asked.

"No, the rooms are pretty spacious, though we may have to move a few things out." Yuhi said as the car made a turn and pulled into the driveway.

As everyone got out of the car, Riku spoke.

"My friends and I will go get out of our suits and into normal clothing and then meet you in your living room." He said and then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Let's go."

Later:

Riku, Nagi, and Tot, now wearing regular clothing, sat on a couch in front of Suzumi, Yuhi, and Chidori.

"Alright, what would you like to know first?" Riku asked.

"First, we'd like to know about this FOXHOUND that you guys are with." Yuhi said. "Are you guys like some kind of secret agents for the UN or something?"

"Well, sort of." Riku answered. "Like I told you before, we're part of Philanthropy, a group supported by the UN. Are you guys sure you haven't heard of FOXHOUND before?"

"Are you referring to the FOXHOUND that was formed by Big Boss, the world's most renowned soldier?" Suzumi asked.

"The very same, though we're a reformation of that group." Riku answered. "Are you familiar with the Shadow Moses incident?"

"Of course we are." Chidori answered. "But weren't FOXHOUND members involved in the takeover of the island?"

"They were remnants of the old one. The FOXHOUND we're from is more or less the one Solid Snake was sent in by." Riku said. "I'm assuming you've read 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses', right?"

"I'm afraid, I haven't." Yuhi replied.

"I'm sorry...neither have I." Chidori added.

"Fortunately, I have, so I pretty much know what you're talking about." Suzumi said. "But I thought your group disbanded immediately after the incident."

"FOXHOUND was officially reformed after the Big Shell incident." Nagi answered. "You guys know about that right?"

"It was the top story in the newspapers all over the world for two whole weeks." Chidori said. "Who wouldn't know about it?"

"Alright, I just needed to be sure." Nagi replied. "Anyway, FOXHOUND was reformed to counter the activities of people like the Mikage and the Patriots."

"And who are the Patriots?" Yuhi asked.

Riku sighed before answering.

"Look, before we tell you, let me assure you that all three of us are perfectly sane and what you're about to hear will seem more believable after I explain what really happened at the Big Shell." He said and then continued. "To put it simply, the Patriots are an organization that rules most of the world from the shadows, most especially the US. You could say that they're the truth behind the American country."

"You're right, I would think you're crazy after hearing that." Yuhi said.

"It would be easier explained if we just told you about what really happened at the Big Shell." Nagi said and then turned to Riku. "I'll explain it to them if you want. I've heard Raiden's version of what happened from Raiden himself, so I should be able to explain it fully."

"Go ahead then, Nagi." Riku said.

"Alright then." Nagi then turned to Yuhi, Chidori, and Suzumi. "I'm sure that you're familiar with the sinking of that oil tanker that was the purpose of the Big Shell's construction. I'm going to tell you what really happened according to what I've heard from Solid Snake."

"SOLID SNAKE!" Yuhi exclaimed. "But wasn't he the one who sank the tanker, and didn't he die when it sank?"

"The one who sank the tanker was a former member of the old FOXHOUND, Revolver Ocelot." Nagi replied. "Here's what happened..."

2 Hours later:

"So how did I go with explaining what happened, Riku." Nagi said after he had finished explaining the tanker and Big Shell incident. Nagi's audience had been stunned after hearing the truth about the Big Shell as well as about the Patriots. "Hey, Riku..." Nagi then sweat dropped when he saw that his friend was asleep.

Tot immediately took action, drew her harisen, and then whacked Riku hard on the head, which immediately awoke the young ninja.

"Arrgh! What did you do that for?" Riku shouted as soon as he woke up.

"How could you fall asleep while Nagi's saying important things?!" Tot shouted. "You meanie!"

"That was an accident. It wasn't intentional." Riku replied.

"I don't think you know the difference!"

"Sure I do. What I did was an accident. This is intentional." Riku then gestured at Tot's harisen and the top part immediately caught fire. Tot quickly blew out the small flame.

"Um...excuse me..." Suzumi said as Riku and Tot started to talk in front of her but was ignored. "Hey..." Veins started to show on her forehead as she was still ignored.

"WOULD THE TWO OF YOU KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!!" Suzumi shouted, which immediately stopped Riku and Tot's conversation.

"Yes maam." Riku and Tot chorused. (Scary...)

(Some secret agents.) Suzumi thought as she regained her composure. (But if what they're telling us about the Big Shell is true and these Patriot people are supporting the Mikage, then we're dealing with a lot more than I thought.)

"You said Snake and Otacon were able to get a list of the names of the Patriots." Chidori spoke. "How did it turn out?"

"Not too well, I'm afraid." Riku answered. "The names were of people who had been dead for a hundred years. I bet it was an old outdated list of the previous Patriots, if it wasn't just a bogus list." He then glanced over at Yuhi. "You still have doubts about what we've told you?"

"Not really, considering that from all we've been through, this whole thing with the Patriots fits in some parts." Yuhi replied. "So basically you guys are some kind of secret agents who are trying to stop people like them and the Mikage from ruining the lives of innocent people."

"That's basically it." Riku said, and then looked at his watch. "It looks pretty late. Why don't we get some rest and then pick up where we left off tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me. Today's been quite a day." Suzumi said and yawned. "Mrs. Q and Shota are asleep already. Don't worry, I'll explain things to them tomorrow." She then turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "Though somehow, you two look wide awake."

"After hearing all of this, I'm surprised you're tired." Yuhi replied.

"Well, as long as you two are awake, you can start reading this." Riku said as he reached into his pocket and took out a paperback book and then handed it to Yuhi. "That's my copy of 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses'. Read it and you'll know more about the Shadow Moses incident as well as FOXHOUND. Both the old and new."

"Thanks." Yuhi said.

"Don't mention it. Anyway, I'll make my report to the colonel now." Riku turned to Nagi and Tot. "You two go and get some sleep."

"Alright." Nagi replied.

"Also, don't forget, we're not sleeping coed." Riku said with a grin. "That's what Ms. Aogiri..."

"Just Suzumi, please." Suzumi replied. "Ms. makes me sound like a some old woman."

"Alright, Suzumi."

"Do Nagi and I really have to sleep in separate rooms?" Tot asked.

"Yes. The reason being that one, it insures that both Chidori and Yuhi have at least one guard with them in case the Mikage attack us." Suzumi answered. "Two, I don't want anyone getting any funny ideas at this time." She then turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "That includes you two as well. I really don't mind the idea of being an aunt, but not just yet."

"Sis!" Yuhi shouted, blushing furiously. Chidori blushed too.

"You heard Suzumi." Riku said to his partners with a grin. "No funny stuff and don't try sneaking around somewhere into the house to do it in secre..." Riku was interrupted as Tot's harisen connected with his head.

"Hentai!" She shouted. "Why do you always say dirty things about us?"

"Because it's funny to see how you react." Riku answered and quickly jumped out of range of the paper fan. "Well, I'd better get to the reporting business." Then Riku activated his codec, but turned to Nagi and Tot before calling the colonel. "Have a good rest."

"You too, Riku." Nagi replied and left the room.

"Good night, everyone!" Tot said cheerfully before following Nagi.

"I guess Chidori and I will head over to the living room and read this and then turn in ourselves." Yuhi spoke as he looked at the book Riku had given him. Then he turned to Chidori. "Coming?"

"Yep." Chidori said as she took Yuhi's arm and walked out of the room with him.

"Be sure to get some rest after you've reported everything to your superior." Suzumi said as she got up to leave. "And also, thank you for helping Yuhi and Chidori like you did and tell your partners thanks for me too."

"Will do, Suzumi." Riku replied with a smile. "And we were glad to help."

Suzumi returned Riku's smile and then left the room.

(Now I hope I can get some help from FOXHOUND or Philanthropy on this.) Riku thought as he selected Roy's frequency. (We've got some serious work ahead of us and we're going to need all the help we can get.)

Meanwhile: Outskirts of Town:

Alexander O. Howell looked in the rear view mirror of his car and noticed some black cars racing up behind him.

"SHIT!" He cursed and then glanced at the body bag in the back seat of the car that had Toya's corpse in it.

(I won't allow those bastards to dissect you like you were some kind of experiment, Toya.) Alec thought and then reached with one hand and pulled out a small beretta from the car's glove compartment He then put his hand out the car window that he had opened previously and quickly fired the gun, aiming for the tires of the closest car. He was rewarded with the sound of a tire blowing out, followed by the screeching of the car's wheels, and then a crashing sound as the car behind the first one collided with it.

(That will only slow them down.) Alec thought as he saw the other black cars stop before crashing into the cars in front of them. (There's no way I can get to the Aogiri residence before they catch up with me.) He then noticed a large cliff ahead that was overlooking the seashore off to the side of the road, and quickly stopped the car. Alec got out, opened the door to the backseat, and pulled out Toya's body. He then ran towards the cliff.

"I'm sorry, Toya." Alec said to his deceased friend as he made his way to the cliff. "I'm sorry for all that's happened and even more sorry that I can't get you back to Aya, but at least...I'll take you to the place you've always had on your mind..." Alec then reached the cliff and without any hesitation, hurled Toya's body over the edge to the surf below, where it landed with a splash. "...TO THE SEA!!"

Alec watched as his friend's body disappeared beneath the waves before turning around and seeing the Mikage goons approaching from behind. Alec simply smiled at them.

(They won't get you now, Toya. Not the Patriots or the Mikage.) He thought as the men approached. (At least this way, you can rest in peace. Whatever the Chief decides to do to me, as punishment, is more than I deserve for taking part in all of this.)

Aogiri Residence: 30 Minutes Later:

Nagi lay down on his futon, unable to sleep, and stared at the ceiling.

(So this is what doing a FOXHOUND mission is like.) He thought. (Sure is different from when I did missions for Schwartz. Usually they just left me behind to do the deskwork.) Nagi then turned over in an attempt to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. He then heard the door to the room opened and turned his head, expecting it to be Riku or Yuhi, but it wasn't.

"Nanami? Why are you here?" Nagi said as Tot/Nanami entered the room. She was wearing a large pink nightshirt that went all the way down to her knees and her hair was down.

"I can't sleep, so I wanted to see if you were able to, Nagi." She answered as she closed the door to the room.

"No such luck, I'm afraid." Nagi replied as he sat up. "So what do you want to talk about, Nanami?"

"Well...um...let me think about that." Tot/Nanami replied and then put her hand under her chin to try and think of something to talk about, which caused Nagi to sweat drop.

(This is so like her.) Nagi thought fondly and then spoke. "Nanami, what do you think of how our mission has gone so far?"

Tot/Nanami paused for a minute before answering.

"I'm not really sure." She answered. "I'm glad we met everyone and made friends with them, but I wish we could have done something to stop all of those sad things that happened to them."

"So do I, Nanami."

They were silent for a few minutes, the both of them just looking at each other trying to come up with what to say next. Finally, Nagi broke the silence.

"Nanami, I think I have an idea of how we can help our new friends." He said.

"Really?" Tot/Nanami asked, her face brightening up. "What is it?"

"It's something that will involve the use of my powers, but first I need to talk to Riku about it along with Yuhi, Chidori, and Suzumi tomorrow." Nagi answered. "Until then it's a secret."

"A secret?" Tot/Nanami said in disappointment. "Oh alright, as long as it helps everyone."

"I hope it does; I want to help our new friends too." Nagi replied. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Tot/Nanami smiled at Nagi lovingly and then spoke.

"You know, Nagi, you've changed since you met Riku." She said.

"Huh? How so?" Nagi asked.

"Well..." Tot/Nanami replied. "I didn't notice at first, but now that I think about it now...when I look back on when we met each other, you were a nice person, but at the same time, you seemed so lonely. Like you wouldn't let anyone see into your heart."

"I was almost always alone. Before I met you." Nagi said, glancing away slightly.

"Oh, Nagi, I'm sorry if I stirred up any bad memories for you." Tot/Nanami said quickly.

"Don't worry about that." Nagi replied. "I'm alright, Nanami, really."

"Really, Nagi? I'm sorry it's just that I..." Tot/Nanami couldn't finish.

"What's wrong, Nanami?" Nagi asked with a look of concern on his face.

"I can't help but worry about you sometimes, Nagi." Tot/Nanami answered. "You see, I had a couple of dreams the night that we were separated that just keep coming back to me. It was when you used your powers to save me."

"What kind of dreams were they?"

"The first one was where I was in trouble and you rescued me and then comforted me." Tot/Nanami began and Nagi immediately knew what she was talking about.

"You mean the one where you were a little girl and I..." Nagi started and then stopped.

"How do you know about that, Nagi?" Tot/Nanami asked.

"I accidentally dived into your mind while I was healing you back then." Nagi answered.

"So that wasn't a dream." She then smiled at Nagi. "Thank you, Nagi, for what you said to me then."

"I...well...uh...you're welcome." Nagi replied, blushing a little. "So what was the other dream about?"

Tot/Nanami's expression turned a little sad as she spoke.

"Well, in this dream, there's a younger Nagi in a park someplace." She began. "Except this younger Nagi is alone and crying. A lot of people walk by, but no one is stopping to help him. I try to go over to you, but for some reason I can't get to you. I start calling to you, but nothing I say seems to reach you. Nothing I do works, your mood never changes. I start feeling sad myself at not being able to do anything for you. When I reached the point where I thought that the tears wouldn't stop, I woke up in the rubble of that building we had been in, and I discover that I had been crying in real life."

"Nanami..." Nagi said as he got up and walked towards her.

"I'm sorry, Nagi." Tot/Nanami replied brushing away some tears that had started to form. "I didn't mean to bore you or anything. I just..." She then felt Nagi's arms around her as he held her close.

"It's not like that, Nanami." Nagi said. "It's not like that at all."

"Nagi..."

"Nanami, when I look back at my childhood, I don't have any good memories." Nagi said. "I was abandoned by my family, and later treated as an outcast and shunned by everyone because I was a psychic. When I joined Schwartz, I thought I had finally found acceptance, but in the end, I was only their tool, and I was as alone as I had been before. After that, I just stopped caring about anything. I didn't even care whether I lived the next day." Nagi then smiled at Tot/Nanami. "Imagine my surprise when someone came along and made me want to live."

Tot/Nanami started to blush as she heard what Nagi said.

"Nanami, meeting you, falling in love with you...that's the best thing that ever happened to me." Nagi continued. "You're what made me start to care and kept me from turning out cold and merciless like Crawford, or from ending up like Psycho Mantis did before he met Snake."

"Nagi..."Tot/Nanami said as she looked into Nagi's eyes and Nagi smiled back at her.

"I couldn't be happier to call you my girlfriend." He said as he drew her closer to him. "I love you, Nanami, more than anything in life."

"Nagi...this is..." Tot/Nanami said as she looked at Nagi. "This is the first time you've told me, face to face, that you loved me." She then smiled. "I'm so happy!"

"It is? Gosh, I'm sorry." Nagi replied. "I guess I just felt awkward. It's hard for me..."

"You don't have to apologize, Nagi." Tot/Nanami said. "I still love you, and always will, my Nagi." And then she kissed him and he returned it. It was at that moment that the door to the room opened and Riku walked in and looked in Nagi's direction.

"You're still awake?" Riku asked, as he looked at his friend who was lying down in his futon with the covers all drawn up.

"Yeah, I had a bit of trouble sleeping, first mission and all." Nagi answered. Unbeknownst to Riku, Tot was hiding under the covers of the futon.

(I am so glad for that training Garland gave us not too long ago.) Nagi thought. (Otherwise, we'd have been caught.)

"I know what you mean there, it was the same with me." Riku replied and then yawned. "Don't worry, it doesn't take long to get used to."

"Oh yeah, how did the report go with Campbell?" Nagi asked.

"I checked with Mei Ling before I made the report and found out that Herr Reese was still filling in for him, and I do not want to talk to that shit head." Riku answered. "I asked Mei Ling when Campbell would be back and she said tomorrow morning so I'll make my report then."

As the two of them were talking, Tot/Nanami was holding onto Nagi and then started to feel tired.

(Nagi... you're so warm) She thought as she snuggled up against Nagi and fell asleep.

"Well, good night." Riku said and then got into his futon. "Have a good rest, Nagi."

"You too, Riku." Nagi replied. He was quiet for a few minutes until he was sure that his partner was asleep, and then brought up the futon's covers. "Nanami, it's alright. You can..." He then stopped when he saw that Tot/Nanami was asleep.

(I guess I should let her sleep.) Nagi thought. (I just hope I can wake up before Riku does. I don't even want to know what he'd say if he saw this.) He then felt Tot/Nanami pull herself up so her head was resting on his chest.

(Actually this doesn't feel all that bad.) Nagi thought, blushing a bit, and then thought a little about his conversation with Tot/Nanami.

(I guess she's right about my having changed.) He thought. (A lot has happened over the past few months. A year ago, I wouldn't have thought any of these things would have happened. I've met a lot of people and made many friends, and found acceptance for what I am. I've even found people similar to me.) Nagi's thoughts then drifted back to when he had met and trained with Garland Durev a few weeks ago (AN: See the last chapter for TempestDynasty's 'Bloody Hands' for more info).

Flashback: Two Weeks Before:

"Well done, Nagi." Garland said as Nagi finished his meditation. He had been doing this for almost a week under Garland's supervision and had finally been able to focus his powers without any incident. Neither of them had spoken any about Nagi's accidental run in with 'D'.

"Thank you Master Garland." Nagi replied.

"You can go back to calling me Garland now, Nagi, since our training session's over."

"Alright, Garland." Nagi was silent for a few minutes before speaking again. "Was it harder for you? Learning to meditate like this?"

"Yeah, more than you could imagine." Garland replied. "Especially with..." Garland stopped there knowing neither of them wanted to discuss what had occurred days before when Nagi had dived into his mind and met 'D'.

"Anyway." Garland spoke to change the subject. "When you first started meditating, I heard you say Tot's name." He then smiled at Nagi. "She really means a lot to you, huh?"

Nagi blushed a little and nodded.

"She was the first person that I can remember that cared about me and saw me as a person." He replied. "If it wasn't for her, I might have ended up like Mantis did." Nagi then looked over at Garland. "I don't mean to pry into your personal life, but you and that other FOXHOUND recruit, Miss Thompson, also seem pretty close."

This time it was Garland's turn to blush.

"You don't have to say anything." Nagi said with a friendly smile. "I just hope things turn out well for you two."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Garland spoke. "Is Tot good at cooking?"

"Well uh...it takes some getting used to." Nagi admitted. "Why do you ask?"

"Your partner Riku suggested that I help her with her cooking skills." Garland replied. "And I'd be glad to do that."

"Thanks." Nagi said gratefully. "For some reason, Tot really enjoys cooking stuff for me."

"She loves you, Nagi, and in the minds of some women, food is love. Also, you don't have to thank me. Consider this help from a good friend." Garland did not know that he would soon come to regret that decision, though.

End Flashback.

Present:

(I wonder what it was that caused that explosion.) Nagi wondered and then flinched as he remembered what followed the explosion. (And I wonder who it was that could use that new umbrella Nanami got after that explosion. Whoever it is sure must be strong. That umbrella weighed a ton.)

Meanwhile: Somewhere in Japan:

"ACHOO!" A young Japanese man with short black hair, wearing a yellow shirt, black pants, and a yellow and black bandanna, and carrying a backpack and umbrella on his back sneezed as he took out a map that was in his pocket. He was standing in a large forest somewhere in Hokkaido.

"Hope I'm not catching a cold." He muttered as he looked at the map. "Alright, Kyoto is here and I think I'm here." After a few minutes of looking at the map he stuffed it back into his pocket. "Alright, it looks like I should get to that martial arts tournament in no time. I might even get there early." He then grinned confidently and walked in the decided direction.

"Kyoto, here I come!" He shouted as he ran off into the night.

And Ryoga Hibiki, the eternally lost boy, gets even more lost.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Kagami's Office:

"Chief, I've just received word from the men we sent after Dr. Howell." One of the guards reported to Kagami. "We have succeeded in retrieving the doctor."

"Excellent work." Kagami said. "And Toya's corpse?"

"Unfortunately, Dr. Howell threw it into the sea and we haven't been able to recover the body." The guard replied.

"If you can't find it then just leave it." Kagami said. "Is there anything else to report?"

"No sir." The man replied. "May I take my leave?"

"Very well." Kagami then noticed the door to his office open and Lee stepped in.

"Chief, I have an important report to make." Lee said.

Kagami could see that Lee wasn't exaggerating and nodded to the guard for him to leave. As soon as he did, Kagami turned to Lee.

"Well, Wei, what do you have to tell me?" Kagami asked. "After hearing about your screw up while fighting with one of FOXHOUND's men, and letting Pallas escape, your report had better be important."

"Forgive me, sir." Lee replied with a bow. "I was able to obtain information from the FOXHOUND recruit regarding the Patriots."

"Go on." Kagami said.

"According to what the recruit said, Pyro Bison was working for the Patriots, by his own admission."

"Bison was..." Kagami was silent for a minute as he considered what he had just heard. (If Bison was working for the Patriots then there's a chance Hawk was too, and that raises the possibility of Viper being in league with them also. However, that doesn't seem likely, since I know the man. But this information may be of use for later on.)

"Thank you, Wei. This information should be useful so we can turn the tables on the Patriots before they try to interfere in C-Project." He said. "For now you are dismissed until I call you to escort Viper to my office so he can be questioned. Also, in two days you are to take some of our men and retrieve a new C-Genome that we have located in the Miyagi Prefecture."

"A new one?" Lee asked.

"Except this one hasn't awakened though, so retrieving her should not be a problem, and since I doubt she has connections with the Aogiris, we shouldn't expect any interference."

"Very well, I shall retrieve the genome." Lee promised. "What is her name?"

"Maya Hirobe."

The Next Day: Aogiri Residence: 9 AM

Yuhi Aogiri woke up and noticed that he was lying down on the couch. He glanced around and then noticed that he wasn't alone. His girlfriend, Chidori Kuruma was also lying down on the couch asleep.

"We must have fallen asleep while reading that book." Yuhi said to himself as he noticed the book was on the floor. "Better wake up Chidori and make breakfast for everyone." He turned to Chidori. "Chidori...hey wake up."

Chidori stirred a little and pretended to ignore Yuhi.

"Hey Chidori..." Yuhi said as he came closer to her.

Chidori then smiled, opened her eyes, and quickly brought her head up and kissed Yuhi, surprising him.

"Good morning." She said grinning at her blushing boyfriend. "Surprised you, didn't I?"

"Very funny, Chidori." Yuhi replied and then smiled slyly at her. "Though I really wouldn't mind doing that again."

Chidori blushed a little before the two of them kissed again. As they were, Yuhi slipped and ended up lying on top of Chidori. It was at that moment that Suzumi walked in.

"Good morn...OH MY GOD!" Suzumi screamed as she saw the two of them.

Suddenly Riku, who had been alerted by Suzumi's cry, appeared in the room in a puff of smoke, still in his pajamas, a kunai shuriken in each hand.

"Alright, where's the ene..." Riku stopped when he saw what was really going on. He then smiled sheepishly at Yuhi and Chidori. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"H-hold on..." Yuhi stammered. "This isn't what it..." He was interrupted as Mrs. Q, who had also been woken up by the noise, walked in. She smiled as soon as she saw what was going on.

"It appears young Yuhi has taken the first major step into becoming a man." Mrs. Q stated sagely and turned to Suzumi, who was still in shock. "My lady, I think you should be proud of your brother."

"THIS ISN"T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!" Yuhi and Chidori shouted in unison, the both of them blushing furiously.

"I think I'll go back to sleep now." Riku spoke with a yawn and suddenly vanished.

Meanwhile:

Nagi had immediately been woken by the noise. As he started to get up he noticed a pair of arms were wrapped around him and he immediately remembered. After seeing Riku wasn't in the room, Nagi put his hand on Tot's shoulder and gave her a gentle shake to wake her up.

Tot blinked a little and then yawned while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She then looked over at Nagi and smiled at him.

"Good morning, Nagi." She said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Nanami." Nagi replied. "Well, we'd better get out of the room before Riku..."

Nagi's advice came too late as Riku suddenly appeared in the room using his shadow step ability and walked to his futon. He then turned over to Nagi.

"Don't worry about that scream you heard, it was false alarm." Riku said, still a little sleepy to notice Tot was there. "Anyway, I'm going back to sleep. If you and Tot want to go back to sleep too, that's fine with...HOLY CRAP!!"

Suffice to say, the day was not off to a very good start.

A Few Minutes Later:

Yuhi, Chidori, Nagi, and Tot sat on a couch in the living room right across from Suzumi, Riku and Mrs. Q.

"Alright, you're all going to explain all of this now." Suzumi said seriously.

Riku then looked at his partners.

"Nagi, I'm not mad at you..." He started sounding serious. "If anything...I'm kind of jealous, man." Suzumi then whacked him on the head with her foldable fan.

"OW! What was that for?!" Riku asked.

"You're their superior! You're not supposed to sound like you're congratulating them!" Suzumi shouted.

"Fine." Riku said and then looked at Nagi and Tot. "Bad Nagi, bad Tot, no more sex for either of you." As soon as he finished, Riku's head was hit by both Suzumi's fan and Tot's harisen.

"HENTAI!" Tot shouted. "We didn't do any of that!"

"What the hell kind of superior says that?!" Suzumi shouted.

"What is this, hit me on the head with a fan day?" Riku asked as he rubbed his sore head.

"Today is certainly off to an interesting start." Mrs. Q stated to no one in particular.

Later:

It took about half an hour for everything to be explained.

"We're sorry." Tot said. "I'll even make breakfast as an apology."

"There's nothing to apologize for." Suzumi said. "Just don't do that again."

"Though I wouldn't mind some help in the kitchen." Yuhi spoke.

"Alright! Now Nagi can see how good my cooking is after Garland-san's training." Tot said with smile and turned to Nagi. "You'll try some, right?"

"Sure, Tot, of course..." Nagi replied. (I just hope she doesn't blow up the kitchen this time.)

"I'm afraid I need to report to the colonel now." Riku said quickly. "I'll just skip breakfast if that's all right."

"We can save some for you." Chidori offered.

Riku's face almost paled at the thought.

"No thanks." He said quickly. "I'll just eat something from the pantry when I'm done with the report or maybe those rations I brought." Riku quickly walked out of the room leaving everyone else to their fate of eating Tot's cooking.

Later:

"And that's about everything, colonel." Riku said to Roy over the codec. "What do you suggest we do now?"

"I'm afraid everyone else is doing a mission now." Roy replied. "If you had called earlier, we could have sent Scorpion, but he just got sent on a mission."

"Are you sure no one's available?"

"I'm sorry, but there's no one we can send. Tell you what, as soon as one of our recruits is available, I'll send him or her right away."

"Understood, sir." Riku then remembered something. "By the way, I think you should do something about Reese. Those orders he gave me only hindered in the mission and almost got someone I was assigned to protect killed."

"I'll make sure to speak with him about that." Roy replied. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

"No sir." Riku answered. "I'll contact you if anything else happens, Drakken out." Riku then deactivated his codec. He then heard some knocking at the door to the room he was in.

"Come in." He said and the door opened and Shota stepped in. "Shota, what is it?"

"Is it alright if I talk with you, Hanabishi-san?" Shota asked.

"Sure kid, why not." Riku answered with a smile. "By the way, have you had any breakfast?"

"I helped myself to a granola bar. Yuhi's cleaning the kitchen right now, Suzumi and sis are fighting over a bottle of something called peptobismol, Nagi-san and Tot-san are helping Yuhi with the cleaning."

"Trust me, it's a good thing you slept in and got the granola bar, kid, and you can call me Riku, if you want." Riku said with a friendly grin. "So what do you want to talk about?"

(I'm just glad Tot didn't destroy Yuhi's kitchen like she did with Garland's.) Riku thought.

"Are you three really secret agents?" Shota asked.

"More or less." Riku replied. "You could say we're like the guys in Splinter Cell except much cooler."

"I was...wondering..." Shota started. "Do you have any experience in flying planes?"

"Well, not really. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if I could really become a pilot. When I was in the hospital a year ago, I could barely walk, but I still wanted to be a pilot." Shota's expression then turned a little sad. "I told Dr. Kiritani about my dream, and I want to become a pilot now more than ever, since he was one of the reasons I can walk now."

Riku smiled at the boy and patted him on the shoulder.

"Of course you can become a pilot." He said. "You can walk now, right?"

"Yes, but not very well." Shota answered.

"That shouldn't stop you." Riku replied. "Listen Shota, a friend of mine named Greg Kinezono is one of the best pilots I know, he even has his own Harrier 2."

"Whoa. Really?" Shota said in amazement. "He must be really good."

"He certainly is." Riku grinned. "And you want to know something? This guy's got a prosthetic right arm and this was before he learned to fly. So I'm sure you'll turn out to be a great pilot some day if he can."

"Can I meet this person?" Shota asked. "Maybe he can help me learn to fly like he does."

"We'll see, we'll see." Riku answered and then turned when he heard the door open and saw Yuhi and Chidori walk in both with peeved looks on their faces.

"Hey, sis." Shota said but was ignored.

"What's the big idea with not warning us about your partner's cooking?" Chidori shouted.

"Sorry about that, but I didn't want to insult Tot, especially not in front of her boyfriend." Riku replied. "Though I think the peptobismol was a good idea."

"So that justifies leaving us to risk food poisoning?!" Chidori asked.

"Her cooking isn't that bad." Riku replied. "And Nagi can eat whatever Tot cooks, though I really suspect it's like how some people can develop immunities to poisons after awhile."

"That really isn't very reassuring." Yuhi said. "Maybe I should try teaching her how to cook better."

"Be my guest, though I wouldn't do it if I were you." Riku said. "One of our recruits, Garland Durev, is a master chef and he couldn't do very much to help. In fact, it all ended with Tot somehow blowing up the poor man's kitchen."

"Blow up!!" Yuhi exclaimed. "You're joking, right?"

"I wish I was." Riku sighed. "Also, Garland for some reason brought an exorcist to the kitchen before it was repaired. When I asked why, his face paled a little and said it was just a precaution.

As soon as he finished, both Yuhi and Chidori had creeped out expressions on their faces.

"Hey, what's wrong?!" Riku asked. "Your eyes...they're all woggy!!"

"I think I'll take over all the kitchen duties from now on." Yuhi said quickly.

"I'll help too." Chidori volunteered.

Meanwhile:

"ACHOO!!" Tot sneezed as she was drying some of the dishes in the kitchen, and looked around. "Why do I feel like that I've just been deeply insulted?"

Later:

Riku, Nagi, and Tot sat in the living room with Suzumi, Yuhi, Chidori, and Mrs. Q.

"Alright, now we'll hear your side of what's been going on." Riku said seriously and turned to Yuhi. "So how did this whole thing start?"

"It started a little over a year ago when Aya and her twin brother Aki turned sixteen... Yuhi started.

And so Yuhi started telling them what had happened beginning with the Mikage ritual to see if Aya was a celestial maiden. As they heard the details from the family ordering Aya's death, to the death of Aya's father when he tried to protect her, Riku could only shake his head and wonder how people could do such horrible things to their own family members.

"And you say they've been doing this for hundreds of years?" Nagi asked. "They've just slaughtered innocent kids just because there's a chance they're the reincarnation of some celestial maiden?!"

"I'm sorry to say this but it's true." Suzumi said. "And the Mikage have done everything to make sure no one finds out about this. Also, it seems to be an absolute every time a Mikage child, in most cases girl children, displays celestial powers. You'll understand soon, what I mean." She then turned to Yuhi. "Continue."

Yuhi then summarized what had happened which leads up to Aya transforming into Ceres, followed by information on Ceres.

"So that's why these hagoromo things are so important." Riku surmised. "It will send this Ceres back to heaven or wherever, and end this whole reincarnation stuff."

"Yes." Suzumi replied. "Plus it might cause the other C-Genomes to lose their power ending our problems with the Mikage."

"You know something." Nagi spoke. "If we succeed in that, the Mikage are basically out of business, right?"

"More or less." Suzumi answered.

"I don't think the Patriots will be very happy with Kagami for that happening." Nagi said with a nasty grin.

"But aren't they mad at him already for trying to betray them?" Tot asked.

"I'd imagine so." Riku answered. "I doubt the Patriots will be very forgiving to Kagami for all of that. I'm sure the penalties won't be very pleasant."

"What a shame." Chidori said.

Yuhi then got to the part where they met Yuki Urukawa, a C-Genome being experimented on and manipulated by the Mikage. Yuhi flinched as he described how the girl had accidentally burned someone to death just by touching her.

"That can happen if the flame master can't control his or her powers." Riku said. "I can't believe anyone would stoop so low into manipulating someone and turning them into their guinea pig too."

"It gets worse." Yuhi said and then went on to describe Urukawa's tragic demise. Riku didn't say anything, but his face was grim as he listened.

(Come to think of it, I haven't tested that Sky Dragon Demon attack Garland taught me in battle yet.) Riku thought angrily. (If I ever run into this Kagami guy, I think I'll use it to tear him a new asshole!)

Yuhi then moved on to where the Mikage had captured Suzumi and used her memories to try and manipulate her. Suzumi flinched at the memory of those events but said nothing. Then Riku and co. heard about when Chidori showed up and the events that followed.

(Experimenting on hospital patients too?) Riku thought as he heard how things had turned into a disaster overnight as each C-Genome awakened in the hospital in Tochigi prefecture. (No wonder this Kagami worked with the Patriots and was being considered a possible candidate to be one. He's at their level of nastiness.)

Riku and co.'s eyes widened considerably as Yuhi moved on to describe how Aki had ended up being possessed by the progenitor of the Mikage family, the man who had stolen Ceres' celestial robes and made her his wife.

"So as Aya is Ceres' reincarnation, Aki is Shiso's reincarnation?" Riku asked and Suzumi nodded. Riku turned to Yuhi. "What happened afterwards?"

Yuhi then told Riku and co. about how their search for the hagoromo had lead them to Okinawa to meet the Japanese pop duo GeSang.

"You actually met, Shuro Tsukasa?" Tot asked.

"Who?" Nagi spoke.

"You mean you don't know who they are Nagi?" Tot asked in reply. "They're one of Japan's most popular singers!"

"You seem to like them."

"Who wouldn't? Their music is great after all!"

"You're in for a surprise then, Tot." Yuhi said and then told them Shuro's secret.

"Nani?!" Tot exclaimed. "Shuro's a woman?!"

"Trust me, we were just as surprised." Chidori said. "Her family raised her as a guy in hopes that it would keep her from becoming a celestial maiden. That didn't work though..."

"Yeah, she transformed as soon as she and her partner Kei reacted to the vector." Yuhi said. "Unfortunately, Kei was killed since his body rejected the vector and it turns out Shuro was in love with him but..."

"You don't have to say anymore." Nagi said knowing how this was going to turn out. "So what happened to Shuro after all of that?"

"She seems to be doing alright, last I checked." Suzumi answered. "Since she's taking a break from singing, I think I could arrange a meeting."

"That would be a good idea." Riku agreed. "In case the Mikage come after her again." He turned to Yuhi. "What happened next?"

Yuhi suddenly flushed red from embarrassment as he remembered what happened in Miyagi prefecture.

"Not very much." Yuhi said quickly. "It turned out to more or less be a waste of..."

"I'll tell you what happened." Chidori volunteered with a sly smile on her face. "Aya had a vision with her celestial powers about a white dog and..."

As Chidori told Riku and co. what happened, Yuhi silently prayed that Chidori wouldn't mention how he had to dress up as a girl since the school they transferred to was an all girl's school. That was soon proved not to be as Riku, Nagi, and Tot collapsed to the ground in laughter when Chidori told then anyway. The laughter reached a higher volume when Chidori showed them a picture she had taken of Yuhi at the time (AN: Chidori really did take a picture of Yuhi then; she takes a picture of just about anything in the manga).

"Oh man!" Riku said wiping away tears from his eyes. "I don't mean this to sound the wrong way, Yuhi, but you don't look all that bad as girl!"

"I have to agree with you there, Riku." Nagi said between laughs.

"Not to mention that he looked more like a girl than some of the girls on some of their sports teams." Chidori added.

"None of that is very comforting!" Yuhi shouted. "And please don't remind me of..." Yuhi stopped when he realized what he was about to say.

"About what?" Nagi asked looking interested.

"NOTHING!" Yuhi shouted.

"Come on! Tell us!" Tot said.

"I think he means the part where he was chased around by this girl that looked more like a guy." Chidori said.

(I am so in hell!) Yuhi thought as Riku and co. burst out laughing.

A Few Minutes Later:

Riku, Nagi, and Tot finally stopped laughing and were looking at Riku sympathetically.

"Hey, you did what you had to do." Riku with a smile, patting Yuhi on the shoulder. "And besides what you did was nothing compared to what Raiden went through shortly after he arrived in Arsenal Gear."

Yuhi stopped to consider this.

"You know, you're right." He agreed. "Come to think of it, I'd much rather go through that again then try to sneak past a bunch of expert soldiers naked."

Meanwhile: Philanthropy/FOXHOUND HQ:

"ACHOO!" Jack sneezed as he got out of the VR simulator. He had just finished doing Zacko Survival mode.

(Either I'm catching a cold or someone's talking about me.) He thought and felt a sudden chill. (I hope it's not about what I think it is. Damn it, Snake, why couldn't you have kept that part of what happened in Arsenal Gear a secret?!)

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"There's one thing though that I envy you about." Riku commented.

"And what's that?" Yuhi asked.

"You could take advantage of the disguise and go certain places a guy can't." Riku said with a sly grin and noticed Yuhi's face reddening considerably. "Well, it looks like you did."

"Aya caught him though and convinced him not to do it again." Chidori added. There was a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

(I do not like the way Chidori's looking at me right now.) Yuhi thought as he noticed his girlfriend's expression.

"So what happened after all of that?" Nagi asked.

"Aya made friends with a girl named Maya Hirobe who was a C-Genome too." Yuhi answered. "She didn't know it though at the time and that proved to be a problem. You see, her powers gave her the ability to summon a white dog, which attacked people around her..."

After hearing the rest of how things turned out, Riku couldn't help but feel pity for the girl, knowing she's have to deal with guilt of what had happened for the rest of her life.

"Are you sure the Mikage will leave her alone?" Riku asked.

"She hasn't fully awakened." Suzumi answered. "So I doubt they'd be able to identify her as a C-Genome."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Riku replied. "What happened after that?"

"We decided to try and find the hagoromo for the celestial maiden of that area." Yuhi answered. "However, it was reported to have burned up at the temple it had been kept in. So we decided to see if the hagoromo had been buried with its owner."

"Wait a minute." Riku said. "You don't mean you went and dug up the celestial burial mound in Miyagi? That's the heart of the city's culture!"

"We didn't exactly dig anything up." Chidori answered. "We only ended up digging up some weird looking tree roots and then had to avoid getting arrested by the police when we were spotted by them."

"I remember seeing a small article in the newspaper last year about some four odd looking people who vandalized the burial mound." Nagi spoke. "Was that you?"

"If that guard hadn't caught us, we would have covered the whole thing up and no one would have noticed." Yuhi replied.

"My my, I've never been a vandal before." Mrs. Q spoke.

"That's nothing to be proud of!" Yuhi said.

"In any case, what happened after that?" Riku asked.

"Toya started to regain what he thought were lost memories but it turns out the Mikage had captured him while we were away and implanted false memories into him..." Yuhi started.

An hour later, Riku was completely appalled at what he had heard how the Kagami had manipulated Toya's memories so they could use him again, how he had manipulated Aya's cousin Miori Sahara, another C-Genome, into attacking Aya, and how Miori took her own life right in front of Aya as a final act of revenge. Hearing about how that incident had affected Aya mentally both during and after didn't do much to improve Riku's view of Kagami.

"You know, I'm starting to like this Kagami Mikage less and less." Riku said and turned to Nagi and Tot. "What's your opinion?"

"I'm starting to wish I'd broken him instead of all that lab equipment, yesterday." Nagi said. "Too bad we can't go back in time and change that."

"I just can't believe anyone could do all those horrible things." Tot said shaking her head and looked at Nagi. "We have to stop these people."

"That's our job, Tot." Nagi replied and turned to Yuhi. "What happened afterwards?"

"Aya eventually recovered and after a while, she and Toya went looking for the hagoromo on their own." Yuhi answered. "Chidori went back to Tochigi and I went back to school and that pretty much brings us to where you guys showed up."

"Man, with all that happened, I'm surprised we weren't alerted about this sooner." Riku spoke and looked at Yuhi and Chidori seriously. "Now are you certain you've told us everything? The slightest detail could be important."

"We haven't left anything out." Yuhi replied.

"Glad to hear it." Riku then activated his codec and switched to Mei Ling's frequency.

"Have you gotten all of that recorded and ready to save?" He asked as Mei Ling's face appeared on the codec screen.

"Yep. I'm saving the data as we speak." Mei Ling answered.

"Wait a minute!" Yuhi said as his face appeared on the screen. "Just how much did you record?"

"Everything." Riku replied simply.

"Then that means..." Yuhi started and he heard Mei Ling giggle a little.

"Don't worry, everything that was recorded will be deemed classified." Mei Ling said. "And Riku was right. Compared to what happened to Jack in Arsenal Gear, that was nothing."

A sneeze could be heard off in the distance.

"I hope he didn't hear me." She said.

"Who else will hear this?" Yuhi asked nervously.

"Only Colonel Campbell and possibly Solid Snake." Mei Ling answered.

(Great, the legend is going to think I'm a cross dresser.) Yuhi thought mournfully.

(AN: I'm not bashing, Yuhi or Raiden, I'm just having a bit of fun with them after reading volume 7 of Ceres and playing streaking mode in the MGS2: Substance VR missions)

"Anyway, Riku, in Shakespeare's play Macbeth, there's a saying 'Fair is foul and foul is fair'." Mei Ling said to Riku. "It means that things aren't always what they seem to be. Keep that in mind so you don't underestimate your enemies."

"Sure, Mei Ling, thanks." Riku said and Mei Ling ended her transmission and Riku and Yuhi ended theirs.

"What was with that?" Yuhi asked.

"Mei Ling likes to give advice using proverbs, quotes, and things like that." Riku answered with a shrug. "It's something to make you think a little during the mission. I don't really mind it. Makes it a bit educational too." Riku then grinned. "Come to think of it, there's this one Chinese proverb Otacon told me that fits this mission."

"Otacon? You mean Dr. Hal Emmerich from Shadow Moses?" Chidori asked.

"The very same." Riku answered. "The proverb was 'Better to be first among roosters than last among bulls.' He said that the meaning was 'If you have to choose between being a chicken or a cow, pick the chicken. Cows are always being messed with by aliens' ." This caused everyone in the room except Riku to sweat drop

"What are aliens doing in a Chinese proverb?" Suzumi asked. (How the hell did this Otacon person come up with that crock? I think even Yuhi could come up with a better interpretation.)

"Otacon believes they've been visiting us for hundreds of years." Riku said with a shrug. "Besides, the Mikage seem to believe the celestial maidens are aliens and if they're right..."

An image of Ceres dressed up as Faust (minus the paper bag) from Guilty Gear X2 carrying a giant scalpel and standing menacingly over a cow suddenly came to Yuhi, Chidori, and Suzumi's minds.

"Alright, that's just too damn freaky!!" Yuhi shouted shaking his head.

"What is?" Riku asked.

"Never mind, Riku." Chidori said. "But how did a genius scientist come up with that idea?"

"Otacon can be a little eccentric at times." Nagi spoke.

"He has good taste in anime though." Tot added.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Kagami's Office:

"I'll admit Bison was an unusual case." Viper said to Kagami simply. "He just showed up and asked to join our group. I had to admit I was suspicious, but after he passed the initiation exercise he seemed trustworthy so I didn't ask any questions. I was also unable to find any records of him that seemed suspicious. Why are you so curious about Bison, chief?"

"There's no need for you to know yet." Kagmi replied studying Viper with deep scrutiny. "What about Hawk?"

"He was completely loyal to me, so there wasn't anything I could label about him as untrustworthy." He then looked at Kagami seriously. "Chief, you know me, I am completely loyal to you and the advancement of C-Project. If this is a question of my loyalties then I will gladly do whatever it takes to show you where my loyalties truly lie."

(Nothing about him hints that he's lying.) Kagami thought. (Though I must admit that mistake with Bison is a little unusual for Viper.) He then looked over at Lee, who was standing next to him. Lee nodded to say he didn't see any deception in what Viper was saying.

"Very well." Kagami said to Viper. "The reason we are asking you these questions is because it has been revealed that Bison was an agent for the Patriots."

"WHAT?!" Viper exclaimed and suddenly stopped to consider things before speaking. "I should have realized something was wrong in how he was so willing to join us! How could I have missed something so obvious?!"

Viper fought an urge to smirk as he saw that Lee and Kagami were buying the act.

(The fools.) He thought. (Shouldn't they have realized that the Patriots have given me special hypnotherapy to insure that I can beat any form of lie detection? Oh well, at least they believe I'm still their loyal follower. Now that Shade has arrived in Japan and the rest of Schwartz shall be here shortly, all that needs to be done is a little bit of waiting.)

Meanwhile:

Alec sat on the bed of his quarters glancing at the two guards standing across from him. They had been assigned to watch him in case he tried anything.

(I guess the chief is preoccupied now.) Alec thought. (Otherwise he'd have seen me right away.) Alec then shook his head as he tried to remember something. (There was something I wanted to tell that agent kid and his partners earlier, but what was it?)

After a few minutes, he remembered.

(Of course, that other possible C-Genome, Maya Hirobe!) He thought. (I need to contact the Aogiris somehow.) Alec then remembered something of when he met with Riku. (That kid had a codec on him! If he still has it on him, I can try to find his frequency using my cell phone! Good thing I customized it for this sort of thing.)

Alec then looked at the guards.

"Excuse me, sirs, but is it all right if I can get some sleep while waiting for the chief to call for me?" He asked.

The guards looked at one another to see if this was all right and they both shrugged at one another. Finally one of them spoke.

"Fine, go ahead." The guard said. "But we'll be staying here to keep an eye on you."

"No problem." Alec replied and then proceeded to get into the bed and lie down. "Good night." He then turned so he was facing away from the guards. As he did, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pushed a few of the buttons until it was at the mode he had decided.

(Now to find that kid's frequency.) He thought.

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"The first thing we should do right now is prepare a funeral for Chidori and Shota's grandparents, then we'll concentrate on stopping the Mikage ." Suzumi said to Riku, Nagi, and Tot.

"We understand." Riku said as he glanced over at Chidori who was trying to look strong. Yuhi rested his hand on her shoulder and she seemed to relax a little.

"Excuse me. "Nagi spoke. "But there's something I need to say."

"What is it?" Suzumi asked.

"As you all know, I'm a psychic and I've been considering using my powers to help your friend Aya." Nagi answered.

"What do you mean?" Yuhi asked.

"I know you don't want her to be in the state she's in for very long, so I was considering using my abilities to dive into her mind and try talking to her." Nagi replied. "But since you're her friends, I want your permission first."

"Will doing this be dangerous for her?" Chidori asked.

"As long as I know what I'm doing, there won't be very much danger." Nagi answered.

"Then you have our permission." Suzumi said. "However, I think we should give Aya some time to see if she can come out of this on her own."

"Suzumi! Why are..." Yuhi stopped when he saw his sister in law's expression.

"I don't want to risk causing any psychological strain onto Aya, and doing this too soon will probably cause that." She answered. "I know what she's going through and the last thing I want is for her to end up like I did."

"Will a week from now work?" Nagi asked.

"Yes." Suzumi replied.

Riku was about to say something when he heard his codec ring. He immediately answered it, expecting it to be Campbell. It wasn't.

"I finally found you." Alec said as his face appeared on the codec screen.

"Alec?" Riku said in recognition. "Why are...how did...?"

"Hey, you're that doctor guy." Tot said as her face appeared on the codec screen.

"Why are you contacting us?" Nagi asked as his face appeared on the screen.

"Who's this?" Yuhi asked as his face appeared on screen.

"Someone who gave us some help yesterday." Chidori answered as her face appeared next. "He seems to be a friend of Toya's."

"I'm afraid I didn't do too well as his friend." Alec said. "I guess I might as well introduce myself. My name is Alexander O. Howell, one of Kagami's employees. Though I'm not very happy about it. You can call me Alec, if you like. Now for some personal info, I'm into anime and games and my type of girl is Shiori in Tokimeki Memorial."

Riku sweat dropped as he heard this.

(This guy...he reminds of Hal.) He thought he then noticed Nagi and tot had similar expressions.

"So why did you contact us, Alec?" Yuhi asked.

"I need to tell you that Kagami has managed to locate another possible C-Genome and he's probably planning on sending some of his goons after her within the next two days." Alec answered.

"Who is it and where can we find her?" Riku asked seriously.

"She lives in Miyagi prefecture and her name is Maya Hirobe." Alec answered and saw Yuhi and Chidori's expression. "Do you know her?"

"Yes, she's a friend of ours." Chidori answered. "Thank you for telling us, Alec."

"You're welcome, Miss Kuruma." Alec replied.

"I have a question though." Yuhi spoke. "You must have a pretty high position with the Mikage if you know all of this. How did...?"

"I'm the project leader for this operation as well as the head of weapons development for the Mikage." Alec answered. "I'm second in charge of C-Project."

"Then why are you helping us?" Yuhi asked.

"Because I want this to stop." Alec answered. "The only thing C-Project has done is killed innocent people. I thought the work I was doing would help mankind, but it turns out..."

"Kagami probably bought your loyalty using pretty words like 'prosperity', 'peace', and all of that kind of stuff." Nagi spoke. "Believe me, I know what it's like to be duped by someone with a forked tongue dipped in honey."

"That pretty much describes Kagami." Alec said.

"By the way, what's the Patriots' involvement in C-Project?" Riku asked.

"How did you...?" Alec started and then sighed. "I don't know. Only Kagami knows for sure. All I know is that the Mikage family and their research on the C-Genomes has been financed by Ragnalek, a group of important political leaders for several foreign countries. However, they're pretty much a group of personal underlings for the Patriots, like the president of the United States."

"And Kagami is planning on betraying them soon." Riku assumed.

"Yes. When, I don't know, but I'm sure the Patriots are already prepared for him." Alec then turned to the side.

"I think the guards are starting to get suspicious." He said after a few minutes of silence. "I'll contact you later. Good bye." He then ended his transmission.

"What was that about?" Suzumi asked.

"I'll explain later, sis." Yuhi answered and turned to Riku. "Alright, let's head to Miyagi..."

"I can handle it, myself." Riku said simply. "You guys go on with the funeral as planned."

"But..." Yuhi objected.

"Now hold on a minute!" Nagi objected. "What about Tot and me? We're your partners! We should..."

"Nagi, you and Tot are to guard Yuhi, Chidori, Suzumi, and Shota during the funeral." Riku replied. "Look, I'd gladly take you with me, but we can't afford to let our guard down in this situation."

"Do you really intend to fight these guys yourself?" Nagi asked.

Riku simply grinned at his partner.

"Nagi, I'm one of the Four Horsemen of FOXHOUND (AN: Again, see Bloody Hands). Those guys would need an army to take me out." He said confidently. "Don't worry, this shouldn't take very long. I'll be back in a couple of days, with this Maya girl, of course. And one more thing, I never said I was going alone."

"All right, I guess we can't stop you." Nagi said with a sigh. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Will do, Nagi. Take care." Riku replied and then walked out of the room to the front door.

Nagi then turned to Yuhi, Chidori, and Suzumi.

"Well, I guess we should help you out with moving in." He said. "And also with...Well, let's start with the moving for now."

Tot could see that Nagi was trying to be helpful.

"I'll be helping too." She said cheerfully.

Meanwhile:

As Riku got into his car he activated his codec and selected Nanvel's frequency.

"You need something, Riku?" Nanvel asked when she saw Riku was the caller.

"Yeah, pretty much." Riku answered. "Please contact Maki and tell her I'm going to have to meet with her at the ramen place ASAP."

"Is this about your current mission?"

"Yeah, I'll explain it to you along the way." Riku replied as he pulled out of the driveway. "Trust me. It's important."

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

Schuldich suddenly heard his cell phone ring and he answered it.

"Yes." He said.

"I've arrived in Japan." Shade's voice answered on the other line. "Farfarello's plane shall arrive in a few hours. I'll meet with you at the Mikage building."

"Don't get yourself caught, old boy." Schuldich said with a grin. "But knowing you, I pity the ones who see you."

"It's probably best that you do." Shade replied with a chuckle. "Because I won't when I finish with them. Good bye for now, my fellow assassin." He then hung up.

(Jeez, Crawford, what did you request this one's assistance for?) Schuldich thought. (Someone like Shade kind of seems like overkill unless...) Schuldich grinned and fought the urge to laugh out loud as he realized what his partner's plans were. (Now I understand. So that's what he's for. I can't wait to see the results. Hanabishi shall surely regret having crossed us.)

Meanwhile: Philanthropy/FOXHOUND HQ: Col. Campbell's Office:

"Thank you for coming, Miss Hanae Kitada (AN: Manx's real name)." Roy Campbell said to Manx. "I know this is sudden since your group has only recently joined Philanthropy, but we already have something for them."

"No trouble at all, colonel." Manx replied. "That is why Weiss has joined Philanthropy after all. What is my group's assignment?"

'You are to give backup to three of FOXHOUND's recruits." Roy answered. "Their mission has turned out more advanced then we had thought, so we will be needing your assistance since our other recruits are all on missions."

"Are these three recruits who I think they are?" Manx asked raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Indeed. I'm sure Drakken and his partners will be in for a surprise."

"I shall contact my men immediately and head back to Japan." Manx said and got up from her chair. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"None for now, Miss Kitada." Roy replied. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Manx said and left the room.

(I pray for your success.) Roy thought after Manx.

AN: And that's the end of this chapter! Now to mention an easter egg I used.

That scene with Ranma ½'s Ryoga was based on a scene from Rurouni Kenshin with Sanosuke Sagara. I couldn't help using that since that scene reminded me of Ryoga.

See ya next time...


	17. Bonus Chapter: Weiss Reflects

AN: Alright, I know a lot of you want to know what's going to happen next with Riku and co. and how Team Warrior is going to help Riku out, but I need to do this bonus chapter. One, to tie up a few things from Weiss Kreuz, like how Ran and Sakura get together.

Ken (from backstage): Don't forget me and Yuriko!

DF: I know! Don't worry, each of you guys gets a subchapter (got the idea from TempestDynasty's last chapter of 'Bloody Hands'). Now settle down so I can finish. The second reason is so I can set things up for Weiss' arrival. Oh, by the way, this chapter takes place during most ofchapter 17 (which you'll read soon enough(as long as college doesn't get in the way of my writing too much).

Anyway, please enjoy this bonus chapter and I'll make sure to get back to the main story next chapter. One last thing, that game Alec mentioned in the last chapter, Tokimeki Memorial, is a popular dating video game in Japan (which is, coincidentally, a Konami game). I don't think any of the games have been released in the US (unless imported). Anyway, Shiori is one of the dateable girls. Just thought you should know.

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimer, please.

Bonus Chapter: Weiss Reflects

Subchapter 1: Ran

Koneko no ie Sume Flower Shop:

"Here you are, miss." Ran said politely as he handed the young girl the vase of flowers she had ordered. "Thank you for your business."

"Thank you, Fujimiya-san." The girl said politely, nervously looking at Ran and blushing. "Your shop always sells the best flowers."

"Thank you, and you're welcome." Ran replied. The girl then, reluctantly, turned and left the shop. Ran then glanced over at a woman in her twenties with short black hair wearing a business outfit who had entered just previously and seemed to be looking at some bouquets on display. He then turned over to Mrs. Yamaguchi, who was sorting out some flowers.

"Mrs. Yamaguchi, I need to speak with someone right now." He said. "Could you mind the store for me for a while?"

"Of course, Ran." Mrs. Yamaguchi replied with a smile, and Ran nodded at her and walked out the store. As he did he glanced at the woman in the business suit and gave a slight nod before walking out the door.

Ran walked until he reached a cafe down the street, entered and sat down at a two person table. After a few minutes, the woman with the black hair walked into the cafe and sat down at the table Ran was at.

"So what did you want to talk to me about, Birman?" Ran asked the woman.

"I recieved a call from Manx a couple of hours ago." Birman (real name Kyoko Takaoka). "You guys now have a mission for Philanthropy. I'm going to brief you a little before I want you to go get the others and then bring them to the shop so Manx and I can brief you fully on what's happening."

"What? No briefing from a recording of Persia this time?" Ran asked.

"There really isn't much point for that anymore." Birman answered with a shake of her head. "Anyway, due to our joining with Philanthropy we have been given some more advanced gear than usual."

"Oh?"

"The four of you shall be given codecs so we can communicate with you throughout the mission. I will be in charge of saving the mission data. You will also each be given an injection of nanomachines so you won't have to worry about your codec running out of batteries and also so you can use a soliton radar."

"This is quite an improvement." Ran noted. "You can tell us what else more about our new equipment later, though. What about the mission? What's our objective?"

"To sum it up briefly, your mission objective will be to give three FOXHOUND recruits some back up in a mission they are doing." Birman answered. "It seems that they ended up getting in over their heads and since there are no available FOXHOUND recruits to give them backup, we were called in." She then looked at her watch. "It looks like I'll have to completely brief you later at the shop. Manx's plane will be arriving soon and I'll need to meet her at the airport."

Birman then got up and started to leave, but stopped and turned back to Ran.

"Oh one more thing, the recruits you're to give back up to just so happen to include the boy from Schwartz, his girlfriend from Schriendt, and their friend from FOXHOUND." Birman was smiling as she said this. "Good luck on your mission with them." She then turned and left.

(Since when did Birman have a sense of humor?) Ran thought as he watched her leave. (Things sure have changed a bit ever since we defeated Eszet and my sister came out of her coma.) Ran shook his head and got up. (Guess I should get Youji first.) As he thought about that, Ran remebered something.

(Now that I think about how things have changed...) He thought.

Flashback: Four months before, 2012:

Koneko no ie Sume Flower Shop:

"Hey Ran, Sakura's here to see you." Youji said to his partner who was in the back storage room. He stopped Ran before he could say anything. "Don't try any excuses, man, Omi, Ken, and I will take care of whatever you've got to do, so go and..."

"I know what you guys are trying to do, and stop it." Ran replied quickly. "You'll only end up making it more difficult for Sakura to move on and just forget about me."

"Hold on, you're actually trying to avoid her!" Youji shouted. "What the hell for?!"

"I can't let her be exposed to anymore danger by getting involved with me." Ran then looked at Youji seriously. "Besides, Sakura deserves better than someone like me."

"That's bull shit and you know it!" Youji then grabbed Ran by the front of his shirt. "That whole 'separate yourself from the one you love to protect her' crap won't do anything except hurt the both of you. Why don't you just talk to Sakura and see if she's willing to accept the risks instead of just ignoring her feelings."

"It's not just that, she deserves someone better." Ran looked away from Youji. "She..."

"You know, if you keep saying that, I might actally start to believe you." Youji said. "But, fortunately for you, I don't buy that for a minute."

"I don't care what you think."

"What the hell is with this she deserves better crap anyway?" Youji asked in frustration. "The both of you obviously love each other so what's so wrong with that?"

"I'm an assassin! I've killed so many people that I've lost count!" Ran shouted. "Sakura doesn't deserve to be with somone like me, and a man with hands as stained as mine doesn't deserve to be loved."

"You are so full of crap, you know that?!"

Ran's expression then became angered as he looked at his partner.

"Don't presume anything about me, Youji." He said grimly. "You have no idea what my life has been like."

For some reason, that statement ended up rubbing Youji the wrong way, and he clenched both his fists in anger.

"Yeah, maybe you had it a little tougher than the rest of us, pal, when Takatori had your parents murdured and Aya's going into a coma, but we all have our problems - don't think you're the only one who suffered because of Takatori's crimes. We all did. And we all have the same blood staining our hands, but in case you forgot, Takatori, as well as Eszet, is dead. YOUR REVENGE IS FUCKING OVER!" Youji screamed as he punched Ran hard in the stomach. Ran doubled over in pain and then suddenly got up and returned the blow, striking Youji's right cheekbone.

"I know it's over." Ran growled as Youji staggered from the blow.

"Yeah, right." Youji scoffed as he rubbed his cheek. "The rest of us are starting to move on from all of this, but you're not. And that damned 'don't deserve love' crap isn't true at all! Open your eyes! Ken's with Yuriko, and Omi fell in love with that girl Ouka, even though it ended in tragedy. Hell, even that kid from Schwartz and that Schrient girl hooked up even though it was brief. What makes you think you're any different?!" He then tackled Ran and the two of them wrestled on the ground, each one trying to gain the upper hand.

"You can lecture me or we can fight, but make up your mind!" Ran shouted as he struck at Youji but only ended up hitting his shoulder as Youji moved away from the blow.

"Heh. I see, you're afraid." Youji said, letting down his guard..

"Don't I have a good reason to be?!" Ran shouted, the fight now forgotten. "I want Sakura to be safe! Do you know how much danger she'd be in if our enemies found out about her?!"

"That didn't stop Ken from getting together with Yuriko, did it?" Youji then looked at Ran. "Look Ran, I know I'm not really one to talk to you about this kind of stuff. But tell me, do you love Sakura or not?"

"Of course I do."

"Then go and be with her." Youji said. "I know right now that you think separating yourself from Sakura to keep her safe is right and all, but trust me, the pain of that separation will be worse than anything else for both of you. If you want to torture yourself then that's your business, but do you really want to cause someone you love pain?"

"No, that's the last..." Ran then stopped as he realized what Youji was saying and was silent.

"Ran, I admit you're right that there is a risk involved, considering who and what we are." Youji spoke. "But if Sakura is willing to take all those risks to be with you, then..." He left it hanging.

Ran was silent for a few minutes before he spoke.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right." He replied. "I'll speak with Sakura about all of this, and see what happens."

"Good, and after the two of you are done talking, we'll help you find a place for your date." Youji grinned. "Pick whichever restaraunt you want; dinner'll be on us."

Youji could have sworn it was a trick of light, but he could have sworn he saw what might have been a blush form on his partner's face.

"Well, what are you waiting for, fearless leader?" Youji asked and then shoved Ran towards the door. "Your girlfriend's outside the shop waiting for you."

"Waiting for..." Ran then glared at his partner. "Were you planning this?"

"Actually, so were Omi, Ken, Yuriko, and Aya." Youji grinned as he finished. "Weren't expecting your little sister to be in on this either, eh? Well, she and Sakura have become pretty good friends; pretty good thing since they'll probably end up being in laws sometime..."

"Was our little fight also part of the plan?" Ran asked.

"Nope, that was all me." Youji answered. "Well, enjoy your date, oh fearless leader."

End Flashback...

(I won't deny things turned out well.) Ran thought with a shake of his head. (I guess I should thank Youji...someday. Better call Sakura first and tell her that...)

"Hey Ran!" A girl's voice called from behind him.

Ran turned and saw his sister, Aya, along with a girl with short brown hair and pink eyes, wearing a typical high school girl's uniform.

"Aya, Sakura." Ran spoke and then looked at Aya. "I just finished meeting with Birman, and it looks like you and Mrs. Yamaguchi will have to mind the flower shop for a while."

"You don't have to worry about that, Ran." Aya replied smiling at her brother. "But it looks like our shop's business will end up going down for a while."

"I guess this means we'll have to cancel our plans for this weekend, huh Ran?" Sakura spoke in mock regret.

"I promise I'll try to make it up to..." Ran began, thinking his girlfriend was being serious, but stopped when he saw she was laughing.

"Ran, you can be so serious some times." Sakura said with a shake of her head and smiled at him. "I don't have a problem with your having to leave for a little while for your job. You guys usually end up helping people in the end, just like you did for me when we first met."

"I'll call you when I can." Ran promised.

"I'll be waiting." Sakura replied and then the two of them kissed.

"I love you, Ran." Sakura said after they finished.

"And I love you too, Sakura." Ran replied. "I promise that I'll come back."

Subchapter 2: Youji

Police Town:

Youji Kudou looked sat in a chair in a cafe in Police Town, smoking a cigarette.

(The place hasn't changed very much since I left.) Youji thought as he looked around and then lay his head back. (I wonder if I'd be thinking the same thing if we were still partners and you were still alive, Asuka.) Youji then shook his head. (There I go again. I guess I can't ever fully get over this after all. At least I'm starting to, though I had to kill that Schrient woman to start. I'm so pathetic...)

"Detective Youji Kudou, is that you?" A woman's voice asked, causing Youji's head to come up and look in the direction the voice had come from. He then saw a woman with long black hair, wearing glasses, dressed in a typical police uniform that did little to hide a generous figure.

"Do I know you, miss?" Youji asked, trying to remember the woman in front of him. (Come on, brain, there's no way I could have forgotten a pretty face like this.)

"Oh come on, don't you remember an old friend?" The woman asked and then smiled and shook her head and took out her ID card. "Does this ring any bells?"

As soon as Youji read the name, he remembered.

"I don't believe it. Miyuki, is that you?" He asked.

"In the flesh." Miyuki answered. "How have you been?"

"Alright, I guess." Youji then took his cigarette out and put it in the ash tray. "You?"

"I'm actually doing pretty well. Ever since I got that transfer from my original position, things have taken a turn for the better." Miyuki then looked at Youji and her gaze softened. "Youji, I heard about how your partner, Asuka Murase, was killed in the line of duty, and how you quit being a detective shortly after. I'm sorry."

"That happened years ago; I'm starting to get over it, albeit slowly." Youji said regretfully.

"I noticed how the two of you were, back then." Miyuki spoke. "Did you love her?"

"I guess I'd be lying if I said otherwise." Youji shrugged. "But I realized it a little too late."

"How are you doing now?" Miyuki asked with some concern.

"I told you, I'm getting over it." Youji answered and then smiled slightly. "And I know Asuka wouldn't want me to keep moping over her like this. She'd probably give me another lecture on the whole thing. So, why are you here?"

"I'm here to meet a friend of mine, another police officer." Miyuki answered. "I would have introduced you and Asuka to her back when we were in the academy, but she was doing some other stuff at the time."

"Oh well, maybe I'll meet her now." Youji suggested.

"As long as you don't try making any moves one her. Rio's foster son might come after you for that."

"Alright." Youji grinned at Miyuki. "While we're on the subject, is there any chance of the two of us hooking up?"

"Sorry, I'm afraid not." Miyuki replied with a friendly smile.

"You can't really blame a guy for trying." Youji said with a shrug.

"Will you ever come back to the police force?" Miyuki asked. "I'm sure you could get your old position back if you want."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Youji answered. "I've already, got a new job."

"Okay, but just remember that if you change your mind..." Miyuki was interrupted as her cell phone rang. She quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Miyuki, I'm calling to say I won't be able to make it." A woman's voice spoke.

"Is something wrong, Rio?" Miyuki asked.

"No, something important came up suddenly." Rio answered. "Sorry about that."

"No, it's all right." Miyuki replied. "I'll see you when I see you. Bye." She then turned off the cell phone.

Youji was about to speak when his cell phone rang. He quickly answered it.

"Yeah." He said.

"Youji, we've got a job." Ran's voice spoke. "I need you to get Omi and get to the shop so Manx can brief us on the mission."

"Fine, I'll do that, boss." Youji said lazily. "See you in a few." He then turned off his cell phona and looked at Miyuki. "Looks like I'll have to meet your friend later. Something important just came up."

"It's the same in Rio's case." Miyuki replied. "Well, I'll see you later, I guess. Take care of yourself."

"Will do, Miyuki."

Subchapter 3: Omi:

Cemetary:

Omi quietly lay a couple of flowers in front of a grave stone with the name 'Ouka Sasaki' on it. He then knelt down in front of it and pressed his hands together in prayer. After a few minutes, he looked at the stone.

(It's been years since that happened, yet here I am, still putting flowers on her grave.) Omi thought as he got up. (I wonder if I could have done anything back then, and what would have happened if I had.) Omi then shook his head. (I guess there's no real point on debating over 'what ifs' and 'what could have beens', they won't change anything. But I will make sure Farfarello pays for killing her.)

Omi then took out a small knife and then made a small cut on his palm and closed his hand over the cut as blood started to stream out.

"I swear that I will see justice done on your murdurer, Ouka." Omi promised. "And I'm sorry that I wasn't able to tell you how I felt, until the end." He then looked at the gravestone regretfully. "May you rest in peace, my love." Omi then turned slowly and walked away. As he walked down, he saw Youji's car pull up into the parking lot.

"What are you doing here, Youji?" Omi asked as the Youji's car pulled up to him with the window down.

"I'm here to come get you and then we're to head over to the shop so we can be briefed on our new assignment." Youji answered as he watched Omi open the car door and get in. He then took out his old cigarette and tossed it out the car window. He then noticed the cut on Omi's hand. "How did you...?" Youji stopped as he realized where Omi had just come from.

"I just made a promise, that's all." Omi replied.

"I understand." Youji was a little troubled at seeing his usually cheerful friend like this. "Just don't let that promise make you lose yourself."

"I won't." Omi assured him. "I know that Ouka wouldn't have wanted that either."

Youji nodded and started driving.

(Looks like I'm not the only one who has problems trying to get over the death of a girlfriend.) He thought as he glanced back at Omi. (For his sake, I hope he manages to get over it. If he broods over it for too long, he'll end up like me.)

"Omi, there's one thing you should know." Youji spoke. "It's natural to grieve, but don't brood over the death of a loved one too much. Nothing good will come out of it, believe me I know."

"Have you gotten over the death of your loved one?" Omi asked in return.

"Not completely, though that's an impossibility." Youji answered. "The pain won't ever fully go away, but it will subside some over time."

Omi was silent for a few minutes until he finally spoke.

"Maybe." He said. "So what's our mission going to be?"

"Manx and Birman are going to brief us on it once we get to the shop." Youji answered. "Hope everyone else is there when we arrive."

Subchapter 4: Ken

"Alright, guys, that's enough for today!" Ken Hidaka called to the kids who were practicing soccer. He was doing his part time job as a volunteer soccer coach at a rec center. "Nice job!"

"Thanks, coach." One of the kids said.

"Well, why don't you guys grab some drinks and snacks in the cooler while waiting for your parents to come?" Ken suggested to the kids who quickly ran over to the cooler he had brought along. He then heard the sound of an approaching motorcycle, and turned around, knowing who the biker was.

"Hey, Yuriko." Ken called out to his girlfriend, a woman in her twenties with long brown hair, wearing a standard bikers' outfit. "How'd things go at the bike shop today."

"Busy as usual, Ken. There's always someone who either needs a tuneup or needs some new parts." Yuriko Asou replied to her boyfriend. "So, how's practice been?"

"The kids are doing great with their practicing." Ken answered. "They'll probably win a lot of games if they keep practicing like this."

"You're pretty good with kids, you know that?" Yuriko observed with a smile.

"I'm just good at teaching soccer." Ken shrugged. "So what do you want to do after this?"

"How about dinner?" Yuriko suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Ken then seemed to remeber something. "Oh, before I forget, there's something I need to give you."

"What's that?"

"This." Ken answered and then drew her to his face and they kissed.

"OOOOOO!!" The kids on Ken's soccer team said as they watched their coach and his girlfriend make out.

"Now, now, let Mr. Hidaka and his girlfriend have their privacy." A chaperone spoke. "Besides, you kids need to go to the parking lot and wait for your parents."

"Oh, they can stay." Ken said. "Yuriko and I are just going kiss a little and then do some more lovie-dovie stuff. Right, Yuriko?"

Yuriko blushed a little before speaking.

"As long as you manage to include that poem you wrote for me, honey." She said and then rested her head on Ken's shoulder.

The sound of the running feet of the kids soon followed as they quickly left and headed to the parking lot.

The chaperone laughed as he watched the kids depart in a hurry.

"You know, I never would have thought of that." He admitted and turned to Ken and Yuriko. "Well, have a good evening you two." And then the chaperone left.

"But I can't even write poetry." Ken said to Yuriko who giggled at that.

"I know that, silly." She said. "I just thought you'd want some help, but enough about that. Where should we go for dinner?"

"Well, I know about this great new sushi place that just opened a few weeks ago." Ken suggested. "I hear that their oh-toro (fatty tuna), is really good too."

"Sounds great!" Yuriko replied and then smiled slyly at Ken. "So what do you want to do for dessert?"

"Well, I'm not sure what the restaraunt's..." Ken then realized what Yuriko meant and then returned the smile. "Well, I can think of a great place for that. It's..." Ken was interrupted as his cell phone rang. Unfortunately for him, Ken couldn't turn off the phone, due to his position in Weiss.

"Sorry." Ken said to Yuriko and then reluctantly answered his phone. "Yes?"

"Ken, we've got a new mission." Ran's voice spoke. "You need to get over to the shop right now so we can be fully briefed on it by Manx and Birman."

(NOOOO!!) Ken moaned mentally.

"Alright, I'll be there, Ran." Ken replied and turned off his phone.

"Let me guess, you've got a mission?" Yuriko asked.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Ken answered. (I guess it's a good thing Yuriko found out about me. At least this way I don't have to make up excuses for missing dates and all.)

Flashback: Three Months Before, 2012:

"All right, I've sighted the targets." Omi reported over his cell phone to his Weiss partners while looking through the scope of his PSG-1T. "Two of them are tailing a woman and another is driving in a car not too far from them."

"That's good, let's wait until they corner their target before we attack." Ran said as he followed the two following men; Youji was with him. Omi was going to provide sniper cover fire in case the men had more weapons then they appeared to have.

The three men Weiss were after were three serial killers that had so far been able to elude the police and were also starting to hire themselves out to various gangs and drug lords. Omi had been able to find the men using his hacking skills and the group had immediately proceeded to begin their attack. It was nighttime as they were doing this.

"Ken, how are you doing?" Ran asked on his cell phone.

"I'm keeping up with the car as we speak." Ken answered. He was following the car in his motorcycle to stop the murderers in case they tried to make a get away.

A few minutes passed until, Omi spoke.

"The woman's entered a parking lot and the men are still following her." He reported. "Ran, we'd better get ready to make our strike soon if we don't want her to get hurt. Hey, hold on a minute...Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Ran asked.

"That woman, I think she's Miss Asou. The one Ken's dating."

"WHAT?!" Ken shouted.

"Ken, don't!" Ran shouted but his shout proved to be in vain as Ken revved up his motorcycle and sped past the car he was supposed to follow.

Ran and Youji watched as the motorcycle sped by them and turned to where the parking lot was.

"Damn it! Youji, keep an eye out for that car. I'll head to the parking lot." Ran ordered and spoke into his cell phone. "Omi, get over here as quick as you can."

"Already on my way!" Omi shouted through the cell phone.

(I don't really blame Ken for being like this.) Ran thought as he ran towards the parking lot. (If Sakura was in Yuriko's place, I'd probably be doing the same thing.)

Meanwhile: Parking Lot:

As Yuriko unlocked her motorcycle, she suddenly felt something cold and sharp press against her throat.

"Don't make a sound, understand." A man's voice ordered her. "Just do as my friend and I say, and you'll live."

"Don't worry about anything." A second man's voice said with a snicker. "We're just going to go and have a little private conversation, where no one will disturb us, and then we'll part ways."

"I won't let you..." Yuriko began as she reached for her pocket slowly.

"Nice try, but don't even think of touching that pepper spray or whatever it is you've got on you." The first man said pressing the knife closer to her throat. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you. At least not..." He was interrupted by the sound of Ken's motorcycle as it roared into the parking lot. The man turned just in time to see the approaching motorcycle and the flash of Ken's steel clawed glove just before the claws raked across his face.

The man shrieked in pain, dropped his knife, and fell to the ground screaming and clutching his maimed face.

Ken quickly stopped his motorcycle in front of Yuriko, who immediately recognized him.

"Ken, what...?" She started.

"I'll explain later!" Ken replied. "Get under cover now!"

"Too late for that!" The other man shouted and charged at him with a knife drawn. "You're gonna pay for what you did to my buddy!"

"You first!" Ken said as he dodged the man's knife thrust and then quickly slashed the man across the stomach with his claws. The man clutched his stomach as he fell to the ground.

"Ken, are you all right?" Yuriko said as she got out from behind the motorcycle and walked over to him.

"I'm fine, Yuriko." Ken answered and then looked at his blood stained claws. "I guess it's obvious what I am. My real job is an assassin, not a florist. That's why I was reluctant to get into a relationship when we first met each other." He then looked away from Yuriko. "If you don't want to see me again, I understand comple..." Ken stopped as he felt Yuriko's arms wrap around him.

"Ken, I don't care about that." She said and then looked at him full in the face. "Ken Hidaka, I love you for you, and I don't care what you are. I even decided to move back to Japan from Australia so I could be with you."

"I thought you said that you moved back because the Australian climate was too messed up from Second Impact." Ken said.

"That was sort of true." Yuriko replied and looked at Ken. "You don't mind that, do you?"

"Not at all." Ken said and then returned her embrace, relieved to know Yuriko accepted him. "I love you, Yuriko."

"And I love you, Ken." Yuriko said sincerely and kissed him.

"Glad to see things turned out alright." Ran's voice said, causing the two to turn in his direction.

"I suppose she knows about us now?" He asked.

"Yes. She does." Ken answered. "Ran, don't worry, she can keep a secret."

"I'll take your word for it." Ran then smiled slightly at the two of them. "I'm glad for you two, actually."

(Ran's...smiling?) Ken thought. (I guess being with Sakura has changed him some.)

"What about the third guy?" Ken asked remembering.

"He tried to run, but Youji and Omi took care of him." Ran answered and glanced at the two would be murderers and noticed one of them, the one with the now ruined face, was still alive but unconscious from blood loss. He then walked over to the killer, drew his katana, and smoothly ran the man through.

"This assignment is over now." Ran then turned to Ken and Yuriko. " Omi's already hacked into the security system and deactivated the security camera. Let's go before the police arrive."

"Right." Ken and Yuriko said in unision.

End Flashback...

"You'll be careful, right?" Yuriko asked.

"Of course, I will." Ken answered. "We'll just have to postpone our date, I guess."

"I'll see you later then." Yuriko said and then kissed Ken. "Be careful, okay."

"I promise, I'll come back in one piece." Ken then got onto his motorcycle. "See you later." And his motorcycle sped off and was soon out of sight.

AN: Well, that's the bonus chapter! The briefing takes place in the next chapter. Oh yeah, for those of you who have seen Weiss Kreuz and have forgotten who Yuriko is, she's a motorcyclist Ken meets in episode 5 of the series. The two don't hit it off at the end, but I thought they'd make an interesting couples so I decided to fix that. Well, I'll have the next chapter up when I can, and don't worry, it will be longer than this chapter. For now, please read and review.


	18. Chapter 17: Help From Friends

AN: Now that Weiss' bonus chapter is done, it's time to move on with the main story. To GreyWolf4, this chapter will probably be to your liking. No it's not Riku and co.'s fight with Shade (that's not going to be for a while yet), but this chapter will work as a nice little prelude of what's to come.

Oh yeah, oh-toro (fatty tuna) is a type of sushi that's very good and usually pretty expensive (AN: To those of you who've seen the very entertaining anime and manga GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) you know what I'm talking about).

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers. Also, Michael 'Venom' Hansen belongs to GreyWolf4

Well, enjoy this chapter everyone!

Chapter 17: Help From Friends

Neo Tokyo:

"So you need us to help you in preventing the Mikage from capturing this Maya girl, correct?" Maki asked Riku. They were sitting in a seat in the ramen restaurant, both with finished ramen bowls on the table.

"Pretty much." Riku answered. "Ordinarily, my partners and I would be doing this. However, they're protecting our new friends in case the Mikage try something during the funeral for Chidori's grandparents. So I need your help in this."

"We'd be glad to." Maki replied. "I'll make the necessary arrangements so the Mikage won't discover us. In fact I have an idea on how we can get Miss Hirobe away from any of the Mikages' men and to you."

"What is it?"

"Well, apparently there was an incident about a year ago where a teacher and some of the students at Miss Hirobe's school were injured under mysterious circumstance. We'll just have Rio and Lilica drive up to her house and take her here 'supposedly' for questioning about it." Maki then noticed Riku's expression. "What?"

"Actually, she did have something to do with that." Riku said. "Don't bother with actually questioning her; if you submitted a report on that, most people would call you crazy."

"Let me guess, it has something to do with supernatural stuff?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, it does." Riku answered. "What about the others?"

"Nanvel will be providing technical support, while Yuji flies Maya overhead so she can provide sniper cover in case the Mikage try anything. So where in Miyagi should we meet you tomorrow?"

"Here's the address for the house I'll be at." Riku then handed Maki a piece of paper. "Have everyone meet me there in the early morning, around six or so, so we can get everything set up."

"I understand." Maki said. "Good luck tomorrow."

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Nagi stood in front of a mirror wearing a somber black outfit which he was going to wear to the funeral which would take place later that day.

(This is the first time I've actually worn clothes like these.) He thought. (It's also a first for me to go to a funeral too.) He then shook his head. (I really wish we'd have been alerted to all of this sooner so maybe we could have done something to keep this from happening. No one deserves to lose a loved one.)

"Nagi, we'll be going soon." Tot said from the door. She was wearing a black dress Suzumi had lent her.

"I know, Nanami." Nagi replied as he adjusted his tie. He then felt for the beretta he had concealed in his jacket. "I'll be ready in a minute."

"Okay, Nagi, I'll wait in the living room for you." Tot/Nanami made to leave but stopped and looked back at Nagi. "Nagi...I..."

"Is something the matter, Nanami?" Nagi asked noticing his girlfriend's saddened expression.

"It's nothing. I guess I just feel sorry for Chidori and Shota. I'll go now." She then left.

(There's definitely something bothering her.) Nagi thought as he buttoned the jacket up. He then checked to make sure his beretta was well concealed. (One things for sure, though. If any of that damn Kagami's goons show up, they'll surely regret it.)

Two Hours Later: Miyagi:

Riku walked up to a house and knocked on the door. He waited for a few minutes until the door was opened. The one who answered was a woman in her thirties with short black hair cut in a style similar to Fuuko's.

"Riku, I was wondering when you were coming." The woman spoke. "Saicho and I got your call on the answering machine; so what's this about?"

"FOXHOUND business, Aunt Misora." Riku replied. "I'll tell you and Uncle Saicho in a moment. By the way, how's Kukai-sensei doing these days?"

"Father's doing just fine, and so are Daikoku and Minamio. None of us know where Fujimaru's been since he left ten years ago." Misora then turned back into the house. "Saicho, Riku's here!"

A minute later, a man in his thirties with short black hair, part of it covering the right side of his face, came to the door.

"Well, Riku, why don't you come inside and tell us what's going on?" Saicho asked.

"Sure thing." Riku answered with a grin and followed the married couple inside.

Later:

"I see..." Saicho said after he and Misora heard what Riku had to tell them. "So you basically need to stay here till tomorrow so you can keep the Mikage from getting this Hirobe girl. That shouldn't be a problem." He then turned to Misora. "Right, dear?"

"Of course not." Misora replied. "In fact..."

"Before you guys offer to provide direct assistance, my answer is no." Riku said firmly. "Saicho, your heart condition may have improved over the years, but I'm not going to let you or Misora risk yourselves unnecessarily. I've got all the help I need with my friends from Warrior."

"But we..." Saicho stopped and also noticed his wife's 'don't tell him' expression. (What am I thinking? I can't tell him about Team Ku's alliance with Warrior along with the Hokage and the Uruha.)

"You what?" Riku asked.

"We err...we just want to help, that's all." Saicho answered.

"Riku, you're practically family to us." Misora spoke. "Neither Saicho, or I, or any of the rest of Team Ku, would be comfortable just standing by idly while you yourself get in risky situations."

"Now you're starting to sound like Mom." Riku replied.

"Good, that's proof that Yanagi's doing a good job at being your mother." Misora said.

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to comfort me." Riku said and then smiled. "Heh. It's great to be back. It almost reminds me of when I lived here for a while to train with Kukai, Saicho, Daikoku, and Minamio. Too bad I can't stay long."

"Then we'll just have to make the most of it." Saicho replied.

Meanwhile: Police Town: Maki's Office:

"So Riku needs our help after all, huh?" Rio said after she and the rest of Team Warrior had heard from Maki.

"I'd better thank Riku for that." Maya spoke. "I finally get a chance to shoot something! I hope those Mikage guys send their best!"

"You might actually get your wish." Maki replied. "Well, let's get to work. Everyone, be ready to head to Miyagi ASAP early tomorrow morning; Lilica, right now I need you to monitor the Mikage's activities so we can find out when they are planning their strike."

A mix of 'right's and 'you got it's followed as Team Warrior began preparing for their new mission.

Meanwhile: Funeral Home:

Nagi and Tot sat in some chairs outside the main doors posing as ushers while in reality guarding Yuhi, Chidori, and Suzumi. Tot eventually looked over at Nagi after a few minutes and spoke.

"Is this what all funerals are like, Nagi?" She asked causing Nagi to turn to her.

"I can't really say, Tot." Nagi answered. "This is the first time I've actually been a part of a funeral. Why do you ask?"

"It's just...this keeps making me think about Schon, Hel, and Neu." Tot replied with a saddened expression. "It's not that they didn't get a funeral; I've had their funeral in my heart ever since they died and something like this won't change that. It's that none of them have a resting place for me to visit them or lay flowers on their grave." She then looked at Nagi and it was obvious that she was holding back tears. "I guess I'm being inconsiderate to Chidori and Shota. I mean I'm just thinking about me instead of..."

"Nanami, there isn't anything wrong with that." Nagi spoke and then he put his hand on Tot/Nanami's shoulder. "Nanami, when you told me I've changed since I met Riku, I've noticed you have too."

"I have?" Tot/Nanami asked.

"Of course you have." Nagi answered. "For example, you're a lot more concerned about others than you were before, and also, I think you've grown up a lot since then."

"Grown up?"

"I mean...well... you're a bit more mature than before." Nagi then blushed a bit. "You're actually a lot cuter this way..."

"I...uh..." Tot/Nanami blushed after she heard this. "Th...thank you, Nagi."

The two of them were silent for a few minutes, until Nagi broke the silence, sort of.

(Hey, Nanami, whatever happened to Rabbi-chan?) He asked. AN: He's talking about the stuffed rabbit Tot carried around in the series

(I lost him while Schwartz was chasing me.) Tot/Nanami answered regretfully. (Poor Rabbi-chan, he was such a very soggy little bunny after we got separated.)

(Was it really that bad?)

(I'd just lost my family and I didn't know where you were, Nagi. I didn't want to be alone...)

(Nanami...) Nagi then decided to change the subject, since he didn't want Tot/Nanami to be sad. (Why did you have stuffed rabbit instead of a real one, just curious?)

(Schon was allergic to real bunnies so they got me Rabbi-chan instead.) Tot/Nanami replied with a shrug and then she smiled at Nagi. (But I don't think I need Rabbi-chan anymore. It feels much better when I'm snuggling up with you, Nagi.)

(N-Nanami!) Nagi blushed furiously.

(Was it something I said?) Tot/Nanami asked with a genuinely clueless expression on her face.

(Uh...forget it.) Nagi replied and then thought to himself. (Mature or not, she's still innocent about this stuff.)

(Hey Nagi, who do you think the colonel will send to back us up?)

(I don't know. It's too bad Garland's mission began just after we left. He'd definitely have been a great help.)

(Maybe they'll send Michael.) Tot/Nanami suggested. (He'd be a great help too. A smart guy like him would probably be able to outsmart anything the bad people send at us.)

(Not to mention he's a great fighter too.) Nagi added as he remembered meeting FOXHOUND's number one strategist.

Flashback: 1 Month Before: Japanese FOXHOUND HQ:

"Gosh, that was harder than I thought it would be." Tot said as she got out of the VR training room. She had just beaten Raiden's Level 9 elimination mode using her Muramasa in place of an HF blade. "To think Jack-san was able to do all this in real life. He really is good." She then heard the door to the VR room next to her open and Nagi stepped out.

"How was yours, Nagi?" She asked.

"Tough, Tot, that's for sure." Nagi answered. "Fighting a VR version Vulcan Raven was tough, especially at extreme mode."

"Couldn't you have used your powers to shield yourself?"

"I was, and I still had to dodge his attacks so I could have time to attack him."

"I think the both of you were pretty amazing back there." A new voice spoke. Nagi and Tot turned to a see a European man in his early thirties with black hair and grey eyes. He was wearing casual FOXHOUND attire of a medium sized grey t-shirt with the group's insignia on the left breast pocket, and a pair of jeans.

"Thank you, sir." Nagi said politely. "I haven't seen you around here before, but then again Tot and I are new around here."

"Well, I was on an important mission for FOXHOUND, and I decided to stop in Japan to meet with some friends of mine." The man replied and then offered his hand which Nagi and Tot shook. "My name is Michael Hansen; my FOXHOUND codename is Venom."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Hansen." Nagi said. "It's great to meet another fellow recruit."

"Same here." Tot added.

"You two can just call me Michael if you want." Michael replied with a friendly smile. "I'd heard that a new psychic soldier had joined FOXHOUND along with a new blade wielder. I take it that's you two."

"Yep. That's us." Tot said cheerfully. "My name's Tot and I am Nagi's girlfriend. My codename is Usagi Ninja."

Michael sweat dropped at the codename and turned to Nagi.

"I take it you're Nagi." He said to him and Nagi nodded.

"My full name is Nagi Naoe." Nagi replied. "As Tot said, I'm her boyfriend and my codename is Mystic Crow."

"I'm pleased to meet the both of you." Michael said. "Anyway, I was wondering if you knew a recruit named Riku."

"Oh we know him." Tot replied. "He's our partner."

"Well, Riku always was a team player." Michael smiled. "Since you're here, then Riku probably is."

"You're right about that, Michael." Riku said appearing (ninja style) right behind Michael. "Looks like you're getting along with my partners pretty well."

"I certainly am, Riku." Michael replied, turning to Riku. "Those two certainly seem to be pretty formidable fighters for their age. Though that's not very surprising since they're your teammates."

"Thanks Mike. So what are you doing over in Japan?"

"I finished my mission over in Korea so I decided to stop by in Japan to speak with a few friends of mine; both in and out of FOXHOUND."

"How'd the mission go?"

"Challenging, but not impossible." Michael shrugged. "So how'd you end up being partnered up with those two?"

"I had a hand in their recruitment." Riku replied. "There are a couple more minor details, but let's not bother with that now. By the way, how are Heidern, Leona, Ralf, and Clark doing?"

"They were fine last I heard."

"Heidern?" Nagi asked. "You don't mean General Heidern of the Ikari team, do you?"

"The very same." Riku answered. "I met them, along with Michael, on one of my earlier FOXHOUND missions years ago. I'll tell you two about that some time. Anyway, I'd better give you some info on my friend here. He's an absolute genius when it comes to tactics. In fact, he's FOXHOUND's number one tactician."

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that." Michael spoke.

"Well it's true or close enough to it." Riku replied. "This guy's IQ is over 200 and he's got a good taste in literature too. But don't let that fool you, Michael's techniques and experience would give even me a hard time in a fight."

"If you're that good, Nagi and I wouldn't mind training some with you, Michael." Tot spoke.

"Sure, why not?" Michael replied. "Follow me." He then turned and walked down the hallway and the three of them followed him until they came to a training hall.

"Alright then." Michael turned to Nagi and Tot. "We'll spar here. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course, Michael." Nagi answered.

"ACK! I just remembered!" Tot exclaimed and then dashed out of the training hall at surprising speed. She returned a few minutes later carrying a bokuto.

"...huff...huff...I forgot my bokuto." Tot said between breaths, after running from the training hall, to the locker rooms, and then back to the training hall. This caused everyone in the room to sweat drop as they realized this.

"Um...Tot, there are some bokutos right over there." Riku said, indicating a set of wooden swords hanging on the wall.

"Oops, sorry." Tot said, rubbing her head, causing Riku and the others to sweat drop again. "Well, I'm ready to start."

"Are you sure you don't want to catch your breath first, Tot?" Nagi asked. "It really wouldn't be good if you collapsed from exhaustion."

Tot then smiled at Nagi's concern for her and then threw her arms around him, causing Nagi to blush furiously.

"You're so nice." She said. "Nagi, daisuki (I love you)."

"T-Tot, n-now isn't..." Nagi stammered as Tot pressed herself closer to him, making him blush even more.

(These two are certainly an interesting pair...) Michael thought; trying not to laugh as he watched them.

"Excuse me, Tot?" Michael spoke, causing Tot to turn her attention to Michael. "Judging from how I saw you handle your katana during the VR mission, you seem to do pretty well with handling your weapon. Do you use any particular style of swordsmanship?"

"My style is Hyomon-ken (Ice Crest Sword)." Tot replied. "I was trained by a close friend of Riku's family, Tokiya Mikagami."

"I've only heard rumors of Hyomon-ken." Michael said. "From what I've heard, it uses the moisture in the air as a medium for some of its attacks. But from what it looks like, you've also integrated techniques for fencing, as well as kendo, into your fighting style."

"Gosh, you know a lot about swordsmanship, Michael." Tot said in amazement. "I only know a bit of fencing because that's how I used my old weapon, and the kendo part is from what a classmate of mine from school, Ryoko Mitsurugi, taught me. How were you able to figure out how I use my sword?"

"I'm pretty good at kendo myself." Michael answered. "And I've seen various types of styles for swordsmanship before. If you'd like, I could show you some ways to make your skills more affective." He then turned to Nagi. "If you'd like, I could also teach you some skills in hand to hand combat."

"I'd take that lesson if I were you." Riku spoke. "It's not everyday you get to train with someone who uses the famous Heidern style of fighting. I managed to learn a couple of tricks from training with Michael myself."

"Why not?" Nagi said with a smile and then looked at Tot. "How about you, Tot?"

"Of course, Nagi." Tot replied. "Let's start!"

"Hold on, before we begin, let's have our sparring match first so I can fully measure up your skills." Michael spoke and then got into a fighting position. "Shall we?"

"Let's go, Tot." Nagi said enthusiastically.

End Flashback...

Present:

(Riku sure wasn't joking about Michael being an extraordinary fighter, though.) Nagi thought as he remembered his and Tot's fight with Michael. (He managed to beat the both of us, even when I used my powers. Too bad he's on a mission right now; I'm sure Nanami and I would put up a much better fight now, after training with Garland.)

"Hey Nagi, do you think we'd be able to beat Michael in a sparring match after we trained with Garland?" Tot asked.

"You read my mind." Nagi answered. "Maybe we could. We'll just have to wait and see when we spar with him again."

"I can't wait." Tot said with a cheerful smile.

3 Hours Later: Koneko no ie Sume Flower Shop:

"Glad to see that you're all here." Manx said to all four members of Weiss. They were in the usual briefing room in the back of the shop, along with Birman.

(Can't exactly say I feel the same way.) Ken thought mournfully as he remembered he was missing a night of romance with Yuriko.

"So what's our mission supposed to be?" Youji asked. "Since we're doing this for Philanthropy, this probably will be different from our usual missions, right?"

"That's correct." Manx answered. "Our assignment is to aid FOXHOUND in an important mission. They're short on aid from their own recruits, so we were called in for assistance."

"You're right about this being different from our usual missions." Omi spoke. "So who in FOXHOUND are we aiding?"

"I'll give you three guesses." Manx replied.

"Three...?" Ken asked. "Hold on...you don't mean...?"

"Let me guess, the ex-Schwartz kid, his girlfriend, and their ninja pal, huh?" Youji spoke.

"None other." Birman said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Omi asked.

"We can talk about that later." Ran spoke seriously. "For now let's get to the details of the mission." He then turned to Manx and Birman. "For starters who are the enemy, who are our targets, our allies, and most of all, what's our overall objective?"

"It seems you'll never change at always being serious on the job." Manx shook her head. "I'll answer your questions, but first Birman is going to show you your new equipment."

"New equipment?" Omi asked.

"Now that we're with Philanthropy, our group is now receiving quite a larger amount of support, both in supplies as well as financially." Birman answered. "Now, I'll show you your new supplies." She then indicated a bunch cases off to the side. Ran and co. immediately knew what she meant and then each took a case and carried it over to the table; this process went on until they had carried all of them to the table.

"Before we get to the contents, these are for you." Birman said and handed each of them a codec. "This will make contact among all of us easier and much harder for enemies to monitor."

"Better communication stuff, huh?" Youji spoke. "What else are we getting?"

"Before you four leave, we'll be giving you a shot of nanomachines to give your codecs power, and also to monitor your vital signs." Manx said. "You'll also each have a soliton radar so you'll know about enemy positions in the area that you are, though there will be times where you'll have to access nodes in order to use it."

"I'm starting to like working for Philanthropy even more." Youji said with a grin. "So what other new toys are we getting?"

"These cases over here contain a set of chaff, hand, and stun grenades along with a set of claymore mines and C4." Birman indicated a set of cases labeled 'explosives'. She then pulled out a long case and handed it to Omi, who opened it and saw that it was PSG1-T.

"Um...Birman I already have one of these." He said.

"This one is slightly different from your current one." Manx replied. "This rifle has been customized for you to load and fire your poison darts, which you could only use before while either throwing them or fire from your blowgun. This is to improve your long range combat in situations where a sniper is required."

"I can definitely use this." Omi said as he checked the rifle. (And I know just what, or should I say who, my primary target will be when the time comes.)

"Any new weapons for the rest of us?" Youji asked.

"You already have your own weaponry; the rest will be OSP (on site procurement); the ones that don't have user identification, anyway." Birman answered. "The rest of these contain first aid equipment, along with some pentazemin for Omi."

"Don't forget those." Manx said, pointing to a smaller case. "The contents of the case are anti-personnel sensors; just in case the soliton radar either malfunctions or is jammed."

"You guys sure thought of everything, huh?" Ken spoke.

"That's our job, after all." Manx replied. "Ran, your codec frequency is 183.11; Youji, yours is 183.12, Ken, yours is 183.13, and Omi, yours is 183.14. My frequency is 183.15 and Birman's is 183.16. We'll both supply information and Birman will save your mission data."

"Is that all, now?" Ran asked

"Yes." Manx answered. "Now we shall tell you the details of the mission. The enemy is the Mikage conglomerate. They have been doing research, including experiments, on people believed to be descendants of the tennyo (celestial maidens) of old legend..."

Later:

"So our objective us to help FOXHOUND in stopping these people, right?" Omi asked after he and the rest of his teammates had heard the details of the Mikages' deeds.

"That's correct." Birman answered and then slid a picture of Kagami Mikage to the four of them. "This is the current target for assassination, Kagami Mikage. He's the head of Mikage International's research and development department."

"Call it a hunch, but I can just tell this guy's scum just by looking at this picture." Youji said as he looked at the picture.

"Whether that's true or not, it is part of the objective of both Weiss and FOXHOUND to eliminate him." Birman replied. "Your allies are the FOXHOUND recruits and their allies from the Aogiri family. Should the situation call for it, you will also receive back up from mercenaries from the Aogiri family's private army."

Youji whistled as he heard this.

"This mission sure has a lot more perks than any we've done before." He noted. "What's the catch?"

"You will most likely be going up against men sent by the Patriots as well as the Mikage, and they will most likely be in separate skirmishes due to the situation between the Mikage and the Patriots."

"Well, you've answered my questions." Ran spoke. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"A few more things, but let's get you guys your nanomachines first." Manx spoke. "The mission will begin tomorrow morning as soon as you arrive at this address." She then handed a piece of paper to Ran.

"Very well, then." Ran said as he took the paper and read the address. (So we're going to be aiding FOXHOUND after all. I hope this mission turns out all right."

Meanwhile: Cemetery:

Nagi and Tot sat in the Aogiri's car, waiting for Yuhi, Chidori, Shota, and Suzumi, who were paying their respects to the graves of Chidori and Shota's grandparents. Nagi kept a firm grip on his sniper rifle as he carefully looked around outside for any of the Mikage's men, and Tot had her sword ready to give Nagi support should the need arise.

A few minutes passed, and then the others arrived, all with somber expressions. As they got in, Nagi noticed that Yuhi had his arm around Chidori, and it didn't look like he was going to let go.

"Were there any problems?" Suzumi asked.

"No, there weren't." Nagi answered.

"Alright, let's go home, then." Suzumi said and then started the car and drove out of the cemetery.

As they were driving, Yuhi turned and looked at Nagi and Tot.

"Thank you for helping us even if it wasn't..." Yuhi began to say.

"Think nothing of it." Nagi replied. "Friends are supposed to help friends, right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

The rest of the drive back proceeded in silence.

2 Hours Later: Aogiri Residence:

"How are you feeling?" Yuhi asked Chidori. The two of them were in the living room, and Yuhi had just walked in. Shota had gone to sleep; the day's events had taken a lot out of him.

"Not so good, I'm afraid." Chidori answered sadly. "But the worst of it is over, I guess." She then looked at Yuhi. "You know, I never really thought I'd go through this again after my parents died; it's probably the same with Shota too."

"I know how you feel." Yuhi said. "I thought the same thing after my brother Kazuma died. Now that I think about it, the way that you're trying to be strong for Shota is probably how Suzumi decided to be strong for me after I stopped her from committing suicide after she had lost her and Kazuma's child soon after his death. Just remember, Chidori that Suzumi, Mrs. Q, and I are here for you and Shota."

"That almost makes me feel like I'm being a bother to you." Chidori spoke.

"None of us consider that, especially not me, Chidori." Yuhi looked at her seriously. "And don't be afraid to say when you're hurting."

"Yuhi..." Tears started to form in her eyes, and then she walked over to Yuhi and wrapped her arms around him. Yuhi returned her embrace and held her close.

"Thank you, Yuhi." Chidori said gratefully, trying not to make it obvious that she was crying. "I really love you, you know."

"I know, Chidori, and I love you too." Yuhi replied as he held the girl dearest to him to comfort her in her grieving.

The Next Day: Miyagi: 7:45 AM

Riku yawned as he waited for Rio and co. to arrive, his head rested against the windowsill and only one eye opened lazily.

(Maybe I should have slept longer.) He thought and then opened both eyes as he saw the van that Warrior always drove, followed by a police car, pull up into the driveway.

"It looks like your friends from Warrior have come." Saicho commented from behind him.

"Yeah, want to come out and say hello?" Riku asked.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline." Saicho answered. (The last thing I want is for Misora to get jealous.)

"Heh, you just don't want to end up in the doghouse, huh?" Riku said with a grin.

"Exactly." Saicho then smiled at Riku. "Take care of yourself, alright, and please try visiting some more. We'd like to meet these new friends of yours that you've partnered up with."

"Alright, I will. Tell Aunt Misora goodbye for me." Riku then walked to the front door of the house and was gone.

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Yuhi Aogiri woke up to find two things that were very apparent. One, he was once again sleeping on the sofa of the living room, and two, this time he was holding Chidori in his arms. Ordinarily, this would not have been a real problem, however, and Yuhi wasn't entirely sure whether to call himself extremely lucky or not, Chidori was now in her celestial maiden form. Again, this wouldn't have been a problem either, if Chidori was wearing clothes that fit her tennyo form, which wasn't the case. This left very little too the imagination for Yuhi, who was now blushing considerably and was also trying as hard as possible not to get a nosebleed.

(Must...think...of...something...else.) Yuhi thought desperately, as he tried, without success, to avoid noticing how Chidori's shirt did little to hide anything now that her bust size had increased from the transformation and how the skirt she was wearing now looked like an micro mini.

(Uh...let's see um...what did we cover in science class last week?) Yuhi tried desperately to remember. (Yeah, it was contraction and expansion due to...on second thought let's try something else.)

It was at that moment that Chidori woke up. She yawned, stretched a little (making Yuhi struggle even more not to get a nosebleed), and then looked over at Yuhi.

"Morning, Yuhi." Chidori said cheerfully.

"Uh...g-good morning." Yuhi stammered. (Must avoid looking, do not want her to think I'm a pervert or something.)

"Is something wrong?" Chidori asked innocently, but inwardly fought to keep from smiling at how Yuhi was blushing.

"Well...uh...um...Chidori you're in your tennyo form." Yuhi answered with a nervous gulp.

"I know." Chidori replied. "Last night, I woke up and I suddenly wondered how long I can stay in this form before I have to change back to my normal one, so I figured I'd give it a try before I went back to sleep."

"Um...Chidori...I think before you do that you should put on some clothes that would...well...fit you better in that form." Yuhi's face reddened even more.

Chidori looked down and realized that the current state of her clothes revealed a lot more than she had thought would be when she transformed and she blushed furiously.

"Uh...Yuhi...could you turn around for a bit?" Chidori asked.

"S-sure." Yuhi quickly turned around, while Chidori struggled to adjust her clothing so it wouldn't show too much of her.

(Maybe I should have thought of putting something else on before I transformed.) Chidori thought as she tried putting some buttons on the upper half of her shirt, which had come loose during her transformation, back together. (Still...it felt so comfy with Yuhi holding me like that.) She then glanced back at Yuhi and smiled. (He actually looks pretty cute when he blushes like that. Maybe I should try this more often.)

It was at that moment that Suzumi walked in, and as soon as she saw the two of them her eyes almost became as big as dinner plates.

"Uh, sis, this isn't..." Yuhi started, but stopped once Suzumi simply said nothing and fainted dead away. "Oh crap! How are we going to explain this?"

"How about this, I'll just change back and we can just tell Suzumi that she dreamed it." Chidori suggested.

"Not a bad idea." Yuhi agreed, but this was proven not to be as Shota walked into the room.

"Uh sis, what are you and Yuhi doing?" Shota asked sweat dropping.

Suffice to say, the day was once again not off to a good start.

Meanwhile: Koneko no ie Sume Flower Shop:

The four members of Weiss got into their car and then Ran, who was the driver, drove out of the back driveway of the flower shop.

"Damn, that shot Manx gave me for those nanomachines sure stung and it still does." Youji, who was sitting in the front seat, complained as he looked at the prick mark on his arm.

"Hey, at least with these we can talk to each other whenever we want without having to use cell phones." Ken said. "These things also help with recovery from injuries too. All in all, it sounds well worth a small shot to me."

"Nanotechnology, gotta love it." Omi agreed.

"Yeah, yeah, I agree there." Youji replied and then, rolled down the window he was next to, took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, and lit up.

"Ugh, Youji are you smoking again?!" Omi asked. "You really should quit, you know."

Before Youji could open his mouth to retort, Omi continued.

"For one thing, it'll turn you into an easy target during a mission." He lectured. "As for what those things can do to your health, I won't even go there. Have you seen pictures of what those can do to your lungs? Everyone knows it's a dangerous substance."

Youji removed the cigarette from his mouth to and hung the hand holding it out the window.

"So's this job we do." He replied to Omi casually. "But I'm not complaining."

"Hey, Omi just let him do what he wants. Trying to get Youji to quit is a lost cause, believe me." Ken spoke. "I don't think there's anything on Earth that can get Youji to quit smoking. "

"Thanks, Ken." Youji said, and suddenly dropped his cigarette. "Oh shit."

"Alright, Youji, if you really want to screw up your body than I guess there's nothing I can do since that's your business in the end." Omi said reluctantly. "But think about other people, okay?"

"No problem." Youji said while he fumbled around for his pack of cigarettes to get another one. "The kind I use is that new kind that has almost no second hand smoke. No harm done."

"Oh really?" Omi asked skeptically. "Didn't you just toss that last one out the window? Littering, polluting..."

"Umm..." Youji started, eyes shifting back and forth like he had been caught in a lie.

"You have a long way to go, my friend." Omi sighed.

"Thanks a lot, Omi, now I've completely lost the mood to smoke." Youji growled giving up the search for his cigarettes.

"Good, I won't have to get the car cleaned or air it out after you smoke a whole pack." Ran spoke.

"Everyone's against me." Youji said in mock drama. "We smokers have our rights, you know."

"If you want to smoke, then smoke." Ran said in irritation. "If not, shut up and let's just get to where we're supposed to go."

"Yes, oh fearless leader." Youji replied with a grin.

1 Hour Later: Miyagi:

Riku sat in the backseat of the police car Rio was driving; Lilica was in the front seat typing up something on her laptop. They were only a few blocks from where Maya Hirobe lived.

"Before you drop me off, can you explain what the plan is?" Riku asked Lilica.

"Well, like Maki told you, Rio will drive up to Miss Hirobe's house, say that she needs to take Maya in for questioning about some incident that happened at her school last year, and then drive her over to Police Town." Lilica answered. "While this is happening, Yuji will be flying a chopper overhead with Maya acting as a sniper in case the Mikage try attacking us."

"And what about Nanvel and me? Also, why did the van drive ahead of us?"

"Well, Nanvel will be in the van giving us some technical support. As for you, we'll drop you off a block away from the Hirobe residence, and you're going to head over there and keep an eye out for any of the Mikages' men and distract them if they decide to interfere. After Rio and I have left with Miss Hirobe, you get to the van and then drive to Police Town and meet us there."

"Alright, then let's get this started." Riku said. (I just hope this Maya girl doesn't see me and think I'm a stalker or something.)

Later: Outside Hirobe Residence:

"Lee-sama, we are prepared to make our strike." One of the Mikage goons reported over a radio. There were a dozen of them and they were concealed in some bushes and trees surrounding the house.

"That's good, my team and I shall proceed to join you once you give the signal." Lee's voice answered. "Remember, we need to do this quickly and quietly to prevent there being any unnecessary witnesses."

"Understood, sir." The man replied and then noticed a police car pull up in front of the house. "What the...?"

"Is something wrong?" Lee asked.

"A police car has pulled in front of the house and it looks like an officer is going to the door." The man reported. "Shall we do anything?"

"Wait and find out what this one wants first." Lee answered. "Proceed to attack only if you deem it necessary."

"Very well, sir, I shall contact you if that does occur." The man then put the radio away. He then felt something cold touch the back of his head, before he suddenly blacked out.

(One down, eleven more to go.) Riku thought as he watched the hit man fell over, unconscious from the dart fired by Riku's M9.

Meanwhile: Hirobe Residence:

Maya Hirobe, a seventeen year old girl with short dark hair and wearing glasses, was in the kitchen of her home, preparing for school, when she heard a knock at the door. Shrugging she went and opened the door and saw a woman with long blonde hair in a police uniform.

"Can I help you?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, is there a Maya Hirobe here?" The woman asked in reply.

"Yes, that's me." Maya replied. "Why are you asking?"

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you, kid, but I'm afraid that I need to take you over to the police station for questioning." The woman then looked around. "Are any of your parents around?"

"Yes, my mother is in. I'll go and get her; could you wait outside for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure." After, the door closed, the woman then activated her codec.

"How are things going on your end, Riku?" She asked as Riku's face appeared on screen.

"I've just knocked out the sixth one." Riku answered. "There are still another six left and I'm doing my best not to alert them. How about you, Rio?"

"Well, first I need to talk with the girl's mom first." Rio replied. "Anyway, I'll talk to you in a little bit." She then ended the transmission. A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a middle aged woman.

"What is this about, maam?" The woman asked.

"I'll explain in a minute." Rio answered. "May I come in first?"

"Of course, maam." The woman replied and Rio followed her inside.

Meanwhile: Outside:

(Why haven't we been sent in yet?) One of the Mikage goons wondered as he listened for any communication from his radio. (An extra witness to dispose of shouldn't be problem, even if it is a cop. So why...?) He was then interrupted as someone tapped him on the shoulder. The man turned around to suddenly be staring right at the barrel of Riku's M9.

(OH SHIT!!) The hit man thought as he realized the situation he was in.

"Looks like you're the last one left, mister." Riku said with a grin.

The hit man made to grab his beretta at his side, but Riku quickly pressed the barrel against the man's forehead.

"Ah ah ahhh. You wouldn't want this gun of mine to go off now, would you?" Riku warned waving his left index finger in warning.

"Y-YOU!" The hit man recognized Riku from before. "You're that kid with the flames!"

"Well, you seem to know me, but I don't remember you." Riku replied. "But to me, all you hit men look alike."

"You...I'll..." The man started, trying to decide whether or not to make a grab for his gun.

"Now, now, you shouldn't try something suicidal." Riku advised. "You'll make your wife and kids cry."

"I don't have any kids, and most women find me offensive, I am single." The man replied.

"Gosh, sounds like you have a pretty lonely life for a hit man." Riku noted.

The man then gritted his teeth when he realized he'd just fessed up as to how much of a loser he was.

"Would you just shut up?!" He shouted at Riku, completely forgetting he had a gun pointed at him.

"From your reaction, I'd say that you really need to find yourself a girl, man." Riku then paused. "Or is it because you have found one, but are simply incapable of wooing her?" Riku paused again before looking at the hit man curiously. "You're not a eunuch are you?"

"Why you little son of a...!" The man snarled in rage, and then made to take a swing at Riku, who simply pulled his head back away from the blow and then pulled the trigger of his M9, knocking the man out.

"Damn and I was starting to enjoy our little chat." Riku said as he put his M9 away. (Now to find where these guys' cars are; it wouldn't be a good idea for these guys to be able to pursue Rio and Lilica, after all.)

Meanwhile: Inside:

"So why do you need to speak with my daughter?" Mrs. Hirobe asked.

"We need to take her to the station for questioning about an incident that occurred at her school about a year ago." Rio explained.

Maya's eyes widened as she heard this.

(So it's finally catching up with me, huh?) She thought, but her mother spoke before she said anything.

"Now hold on a minute!" Mrs. Hirobe objected. "The police have already investigated the matter, so there isn't any point to that. Also, a friend of Maya's was a victim of that incident, I don't think..."

"It's alright, mother, I'll answer whatever questions that the police have for me." Maya spoke as she got up.

"But Maya..."

"I have my reasons for this, mom, I'll be fine." Maya assured her. "Please, let me do this."

Mrs. Hirobe was silent for a minute before speaking.

"Alright, I'll consent to this." She said.

(I really wish I could tell them that I was the one responsible for that incident.) Maya thought as her mother and Rio talked some more. (But even if I could, that wouldn't even be nearly enough to make up for what I did.)

Meanwhile:

"Well, that should keep them from going anywhere." Riku said as he walked out of the alleyway that the Mikage goons had kept their cars hidden. He was about to reach the outside when he suddenly felt something cool and sharp against his neck.

"Don't move." A voice warned him. "If you try calling for help, I'll slit your throat."

(What the...?) Riku thought. (I didn't even sense him, not until he was right behind me.)

"Who are you?" Riku asked, keeping his voice low. "An ally of the Mikage?"

"No, but I'm not one of your allies either, young ninja." The man answered.

"What do you want?"

"I merely wished to speak with you, boy. I've been observing how you took out each one of those men, and it's obvious, from what I saw, that you're a genuine ninja and not just a wannabe."

"And from the way you snuck up on me, I'd say you are a ninja too." Riku noted.

"You are correct." The man replied. "What's your clan?"

"Why should I tell you?" Riku asked rudely, not liking the vibes he was getting from this newcomer. (Usually I feel some sort of kinship to other ninjas and that makes it easier to get along with them, no matter how bad a rep. their clan had, but in this case, this guy's very presence makes me uneasy. Who the hell is this guy?)

"Because I'll slice your head off with this if you don't." The man then pressed the curved edge of his weapon against the back of Riku's neck. "You see your style of ninjutsu, it is familiar to me, but I can't place what clan uses that style. I highly suggest that you refresh my memory, if you want to keep your health."

"Judging by the curve of that weapon, that's a chakram." Riku spoke as if he didn't hear the man's threat. "That's a highly unusual weapon for a ninja to use, since that's an Indian weapon. You must be quite skilled if you can use something like that; it's quite different from a shuriken, and it's much harder to avoid slicing off your own fingers while throwing it."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, boy."

"Who said anything about flattery? I was just describing your weapon. Anyway, why don't you tell me your clan, since you want to know mine so badly?"

"I am from the Koga clan, or I was."

"I see...so you're a kenin (rogue ninja). So what did you do to get your clan to throw you out?" Riku then heard a sharp intake of breath, indicating he had hit a sensitive spot.

"That is none of your business, wretch." The man replied.

"Looks like I touched a sensitive spot." Riku noted. "Anyway, there's no point in telling you my clan. To the rest of the ninja world, my clan is extinct. Besides, I value the name of my clan, so I won't give it to someone like you so lightly."

"Do you want to die?" The man asked threateningly, this time pressing the chakram's edge enough to draw blood from a small cut.

"We all die from something." Riku answered with a shrug, ignoring the slight pain of the cut. "In fact you may end up dieing sooner than you think."

"Enough of this nonsense; now tell me what I want to..." He was interrupted by the sudden sound of a gun going off, and was knocked back as a bullet struck him in the stomach.

Riku immediately heard a grunt of pain from the man, and then the feel of the chakram's edge left him.

"Got ya." Riku said, turning around with a kunai drawn out in his right hand, only to find nothing but a blood stain on the ground behind him.

(He's gone...) Riku thought, carefully looking around, shuriken ready. (That was weird, from what I could see from how our shadows were positioned, I should have gotten him in the stomach.) Riku then looked at his left arm, which had a smoking hole in the wrist area of the suit. He reached into the hole, and pulled out a small derringer that he had concealed in that sleeve.

(Nothing's wrong with the gun.) Riku observed and then shook his head. (Oh well, at least he's gone for now, and right now I need to get back to the house, and when Rio's left with Hirobe-san, head back with Nanvel.)

Meanwhile:

Shade stood on top of the roof of a house as his wound to the stomach regenerated. However, he hardly noticed the pain, but focused more on his thoughts on Riku.

(That boy truly is an interesting one indeed. I truly am glad I decided to walk to my destination, or I would have missed this.) He thought. (The way he was able to stay calm even though I had caught him off guard, making him able to devise a plan to surprise me; very well done indeed. I haven't fought another ninja in a long time. This is going to be such fun, and since he's from FOXHOUND, he is most likely a friend of Michael's, this shall make things much more entertaining.)

Shade then looked over at where Riku was.

(I suppose I could kill him now, but why rush things? The job has only just begun, after all.) He thought. (I'll wait until a more appropriate moment. Now to go and wait until Crawford arrives.) Shade was about to leave when suddenly, something came to mind.

(That boy, something about him reminds me a little bit of the leader of the Hokage clan.) Shade thought. (Wait a minute could he be...no, that's impossible, the Hokage were exterminated. I myself saw to that over four hundred years ago when I was doing Nobunaga's dirty work. Oh well, I suppose I could always interrogate him on the matter later before I kill him. Now to head over to where Crawford instructed; I've killed enough time here.)

Shade then disappeared from where he had been standing, almost as if he had never been there.

Meanwhile:

(What the hell's going on?) Lee wondered as he watched Maya walk over to the police car along with an officer who was too far away for him to get a clear look at. (Why haven't my men made any intervention?) He then picked up his radio.

"What the hell's going on here, Yoshiwara, why haven't you done anything?!" He shouted into the radio, but only silence answered him. After a few minutes, he turned to the rest of his men, fifteen in all.

"There's been a change of plans; we're going to intercept that police car." He said. "Let's get to the cars now!"

The men then ran towards where their cars were and when they arrived they saw that they wouldn't be able to follow the police car. All of the cars had recently been set on fire and none of them looked like they were, or ever would be, in drivable condition.

As Lee stared at the burnt up remains of the cars, he heard his radio crackle to life.

"Hey Wei, what do you think of the job I did on your cars?" Riku's voice asked.

"You! You did this?!" Lee shouted at Riku through the radio.

"Yep, I did." Riku admitted. "I noticed your cars needed a little fire polishing, so I decided I should do the right thing and give you guys a free one, since I had the stuff to do it. Wasn't that considerate of me?"

Lee gritted his teeth in anger, and but was able to keep his cool.

"What the hell are you up to?" He asked Riku.

"Oh nothing at all, really; I just came over to Miyagi to do my job as a member of FOXHOUND." Riku answered. "Why do you think your little kidnapping mission went wrong?"

"I see, so you managed to somehow intercept our plans and get to Hirobe first." Lee noted. "Too bad for you; we have a back up plan in case of interference from outsiders."

"What?!" Riku exclaimed in surprise.

"You should have thought of that before you made your move, FOXHOUNDer." Lee smirked. "Some dragon you turned out to be, boy." He then switched the frequency to another one.

"This is Lee...yes, I need you to have your sniper take out a driver of a certain police car. Don't worry, we'll make the necessary cover ups."

"It will be done, sir." The receiver replied. "I just need to know what my man needs to shoot at."

A few Minutes Later: Mikage Chopper:

"Hey, I just got a call from Lee-sama." The pilot of the Mikage chopper said to the sniper behind him. "There's a police car below us that's getting in the way of our assignment. Handle it."

"With pleasure." The sniper replied, getting his rifle ready to aim. "Just unlock the door and I'll open it and take care of our little problem."

"Alright." There was a loud 'clunk' sound. "It's open."

The sniper then opened the door and then carefully pointed the rifle out of the opening.

"Lower the chopper a little...AARGH!" The sniper screamed and he clutched his right shoulder, dropping his rifle.

"What's wrong?" The pilot asked.

"Someone shot me!" The sniper shouted. "Those FOXHOUND bastards have probably got their own sniper, damn it!"

"Just quit your goddamned bitching and pick up your rifle!" The pilot ordered. "I'm getting paid for this and..." He was interrupted when he heard the window of his chopper crack. He looked and saw a bullet lodged in the bullet proof glass.

"On second thought, let's get the hell out of here!" He said and then steered the chopper in the direction of the Mikage base.

Had the pilot taken the time to look, he'd have seen a police chopper flying not too far above them, and that was where the one who had shot the sniper had fired from.

Meanwhile: Police Chopper:

"It looks like he's running away." Yuji said with a grin as he watched the Mikage chopper leave. "Nice shooting as always, Maya."

"But I only got to shoot my gun two times!" Maya Jingu complained. "This sucks! I was hoping these Mikage people would give me more stuff to blast!"

"Hey come on, Maya, we were able to mess up these guys plans right?" Yuji asked nervously. (I am so glad she didn't bring any heavy artillery with her.)

"Yeah, but I can't help but feel disappointed." Maya answered and looked over at a large pile of cartridges for her sniper rifle. "And I brought all this extra ammo along too! It's not fair!"

(I will never understand her.) Yuji thought as he activated his codec and switched to Rio's frequency.

"Hey, Rio, we took care of that Mikage chopper." He said as Rio's face appeared on the codec screen. "It looks like we were right about them using one."

"That's a relief." Rio sighed. "Well, Lilica and I will see you at Police Town." Rio then ended her transmission.

Meanwhile:

"A sniper shot at you!" Lee shouted as the pilot relayed the info to him. "From where?"

"I don't know, sir." The pilot answered. "From where the chopper was, it could have been the top of a building or another chopper. I wasn't going to stick around and wait for that sniper to get another clear shot though."

"So you turned and ran away with your tail between your legs like a coward." Lee finished.

"Wait, sir, it isn't..." The pilot began.

"I will be reporting this to the chief when I return." Lee said firmly. "Consider yourself lucky if you will be keeping your job thereafter."

(That insolent runt must have been acting and had a counter plan to ours all along. He may have won this little incident, but I will ensure that he and his group shall not succeed in interfering with our plans ever again.) He thought as he switched off the radio to end his transmission and looked at the burned remains of the cars he and his men had used. (And that makes it twice that he has humiliated me. I will kill him once I get my hands on him. Asamu will be able to fight soon, and then we shall show him the true strength of the guardinals.) He then switched the frequency so he could call for transportation back to headquarters.

Meanwhile: Police Car:

"Is this questioning really about what happened at my school last year?" Maya Hirobe asked looking at Rio, who was driving the car. Lilica had just finished typing something up on her laptop.

"Well...uh..." Rio started, not sure whether to lie or not.

"Rio, you're practically confirming her suspicions with that." Lilica spoke, placing her hand over her face with a sigh. She then turned to Maya. "The real reason we picked you up is because the Mikage were planning to kidnap you because you're a C-Genome."

"How do you know about that?" Maya asked; surprised to hear someone mention all the things Aya had told her a year ago.

"This will be explained as soon as we get to Police Town." Rio answered. "A friend of ours will meet you there and explain everything to you."

"How do you and the Mikage know that I'm a C-Genome?" Maya asked. "I stopped using my powers a year ago, and since I haven't fully reawakened how else could...?"

"We were told this, as for how the Mikage found out about you, there could be many reasons." Lilica answered. "My guess is that they went through data on your family bloodline and found that you were a descendant. Or maybe they were able to find out by looking at your medical records. Who knows?"

"So it seems as if these powers of mine won't let me live peacefully after all." Maya said regretfully. "But I guess this is punishment for what happened a year ago."

(I wonder what happened to this girl last year.) Rio thought as she glanced at Maya, who had a saddened look on her face. (I just hope things turn out alright for her in the end, what she said is starting to remind me of Greg.)

Meanwhile:

"Alright, Nanvel, let's head to Police Town." Riku said as he hopped into the van Nanvel was in.

"I just got a call from Yuji, he said everything worked out." Nanvel said as she started the van.

"It certainly did." Riku replied. "I'll tell you how things went on my side while you drive."

1 Hour Later: Police Town:

"My name's Riku Hanabishi." Riku introduced himself as he shook Maya Hirobe's hand. "Nice to meet you, Hirobe-san."

"The feeling's mutual, Hanabishi-san." Maya said. "So why do you need to meet with me?"

"Do you remember a girl that you met at your school last year named Aya Mikage?" Riku asked seriously.

"Yes, she's a friend of mine." Maya answered. "Do you know her?"

"Only slightly." Riku replied. "Actually, I'm part of a group that sent me, and two partners of mine, to protect her, her friends, and other C-Genomes from the Mikage family. Actually, you're pretty lucky we were able to get to you before the Mikage."

"Why is that?"

"Because they most likely would have killed your mother and anyone else in the house when they kidnapped you." Riku then noticed Maya's horrified expression. "I wish this was just a guess, but these guys have done that when they abducted other C-Genomes."

"Then I guess I should be thanking you all." Maya then looked at Riku and the members of Warrior gratefully. "Thank you all so very much for this."

"Hey, don't mention it, kid." Rio replied. "We were more than happy to help you out."

"Yeah, that's true." Yuji said in agreement. "I'd gladly help a pretty girl in distress."

"Hey, Yuji, helping in saving someone isn't a free ticket to a date, you know." Nanvel reminded him.

"Hey, it wasn't like that!" Yuji said in objection. "Not completely."

"Just ignore him." Lilica spoke. "Just consider it his way of saying 'you're welcome'."

"Uh...sure." Maya Hirobe replied, sweat dropping (AN: Have to have the last names so we don't confuse these two Mayas).

"Hey, kid, if these Mikage guys harass you any, just call me and I'll be glad to take care of them for you." Maya Jingu offered. "Some of the stuff in my gun collection aren't just collectors items, you know. I gotta have some chance to use 'em!"

(Are these people really with the police?) Maya Hirobe wondered.

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"Excuse me, Suzumi." Nagi said to Suzumi, who had just finished teaching her dance class.

"Yes, Nagi." Suzumi replied.

"I was wondering about something." Nagi said. "Are you planning on having Yuhi and Chidori attend school during this time?"

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not." Suzumi replied. "The Mikage, and quite possibly the Patriots, might have agents come after Chidori during that time. In fact they might have even placed some of their agents among the current faculty of Yuhi's school in preparation for this. They've done this before, you see."

"I think I have a solution." Nagi spoke. "But I need to talk to Riku about this first."

"What is it?" Suzumi asked.

"There's one school that I'm sure the Mikage don't have any agents among the faculty." Nagi smiled. "It's the school Riku, Tot, and I go to."

"What's the name of...?" Suzumi started, but was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. "I guess we should go and meet with Maya and Riku first."

"Right." Nagi agreed and then called out. "Tot, Riku's back! I'll go get Yuhi and Chidori."

"I'll go get Shota and Mrs. Q then!" Tot called back.

A few Minutes Later:

Nagi walked over to the door as he heard the doorbell ring over and over.

"Okay, Riku, I'm coming!" Nagi called out and then opened the door. "It's about time you...huh? What are you doing here?"

Nagi saw that the ones who arrived were none other than all four members of Weiss, and not Riku. Nagi just stood there slack jawed in shock since he wasn't expecting them to show up.

"Nice to see you too, kid." Youji said.

"Hey Nagi, why isn't...huh, aahhhh!!" Tot then had a similar expression to Nagi's as she just pointed at Weiss.

"Would you please stop that?" Ran asked. "Your boss, Roy Campbell, sent us to assist you in your mission."

"You guys?!" Tot exclaimed. (Why couldn't it have been Michael or Garland?)

"I know you guys were probably expecting fellow FOXHOUNDers, but I'm afraid we were sent instead." Omi spoke. "Can we speak with your partner?"

"Do you know these guys?" Yuhi asked as he came to the door.

"Yeah, it looks like they're our backup." Nagi said with a sigh and looked at the ones who used to be his and Tot's enemies. "Come on in. Riku's out but, he'll be here soon."

Meanwhile: Riku's Car:

Riku drove his car towards the Aogiri residence with Maya Hirobe in the front seat next to him.

"Don't worry, Hirobe-san, when we get there, you'll see some familiar faces." Riku spoke.

"Like who?" Maya asked. "Besides, Aya, I mean?"

For a moment there seemed to be a flicker of what looked like regret in Riku's eyes, but it quickly passed.

"Chidori Kuruma and Yuhi Aogiri." Riku answered.

"I know Chidori, but I don't know anyone named Yuhi." Maya replied.

"But didn't you meet him last...?" Riku suddenly smiled and fought to keep from laughing.

"What?"

"Oh nothing." Riku grinned. (She probably only remembers Yuhi when he was dressed as a girl at that school of hers. Oh this is going to be rich when she finds out!)

"Oh one more thing, could you just call me Maya and I'll call you Riku?" Maya asked.

"Sure, Maya, if you like." Riku answered and then saw that they were coming up to the Aogiri residence. "Well, we're here."

As Riku pulled into the driveway, he noticed another car parked there.

(I didn't know the others were having company.) He thought. (Oh well, it's probably one of Suzumi's students for that dance class of hers.) As Riku got out of the car with Maya, he looked at the new car again. (Why do I have the feeling it's not?)

Riku and Maya then walked up to the door and Riku knocked on the door. A few minutes later, Suzumi answered the door.

"Good, you're here." She said to Riku and looked over at Maya. "You must be Maya Hirobe. I'm Suzumi Aogiri, honored to meet you."

"The same here, maam." Maya replied.

Suzumi then turned to Riku.

"Riku, I need you to clear something up for us." She said seriously.

"What is it?" Riku asked.

"Just follow me." Suzumi then led them to the living room where Riku immediately saw what Suzumi was talking about. All four members of Weiss were sitting right across from Nagi and Tot and it didn't look like either party was all that happy to be there. Yuhi and Chidori were sitting not too far from them.

"I guess these guys are the backup Campbell sent us." Riku said with a sigh and looked at Suzumi. "Is that what you wanted to know?"

"That and since you seem to know them, could you tell us what the deal is between them and your partners over there?" Suzumi replied. "Even I can sense what's bordering on hostility here."

"That's a long story." Riku confessed. "I'll tell you all soon, first I'd better go talk with these guys." Riku then walked over to where Weiss and co. were sitting.

"Hey, I'm back." He spoke and looked at Yuhi and Chidori. "I think you two should talk with Maya and fill her in on what's going on while I talk to the new guys here."

"Alright, Riku." Chidori said as she and Yuhi got up. As they were leaving the room, Yuhi glanced back and noticed that Mrs. Q. was standing in the corner of the room looking at all four of the members of Weiss like a fox would eye a fat chicken.

"You're coming too!" Yuhi shouted, grabbing Mrs. Q. by the collar and dragging her out of the room with them.

After a minute of silence, Riku spoke.

"Alright, you guys, let's start talking." He said seriously. "We're working together so let's get used to it."

"Why don't you first explain everything that's going on, Hanabishi." Ran replied.

"Okay then, I'll start with what happened before our arrival." Riku said and looked at Nagi and Tot. "You guys help me in case I miss anything."

"Alright, Riku." Nagi answered and Tot nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, you guys." Riku said, turning to Ran and co. "This whole fiasco started a year ago, when two twins, Aya and Aki Mikage, turned sixteen. But this birthday party ended up making some missions I've been on look like regular birthday parties..."

AN: And that finishes Chapter 17. Hope all who read it enjoyed it. And to GreyWolf4, don't worry, I'm not confining Michael's appearance just to a flashback, he'll appear later on and I'm confident you'll find it to be most satisfying. Consider that to be a preview like Shade's appearance is for his eventual fight with Riku and co.

Now for some Easter Eggs:

Part of Riku's conversation with the Mikage hit man was based on a conversation Trigun's Vash the Stampede had with some bounty hunter guy in the first episode of the series.

Another part of the conversation was from Pirates of the Caribbean.

If you're reading this fic, it should be obvious what I based the conversation between Youji and Omi on smoking.

Omake: The Author's Power:

DF: Man, am I glad I finished this chapter! Especially with all the work college is giving me. (I grab the latest DVD collection for Naruto(THANK YOU E-BAY!). Now to catch up on some anime.

Suddenly a figure in black sneaks up behind me and points a gun at my head. It's none other than Kagami Mikage.

Kagami: Freeze!

DF (not bothering to put my hands up): Perfect timing. After doing a lot of reports and all, I need something to relieve some stress. Thank you for volunteering.

Kagami: Oh no you don't! I know you're planning something unpleasant for me later on in your story, so I'll get you before you get me! Any last words?

I reach over to my keyboard and type 'Kagami shoots himself in the foot'

Kagami does so.

Kagami: ARRRRGH!! My foot!

DF: Hey this is pretty fun. (suddenly gets an idea and grins evilly). Heh heh, now I know how Legato from Trigun must feel.

Kagami (sweats nervously): What are you planning?

I type 'Kagami walks to where Nagi and Tot are'

Kagami does so.

Nagi: What do you want?

Tot: Go away, evil wanker man!

I grin and then type words for Kagami to say.

Kagami: I have something to tell you.

Nagi (glares): What's that?

Kagami: Your girlfriend's good in the sack.

Nagi (expression turns extremely murderous): WHAT...DID...YOU...SAY?!

A bunch of psychic energy starts to resonate around Nagi, tearing up the ground around him (but avoiding Tot).

Tot (glares at Kagami): You must have said something mean about me from how Nagi's reacting.

Tot draws Muramasa.

Kagami: No wait, the author made me say that!

Nagi: Yeah right.

Screen shifts to me as I hear Kagami's screams as he meets a nasty death at the hands of Nagi and Tot.

DF (grins in triumph): I feel better already.

Anyway, please read and review! See ya next time...


	19. Chapter 18: Nagi Helps

AN: Well, here's chapter 18 of this story. Sorry about taking so long to update, but my computer had some weird glitch and lost this chapter making me have to write this all over again. Well, that aside, enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 18: Nagi Helps

Mikage Intl. HQ:

"How is the process going?" Kagami asked Alec. The two of them were in one of the labs standing behind an observation booth with bullet proof glass as the windows. In the center of the lab was the unconscious form of Shiso, who was strapped to a strange looking device and he appeared to be asleep.

"It's too early to say, sir." Alec answered. "It's taken a lot just to keep Shiso sedated so we could begin the procedure of restoring Aki."

"And how long do you think this will take?"

"I don't really know, sir. Bringing Shiso out was not very much of a problem due to the fact that Aki is his reincarnation, but getting rid of Shiso is proving to be more of a challenge than that. This could take weeks, and that's if we're lucky."

"I see...very well, continue with your operation and I want a constant report on this, is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Alec answered. "I'll make sure that happens."

"Good, I'm glad to see that you've come to your senses after that little incident with Toya." Kagami then smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not angry with you, we would have had to dispose of Toya's corpse eventually anyway. Just remember not to test my trust ever again. After all, C-Project would suffer quite a setback if you were no longer here, and also, without you to work on Aki's revival, the young master may end up having to have a tragic accident, you understand."

"All too well, chief." Alec replied. "Now if you excuse me, I'll be getting back to work now."

Kagami nodded and left the room.

(So if I leave you'll have Aki killed just to get rid of Shiso, eh? Well, it looks like I have no choice but to keep this up until I can bring Aki back, and after that...) Alec then shook his head. (I'll deal with that when the time comes; now to get back to this. Don't worry Aki, I'll get Shiso out of you and delete him like the Viola AI in Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner!)

Meanwhile, Kagami turned to the two guards standing outside the door to the lab.

"Keep Dr. Howell under constant surveillance, understand?" He ordered them. "And if he ever does succeed in bringing Aki back, I want you to increase surveillance on him so he doesn't try anything funny. I don't want anymore screw ups like with Toya."

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"Damn, looks like my assumption on that Kagami guy was right on the money." Youji spoke after he and the rest of Weiss heard in full what had happened with Aya and everyone else from Riku.

"Yeah, I have to agree." Ken said. "This guy's nastiness rivals Takatori's."

"So what are your current plans for now?" Ran asked.

"For now, we're just going to focus on protecting Yuhi, Chidori, Suzumi, and Maya from the Mikage until we can come up with an effective plan to go after the Mikage." Riku answered. "Also, we're going to wait a week so Nagi can help Aya (AN: Ceres' Aya not WK's) get out of the state she's in right now."

"How are you planning on doing that?" Omi asked Nagi.

"It's simple, really." Nagi answered. "I'll just use my powers to dive into Aya's mind and try talking to her. I know I might not be successful, but if I can do something to help her and her friends, I will." Nagi then smirked bitterly at Weiss. "Does that surprise you? That I'm not like Crawford or Schuldich, or even Farfarello?"

"Now hold on a minute, it's not..." Omi spoke, and then shook his head and turned to Riku. "I'm sorry, but as you can see this whole prospect is awkward for both us and Nagi and his girlfriend."

"I guess I can't blame any of you for that since you're probably way too used to being enemies." Riku replied and then looked at Ran seriously. "Can you at least be able to work with us on this?"

"It's not as if we have any choice in the matter, do we?" Ran asked in reply.

"Look, I know you've had your differences with my partners in the past, but what's happening now is larger than any of that." Riku said. "You guys want to stop the Mikage and C-Project, right?"

"People like Kagami who prey on the weak and helpless will not receive any mercy from me." Ran replied. "You have my word that I will make sure that C-Project is halted permanently."

"Since a number of the victims have been young girls, you can count me in." Youji spoke. "Anyone who hurts women for their own gain is my enemy."

"Those people who were harmed by this C-Project could easily have been people dear to me." Ken added his two cents. "I won't let the Mikage continue what they're doing; you can bet your life on that."

"And I knew a few of the people who were killed during that new 'plague' the Mikage were responsible for." Omi spoke. "I'll definitely help in anyway I can." He then turned to Nagi. "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot before. Why don't we just start over? You're not in Schwartz anymore, and Tot isn't with Schrient either, so there's no point in us being enemies anymore."

Nagi was silent for a few minutes and then broke the silence.

"Fine, I guess I'll give this a try." He said with a shrug and then turned to Tot. "What about you, Tot?"

"If Nagi decides to, then so will I." Tot said and then stuck her hand out to the four Weiss members. "Okay, let's shake hands and be friends!"

Everyone else in the room sweat dropped at that statement.

(Not exactly how I'd do it, but I guess it's a start.) Riku thought as he and his partners proceeded to shake hands.

Meanwhile:

Maya Hirobe was completely shocked and horrified as she heard what had happened to her friend Aya over the year they had been apart.

"So Aya's been in the state she's in ever since Toya died?" Maya asked and Suzumi nodded. "I can't believe so many horrible things have happened to her in barely a year's time."

"Yeah, it is hard to believe, but it's true no matter how much we wish it were otherwise." Yuhi said in agreement.

"So what are you guys planning on doing?" Maya asked. "And you can count me in to help you guys. I owe it to Aya; if it hadn't been for her I'd probably be dead now."

"Are you sure you want to?" Suzumi asked. "The original plan was to have you stay with us until this whole thing with the Mikage blows over."

"I'm sure, believe me." Maya answered seriously. "I want to make sure the Mikage don't hurt anymore people like they did to Aya. If need be, I'll even use my tennyo powers."

"Now hold on, didn't you say before that you didn't want powers like those?" Yuhi asked.

"I know, but as horrible as the memories of unleashing the white dog and all are for me, the idea of just standing by doing nothing feels even worse." Maya answered and her expression grew serious. "I know this isn't a game and how dangerous this will probably be, but I still want to help you guys."

"Well...since you want to, I guess there's no stopping you." Suzumi said. "Alright, but first we'd better contact your mother and tell her where you really are and what's going on."

"Okay." Maya nodded.

"Well, I guess we should welcome you to the team." Chidori said. "Great to have you here, Maya."

"Same here." Yuhi added. "It's also great to see you again, Maya."

"Thanks Chidori and you too Yuko (AN: The assumed name Yuhi used in Miyagi)" Maya then sweat dropped as she realized the mistake she made. "I mean..."

"It's alright." Yuhi said with a forced smile. (Why me...why does this have to come back to haunt me of all things?)

Suddenly the door to the living room opened and Riku, Nagi, Tot, and Weiss walked in.

"Well, how did things go?" Suzumi asked. "Could you tell us who these four guys are?"

"They're from Philanthropy like us." Riku answered. "The four of them make up an assassination group known as Weiss. Except they're good guys, of course."

"You mean they're not with FOXHOUND?" Yuhi asked.

"All available recruits are out in the field right now, so these guys were sent as backup instead." Riku replied. "Don't worry, we can trust them, and these guys are pros so they're on par with some of our own people in terms of skills."

"Thanks, anyway, we should introduce ourselves to you." Ran spoke. "My name is Ran Fujimiya; I'm the leader of Weiss and these three men are my partners."

"I'm Youji Kudo, nice to meet you." Youji said and then looked at Suzumi with a smile. "And it's a pleasure to meet a lovely lady like you, Ms. Aogiri."

Yuhi's right eyebrow twitched as he realized what was going on.

(This guy better not try hitting on Suzumi.) He thought. (Otherwise, I might have to take some steps to make sure he doesn't.)

"Youji, can't you flirt some other time and not on the job?" Ran asked with a sigh.

"Some of us here are single you know." Youji replied and turned to Omi. "You understand, right Omi?"

"Please don't put me in the same category as you, Youji." Omi said to his friend and then turned to Yuhi and co. with a friendly smile. "Oh yeah, my name's Omi Tsukiyono. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

Yuhi and co. were a bit surprised by the young assassin's politeness and friendliness.

(This guy's a professional assassin?) Yuhi thought. (He sure doesn't look the type...He even looks about my age too, but then again so is Riku...)

"My name's Ken Hidaka." Ken spoke. "Nothing too special about me, I'm just a volunteer soccer coach outside of this job."

(These guys are assassins?) Chidori thought. (I was kind of expecting people like Wei Fei Lee or Asamu.)

"Not really the kind of people you'd expect to be assassins, eh?" Riku asked with a grin. "Believe it or not, these guys also run a flower shop too."

"Assassins running a flower shop?" Yuhi asked, sweat dropping.

"It's a good enough cover job since no one would expect assassins to run a flower shop." Ken answered.

"I guess that makes sense." Maya agreed.

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Mrs. Q spoke and then winked at the four assassins. "You guys have yourselves a fan."

(Poor them...) Everyone else thought at the same time.

Later:

"Oh, by the way, Nagi I need to ask you some more on that thing you suggested to me about school." Suzumi said. Yuhi was getting ready to prepare dinner while this was going on

"School?" Maya asked.

"Well, even with all that's going on, it's still my responsibility as your chaperone that you don't fall back on your education." Suzumi answered. "Nagi suggested that we consider the school he, Riku, and Tot go to because he thinks the Mikage might not have agents among the faculty."

"Hey, that's not such a bad idea, Nagi." Riku commented and turned to Suzumi. "I think you should consider it, Suzumi. I also think the Mikage don't have agents at our school, considering its reputation."

"What do you mean by 'reputation'?" Suzumi asked suspiciously.

"Well, let me explain, but first..." Riku turned to the kitchen. "Hey Yuhi, what are you and Chidori making for dinner?"

"It's sukiyaki, and I'm using some grade A beef (AN: Beef is expensive in Japan) for it too." Yuhi answered, calling from the kitchen.

"I'm helping with making the spring rolls that are the side dishes." Chidori added. "Along with some shrimp tempura."

"That certainly sounds like it will be a great meal." Riku commented and turned to Suzumi. "Now about our school..."

"Maybe I should go and give Yuhi and Chidori a hand in the kitchen." Tot spoke getting up from the couch.

"NO!!" Riku and Suzumi almost shouted at the same time.

Later:

"Damn, this is good grub!" Youji exclaimed as he ate his serving of food. "This has got to be the best food I've ever had on a mission." He then turned to Ran. "What do you think, fearless leader?"

"Would you please stop calling me that?" Ran grumbled as he ate. "That aside, this food is very good, I must admit."

"Better than Sakura's cooking?" Youji grinned.

"Leave my private life out of this." Ran glared.

"Sakura?" Riku asked.

"She's Ran's girlfriend." Ken answered. "While at first glance it's hard to believe those two would get together, they actually fit quite well. Those two are so different in personality it's unbelievable."

"So how did they get together?" Tot asked.

"Better ask Ran about that." Omi answered and then turned to Yuhi and Chidori and rubbed his head sheepishly. "Oh excuse me, I'd better add my own comments on this myself. I think that the meal the two of you prepared is delicious."

"Thank you." Yuhi and Chidori said at the same time.

"I know exactly what makes the food taste great." Tot commented, with a cheerful smile. "It's because of the love and care between the two who made this."

Yuhi and Chidori blushed furiously at that.

"That's rather poetic." Suzumi commented as she ate.

"Yep, and true." Tot smiled. "I know because that's the exact way I make Nagi's meals, with plenty of love, and Nagi always eats whatever I make him."

(I guess the love part is what makes Nagi able to eat Tot's cooking without getting any food poisoning.) Riku thought as he ate. (Though it doesn't seem to improve the taste very much.)

"Well, one things for sure, though." Riku spoke. "This great food has got to be the best perk of the mission we're doing, and the best part is it's all free."

"I hadn't thought about that." Youji admitted.

(Why am I getting the feeling these guys are going to be more like freeloaders than bodyguards?) Suzumi thought.

A few minutes later, Suzumi spoke.

"I've given Nagi's suggestion a thought, and I've decided to go ahead with it." She said and turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "I've decided that you, Chidori, and Maya will enroll at Daimon High School."

"Daimon!" Yuhi exclaimed. "Look sis, I know that if we're going to go to school, the best place is someplace the Mikage probably don't have agents at, but I don't think a school full of delinquents is the best place."

"DELINQUENTS!!" Riku and Tot shouted at the same time.

"Well, a school that condones having fights between students and sometimes even teachers, is..." Chidori started.

"Uh, Yuhi, Chidori, there's something you should know before you go on." Maya spoke.

"What's that?" Yuhi asked.

"That school of delinquents just so happens to be our school." Riku said.

"And we're not delinquents!" Tot added.

"Can we please put that aside?" Suzumi asked. "Regardless of whether either of you are right; the chances of the Mikage having any agents in Daimon are very slim so that will be where you're enrolling for the time being."

"I have a suggestion." Ran spoke causing attention to shift to him. "Since Omi is in the same grade level as Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and Maya, it would probably be a good idea for him to enroll in this Daimon school along with them."

"I suppose there's safety in numbers." Suzumi replied and looked over at Omi. "If that's all right with you, of course."

"I have no problem with that." Omi answered. "I've changed schools before when it's necessary, so this isn't all that unusual for me."

"Then that settles it." Suzumi said. "Starting tomorrow Daimon will be receiving some new transfer students." She turned to Riku. "You guys will keep an eye on everyone, right?"

"Both eyes, as long as we can spare them." Riku answered.

"Let's not forget that we need to also keep our eyes out for enemy attacks." Ran spoke and looked at Riku, Nagi, and Tot seriously. "Hey, I need to know something. Are 'they' involved in any of this; either with the Patriots or the Mikage? You guys should probably know."

"I'm afraid they are, and they're with the Mikage." Riku answered. "Nagi met Schuldich a couple of days ago when we rescued Chidori and Shota."

"Damn, just our luck." Youji said. "Why are we always running into those guys whenever we're doing an important job?"

"Because the people Crawford hires out to are usually people like the Mikage and the Patriots." Nagi answered.

"Schuldich? Crawford?" Yuhi asked. "Who are you guys talking about and who are 'they'?"

"An assassination group called Schwartz." Ken answered. "A trio of nasty fellows to say the least."

"So the Mikage have hired assassins like you?" Chidori asked.

"They're assassins, but not like us." Omi answered. "Two of the three are psychics. Schuldich is a telepath and Brad Crawford, the leader of that group, is a precognitive. The third member is a knife wielder named Farfarello."

"Imagine Vamp from Dead Cell, except this guy can't feel pain." Nagi spoke and looked at Chidori. "You've seen Schuldich; he's the orange haired guy you told Riku, Tot, and me about."

"If the Mikage have people like that on their side..." Maya shivered at the thought.

"Hey, don't be scared." Tot spoke cheerfully. "Our job is to protect you from them, and if they try to hurt you, we'll make sure they'll be sorry they did."

"You all seem to know these people." Suzumi noted.

"Yeah, that's because we've fought with those guys before." Ran replied. "Riku and his partners have also had their share of conflicts with them."

"That's true, especially in my case." Nagi said.

"What do you mean?" Yuhi asked.

"Well...that's because..." Nagi started.

"Hey, Nagi, you sure about this?" Riku asked.

"They have a right to know, Riku, especially with all that's going on." Nagi replied. "Besides, nothing can change who I used to be."

"What do you mean 'who you used to be'?" Chidori asked Nagi.

"I mean that the members of Schwartz were formerly my comrades." Nagi answered.

"NANI?!" Everyone except for Riku, Tot, and Weiss exclaimed.

"When was this?" Suzumi asked seriously.

"I left Schwartz three months ago and that's also when I joined FOXHOUND along with Tot and we became Riku's partners." Nagi replied. "Look, the reason I'm telling you guys this is because I'd rather that you know now instead of later on when we do end up running into Schwartz and also because I want you all to know that I can be trusted."

"What made you leave?"

"I was just an efficient tool for them, especially for Crawford. They even tried to kill Tot and then manipulate my memories so I would remain loyal to them. It was only thanks to meeting Riku and meeting Tot again that made me realize the truth and that's why I decided to quit Schwartz and join FOXHOUND."

After a few minutes of silence Yuhi spoke.

"Alright, I believe you." He said to Nagi. "You and your partners haven't done anything but help us and also you don't seem like a bad person. I just want to say that you have my complete trust."

"The same here." Chidori said in agreement. "Besides, Toya went through stuff like that too, and after I got to know him for a bit, he wasn't such a bad person."

"If they trust you, then I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." Maya spoke.

"Majority rules, I guess, so I'll trust you too." Suzumi shrugged. "Besides, we can't afford to get rid of someone who's been a great help to us so far."

"Thank you all so much." Nagi said gratefully.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, we can get back to eating dinner." Riku said with a cheerful smile. "I hope dessert turns out good."

"Same here." Youji agreed. "Now this is what a mission should have; free room and good food." He then took out a cigarette and lit it, but before he could put it in his mouth, an invisible force snatched it from his hand and crushed the cigarette before dumping it onto the table in front of Youji. Youji then glared at Nagi.

"Kid, that's not funny." He said.

"It wasn't me." Nagi replied.

"Nice try, but you're the only one here who can use telekinesis." Youji said. "The evidence clearly points to you."

"I'm afraid that the one who did that was me." Suzumi said calmly as she took a drink of tea. "Being a descendant of a tennyo myself, I can do things like that."

"But what the hell did you do that for?" Youji asked in irritation.

"I have several reasons." Suzumi answered. "First, this house is connected to my dancing class and I do not allow smoking there; second, I don't like the smell; third, smoking is also a fire hazard; and fourth, second hand smoke is a health hazard."

"So what am I supposed to do when I need to smoke?!" Youji almost shouted.

"Go outside and smoke there as long as you don't leave the butt lying around, or you could always take some gum and try quitting." Suzumi suggested.

(Why me?) Youji thought as he put his cigarettes away.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

Wei Fei Lee regarded Farfarello, who was lying in a cot in the infirmary, not too far from where Asamu was, through a one way glass window. The Irish assassin, along with the survivors of the attack on the Mikage American branch, had been brought in while he and his men had gone to try and kidnap Maya Hirobe. They had all been questioned and all of them had told matching stories; the attacker who had killed so many of the personnel of the place and then proceeded to destroy the Genome vector that was being planned to be released in the United States had been a masked man in a sneaking suit who specialized in the use of knives and a sniper rifle.

(The stories match, but something isn't right about all of this.) Lee thought. (I also get the feeling Schwartz has something to do with all of this, but what is it? ...Oh well, I'll just make sure to keep a close eye on each one of them, especially when Crawford comes back.)

Later: Aogiri Residence:

"So what's your school like?" Yuhi asked Riku, who was lying back into the living room sofa. Nagi had gone to talk more with Weiss while Tot had gone to talk with Chidori and Maya, leaving Riku to himself.

"Not all that different from most schools, if you disregard the K-Fights and festivals." Riku answered with a yawn. "Why are you asking?"

"I'm just curious." Yuhi replied. "By the way, is there a cooking club or something like that?"

"Of course there is. They're very accomplished cooks, really. That club uses various cooking styles. Sometimes they'll cook traditional Japanese cuisine, other times it'll be Chinese, Indian, Korean, or a combination of those; they even cook western style cuisine."

"Are you serious?!" Yuhi asked suddenly completely interested. (If what he says is true, then maybe I'll give this school a try after all. This might be the chance to really improve my skills as a cook.)

"Completely serious." Riku smiled. "I can see you're interested in joining so I'll put in a good word for you, how's that?"

"Thanks." Yuhi replied gratefully.

"Hey, as a bonus I'll introduce you to Garland Durev someday." Riku offered. "Like I said before, he's a master chef and he might be able to give you some good pointers."

"Well, I look forward to meeting him then."

"Oh yeah, one more thing. If anyone at Daimon gives you, Chidori, or Maya a hard time because you're new, tell me and I'll take care of it." Riku grinned and ground his right fist into the palm of his left hand as he said this.

"Don't tell me you're going to start a fight?"

"Of course." Riku smiled. "A K-Fight to be more precise; a fight completely approved by the school's standards, and the best way to solve problems like that."

"Are you sure that's really true?" Yuhi asked, sweat dropping. "I mean, violence isn't always the answer."

"I know that." Riku said. "But tell me, what if someone decides to harass with you because they think your being with Chidori isn't proper?"

"Why would that be?" Yuhi asked.

"You know how Chidori looks younger than she is, so people might think..."

"That would be an exception, then." Yuhi replied. "I don't care what anyone says or thinks, I'll gladly fight anyone who says there's something improper about our relationship."

"Heh, now that's a good answer." Riku said with a grin and got up. "Well, I'm going to go and talk with Nagi and everyone else before I turn in. What about you?"

"I guess I'll go see Chidori." Yuhi then looked at Riku seriously. "One last thing...Can your partner really bring Aya out of the state she's in?"

"I think so." Riku replied and smiled. "Nagi's my partner and I'm completely confident in him, and in the unlikely event that something does go wrong, I'll just get my other psychic friend, Greg Kinezono, to help. He may be on a mission now with his girlfriend, Linn Aramaki, but I'm sure he'll help if I tell him the situation."

"You're sure that's alright?" Yuhi asked.

"Don't worry, Greg's the kind that would gladly help someone in need." Riku then sweat dropped as he considered something. "But knowing him, as soon as he's done with that, Greg would probably go, take on everyone in the Mikage base himself, beat the shit out of every single guard and hired goon there, and use Kagami as a personal punching bag for a couple of hours after hearing what the Mikage have done."

"You're joking right?" Yuhi asked.

"Nope. I'm dead serious." Riku answered.

Meanwhile: Somewhere in Switzerland:

"ACHOO!!" Greg Kinezono sneezed as he and Linn Aramaki got out his Harrier. "Damn, I've barely arrived in Europe and the weather's already getting to me."

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"So you're a hacker too, huh?" Omi asked. He and Nagi had talked for a bit and discovered that they had a common interest in hacking and the use of computers. Ran and Youji were in the room too.

"Yeah, but it's more of a hobby now since I'm not with Schwartz anymore." Nagi answered. "But that doesn't mean I've gotten rusty."

"I'd hope not." Omi said with a friendly smile. "So what do you think of FOXHOUND, just curious?"

"It's quite different from what you'd expect at first." Nagi replied. "There are a wide variety of people who have joined and they're all interesting in their own way."

"And that's a good thing?" Ken asked as he walked into the room.

"Yeah, it is." Nagi answered. "It really made me realize how different the world is from how I used to see it and how small a person I was when I was in Schwartz. Now that I look back on it, I was just another hit man, but with psychic powers. But in FOXHOUND..." Nagi paused for a minute and then continued. "On his own, none of us are any big deal; no different from any other soldier. But unlike other soldiers, who are so hardened that they only think about the mission and about their own survival, we're a little different. In FOXHOUND, while our missions are always 'kill or be killed and a failed mission means death'...it's strange but...we can also laugh, cry, get angry, and stuff like that."

"Sounds like you enjoy being with this group." Youji noted.

"Yeah, I do." Nagi replied. "I never thought I'd ever have a job where I can use my powers for something good. It feels pretty nice, knowing that and that I'm not alone."

"So I guess that means you've made friends there too." Ran said.

"That's probably the best benefit of joining FOXHOUND for me." Nagi smiled. "To be honest I never thought there was such a thing as real friendship before I met Riku and the other members of FOXHOUND. I'm glad that I did meet all of them so now I know that there is such a thing."

"You know something, Nagi, you're a pretty nice kid." Youji spoke and then grinned slyly at him. "So how far have you and Tot gone?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Nagi asked blushing furiously.

"You know what I mean, man." Youji grinned. "Have the two of you consummated your love yet?"

"Th-that is none of your business!!" Nagi shouted his face completely red now.

"Youji, would you quit that." Omi spoke and then looked at Nagi. "Don't worry, he's just teasing you."

"Are you sure?" Nagi asked skeptically.

"Come on, of course I am." Youji said instead of Omi. "I mean, you're fifteen, younger than Omi. You're way too young to be sleeping with a girl."

Nagi blushed even more and Youji immediately knew what that meant.

"Well..." Youji said touching his chin as he considered this. "Looks like kids grow up very fast these days."

"NOTHING HAPPENED!!" Nagi shouted. "We just shared a futon, that's all!"

(Well, I guess this proves how he's different from his former comrades. I can almost sympathize with him right now.) Ran thought. (Fortunately for me, Youji knows better than to ask me something like that about Sakura and me.)

Suddenly Riku appeared in the room ninja style, surprising the four members of Weiss.

"Do you have to do that?" Ran asked as soon as he saw him.

"Hey, I am a ninja; I need to stay in practice" Riku answered and then grinned at Nagi. "Looks like you're getting along with our new allies well enough."

"Yeah, minus one." Nagi replied glaring at Youji.

"Oh I don't know, you're the one who admitted that you and Tot..." Riku stopped as he saw the icy glare his friend was giving him. "Okay, I think Youji was at fault."

"Good." Nagi said with slight smile.

Later: Bathroom:

"Well, looks like it's back to school tomorrow." Riku said to Nagi as he finished brushing his teeth.

"Yeah, along with some new students." Nagi replied. "So do you really think the Mikage don't have any agents among the faculty?"

"I hope so." Riku answered. "And if they do, I'll just have to find them out and challenge them to a K-Fight."

"Like how Shizuma fights Saotome?" Nagi asked.

"Something like that." Riku yawned. "Anyway, I'm going to go and get some sleep. Good night, Nagi." Riku then left the room.

The Next Day: Daimon High School:

Riku, Nagi, and Tot sat at their desks as Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Omi were being introduced to the class by the teacher.

"I welcome you to Daimon, Aogiri-san, Kuruma-san, Hirobe-san, and Tsukiyono-san." The teacher spoke. "You may take your seats now."

As the four did so, Shizuma looked over at Riku.

"So how'd the mission go?" He asked.

"What mission?" Riku replied.

"Hey, in case you've forgotten Ryoko, her friends from the Shinsengumi, Hitomi, Daisuke, and I know about you guys' 'charity work'." Shizuma reminded him.

"It's still going on, just to let you know." Riku answered.

"Are these new students a part of this?" Ryoko spoke, keeping her voice down.

"Yeah, I'll introduce you after class." Riku replied.

"What exactly is this mission about, Riku?" Ryoko asked.

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential information." Riku answered officially and then smiled as he realized what he said. "Hey, I've always wanted to say that..."

"Hanabishi, Kusanagi, Mitsurugi, are you paying attention?" The teacher for the class demanded.

"Oh, sumimasen (AN: Another word for I'm sorry in Japanese besides gomen nasai)." Riku said rubbing the back of his head.

Five Days Later: Mikage Intl. HQ:

"It is good to see that you have made a full recovery, Asamu." Kagami said to Asamu, who had entered his office as soon as he had been released from the infirmary.

"I glad to be well enough to help, chief." Asamu replied.

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, go and report to Lee at once and await further instructions. Brad Crawford will be arriving back in Japan within a matter of hours, and we need to make sure that he and his group do not try anything funny with how the situations are."

(And if something like that occurs, there is no doubt that the Patriots will use that as an opportunity to take over C-Project.) Kagami thought. (With the project almost reaching its most critical stage, I must make sure that the Patriots' interference is as little as possible.)

Meanwhile: Somewhere in Japan:

"Well, Crawford, what is it that we need to discuss?" Shade asked. He and Crawford were in an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town.

"It's about when we seize the whole Mikage HQ and in affect take over C-Project for the Patriots." Crawford answered. "I trust that the Patriots will be supplying men for this part?"

"Indeed. They will be arriving in Japan within a matter of days and then await our orders. All that needs to be decided is the time of the takeover."

"I will inform you when the appropriate time is, then." Crawford then looked at his watch. "I still have plenty of time until I need to meet with the Mikage agents."

"So they don't know you've arrived in Japan a few hours earlier than you said?" Shade asked.

"It wouldn't be a good idea for them to know of you, now would it." Crawford replied. "Don't worry, I can feel that the time will come soon, and then we can begin the more entertaining part of our assignment."

"Hmm, I quite agree with you there." Shade grinned. "I can hardly wait for that."

"And I can hardly wait seeing your skills in battle, Shade. After all, from what I've heard about you, you're skills are extraordinary to say the least." Crawford smiled. "Well, I suppose I must be going now. I shall contact you soon." Crawford then walked out of the warehouse.

(I wonder what sorts of people I shall fight and kill when the time comes.) Shade thought to himself. (I especially look forward to fighting that ninja youngling. I hope he provides me with some entertainment.)

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"So are you sure that you can do this?" Suzumi asked Nagi. "Are you sure you can enter Aya's mind and help her without causing any mental damage?"

"I've dived into peoples' minds before." Nagi answered. "Don't worry, I'll be as careful as I can with this, believe me."

"Alright, I'll tell everyone to get ready to leave for the hospital." Suzumi said.

Later: Mikage Intl. HQ:

"Welcome back, Crawford." Kagami said as Crawford entered his office. "So, how was South America?"

"Nothing too interesting, I'm sorry to say." Crawford admitted. "But then again I was quite buried with work so I wasn't able to enjoy the scenery very much."

"Really, well I'm sorry to hear that. Anyway, I was wondering if you have been briefed on our current situation."

"Yes, Mr. Mikage, I have." Crawford fixed his glasses. "I understand that the group known as FOXHOUND has become a thorn in your side recently."

"Indeed, and it seems one of the members of the group is a former student of yours. Would you care to explain why you did not inform me of this?"

"I did not expect an attack from FOXHOUND, nor did I expect Nagi to be among the enemy group. I'm sorry to say that I haven't been keeping in touch with my pupil since his desertion from our group."

"Really? Well, I suppose that means you have no problems if you are ordered to eliminate him."

"If it should come to that, then I have no reservations against that, and neither do my partners, Mr. Mikage."

"Hmm, willing to kill your own student to get the job done." Kagami smirked. "You're a very cold man, Crawford, but that is the quality that makes you a fine assassin, isn't it."

"Of course." Crawford smiled, and suddenly his eyes widened a little as if he saw something.

"What's wrong?" Kagami asked, but Crawford was silent for a few minutes, until he finally spoke.

"Well, speak of the devil." Crawford said with a smile. "It seems my student will be making contact with your primary objective, Aya Mikage."

"What?!" Kagami exclaimed. "But she's currently in a catatonic state in a hospital. How is...?"

"It seems my student is going to use his powers to awaken her." Crawford answered. "Quite a remarkable feat; it seems Nagi's powers have increased over the time he's been away from our group."

"When will this occur?" Kagami asked.

"In a few hours."

"Then I will be sending you and a group of men to the hospital to retrieve Ceres, and any other C-Genomes with her."

"And what of my student and his partners?"

"Capture, if possible, but if not kill them."

"As you command, Mr. Mikage."

(A pity that this event will occur a little earlier than I told you, but this is necessary for our plans.) Crawford thought, fighting the urge to smirk. (Also this will give me the perfect opportunity to see Nagi's power increase these past few months. In affect this kills two birds with one stone, since this will also set things up for our take over for the Patriots. The rest will be up to Schuldich...)

Later: Hospital:

Nagi stood in the room Aya was in, along with Riku, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori. Suzumi, Mrs. Q., and Shota were waiting in the lobby along with the four members of Weiss.

"So, are you ready?" Riku asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Nagi answered, and then looked over at Yuhi and Chidori. "Before I do this, I want to tell you that there is a slight risk in this, and Aya could suffer mental trauma if something goes wrong, even though I will try everything I can do to avoid that. If you want to call this off, then tell me now."

There were a few minutes of silence until the two of them spoke.

"You promise that you'll do everything to make sure Aya will be alright, right?" Chidori asked.

"You have my word, on my honor as a psychic and a member of FOXHOUND." Nagi promised.

"Then we trust you." Yuhi said. "And...if...when you talk to Aya...tell her that we're all waiting for her and...that we'll be willing to help her get through this."

"I will, Yuhi, don't worry." Nagi replied and then walked over to where Aya lay.

"Be safe, okay Nagi." Tot spoke, causing Nagi to look back at her.

"Don't worry, Tot, I will." Nagi smiled at her before turning back to Aya. He took a good long look and then focused on delving into the mind of the catatonic girl.

Nagi closed his eyes with Aya's face centered into his vision and then opened them and found himself surrounded by a large black emptiness. Suddenly two doors appeared before him, one on his left, and the other on his right.

The left door was a wooden one with a single knob on it. Adorning the very middle was a necklace with a cross on it, hanging on a stiletto that had been stuck into the door. Nagi could feel a large amount of grief and despair coming from behind it.

The right door was also wooden but it had a more ancient and worn look to it. At first, Nagi could have sworn it was a plain door until he looked closer and saw a strange circular symbol decorating the center. The emotions coming from behind that door were much more complicated than the ones from the one on the left. Nagi could feel grief and despair that eclipsed the one from the door to the left, along with anger, loneliness, remorse, confusion, and so many others that Nagi quickly pulled away from it.

(Another dual mind, huh?) Nagi thought as he looked at both doors. (Well, I guess that means one of the doors belongs to Ceres and the other belongs to Aya, but which one is Aya's?)

Nagi walked over to the left one and grabbed the knob and tried to turn it, but the knob didn't turn. He shrugged and then walked over to the one on the right and tried opening that one, but with the same success as with the one on the left.

(So they're both locked...) Nagi then looked at each door again. (Looks like the only way I can open these doors is if I force them open, but if I do that, I risk harming Aya...)

"Who are you?" An ominous female voice spoke out of the darkness, causing Nagi to turn and look to see who it was.

"I'm Nagi Naoe." Nagi answered. "If this is Aya, then I'm here to help. I mean no harm."

"So you say." The voice replied.

"I'm telling the truth."

"I'll decide that myself." Suddenly the door to the right opened and a beautiful woman garbed in a pale white kimono stepped through the doorway. She had long blue hair and her face resembled Aya's except with an ageless look to it; neither old nor young. As the door closed behind her, Nagi caught a glimpse of what looked like a fishing village near a beach. He then looked at the strange woman.

"Are you...Ceres?" Nagi asked.

"I am." Ceres answered simply, and then looked closer at Nagi. "It appears as if you are not an ally of the Mikage." She then reached over and touched Nagi on the forehead. She held her hand there for a few seconds and then withdrew it.

"I sense no malice coming from you, child." Ceres spoke. "It seems that you have certain abilities not possessed by normal humans, yet you are not one of my descendants nor do you appear to be descended from another celestial maiden."

"That's true; I'm not of tennyo blood." Nagi replied. "I'm what you call an...'exception', if you will."

"It seems you humans are a bit more complicated then I thought." Ceres noted. "This is the first time I've encountered one such as you."

"If you look hard enough, you will find other 'exceptions' like me, though not all of them are good. Anyway, I need to see Aya, could you possibly be able to help me get through to her?"

"That will depend on how you answer me." Ceres then looked at Nagi seriously. "Tell me, why are you here?"

"I'm here to talk to Aya and try to convince her to wake up." Nagi answered.

"Why do you want to do this? You hardly even know, Aya. Are you doing this because Aya's friends asked you to?"

"That's only part of it; I just want to help."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'? I told you, I want to help Aya because I want to."

"Many humans say that, but as I have always seen, they almost always do things for their own gain. What are you doing this for?"

"Nothing, I'm just doing this because I...because I feel sorry for Aya, and this feels like the right thing to do." Nagi answered.

"Is that really why you're doing this, or is that just another part of it?" Ceres asked in reply. "I know that you must have ulterior motives for what you're doing. There is no such thing as true selflessness."

(No such thing...) Nagi thought and shook his head. (Ironic, I thought that too, until I met Tot and Riku.)

"I used to think the same thing, but there are others who do things just because they feel like it's the right thing to do." Nagi sighed. "I guess I have several reasons for doing this. I want to use my powers to do good for another, I want Aya's friends to not have to suffer the pain of seeing someone dear to them in a state like this, or maybe I'm just doing this because Aya's friends are my friends too and I don't want them to be sad. At least I'm not doing this for money, to get stronger, glory, or anything like that."

Ceres was silent for a few minutes as she regarded Nagi.

(Doing something just because he feels like it's the right thing to do...this child he's...he reminds me of 'him' before he...) Ceres quickly pushed those thoughts away.

"Tell me, child, do you have any desire to gain more strength?" Ceres asked.

"Only enough to protect the ones dear to me and also to protect innocents from being harmed by people like Kagami Mikage." Nagi answered.

"And if you suddenly gained a great deal of power, would that be all you would use it for?"

"Of course, what else would I use it for?"

Ceres then had what looked like a saddened expression mixed with grim bitterness in her eyes as she looked at Nagi.

"You say that now, but..." Ceres shook her head. "No matter, I will allow you to enter Aya's mind since you seem so eager to help, whatever your reason for this truly is."

Ceres then walked over to the door on the left and touched the doorknob. There was a loud click as the door unlocked. The door then swung open only to reveal an empty blackness beyond it.

"Aya is in there." Ceres spoke and then looked at Nagi seriously. "A word of warning to you, young one, Aya has retreated very far into the depths of her heart, too deep even for me to go. There is a possibility that if you go in here, you will not come out. Are you willing to take that chance?"

"Yes, I am. If what you just told me is true, then I've gone through something a little similar in the past, and that is another good reason for me to do this." Nagi answered. "And I know that I will come out of this. There's someone precious to me who's waiting for me outside, and I'm not going to leave her that way."

"Alright, then step through this door." Ceres stepped out of Nagi's way to let him pass.

As Nagi was about to enter, Ceres called to him, causing him to turn back to her.

"One last warning for you, no... a promise." Ceres said seriously. "If you do anything to harm Aya or her child, you will answer to me for it. Is that understood?"

"Yes, maam." Nagi replied, noticing the look in her eyes that promised that there would be no mercy for him if such a thing happened. Nagi then turned back to the door.

(Well, here goes nothing.) He thought and stepped through into the dark.

As Ceres watched him leave she thought to herself.

(Was what he said before really true?) She wondered. (Mikage, that boy's eyes...they were like yours were before you...I just hope that he doesn't end up like you. This precious person of his should not experience what I did.)

Ceres then walked over to the door to her soul and cast one last glance at the still open door behind her before opening her door and was gone as it closed behind her.

Meanwhile:

Nagi wasn't sure where the drop had been. The darkness around him concealed everything, so he was unable to see the edge and he fell into the dark around him.

Almost as soon as he fell, he suddenly was struck by what felt like waves upon waves of force, which Nagi could instantly tell were the byproduct of so many conflicting emotions from Aya's mind. As the waves kept pummeling him, Nagi put up a barrier with his mind to prevent any of the emotions from merging with his own consciousness, and also to prevent the waves from harming him physically.

Nagi kept on descending for a few minutes until he finally felt his feet touch what felt like a solid surface. He stopped for a minute to look around, but saw that the area around him was no different from the one he had entered previously.

(Well, this sure is a lot different from Garland's mind.) Nagi thought as he tried desperately to see anything. (I almost prefer Garland's mind to Aya's at least his was more navigable, but then again the other resident here was friendlier than 'D' was, that's for sure.)

Nagi then continued walking looking around for anything that was the least bit visible. Suddenly he felt something briefly brush against his mind before quickly vanishing and instantly recognized it as an emotion and stopped where he was.

(Where did that come from?) Nagi wondered as he tried to find that emotion, but with no success. (That emotion could only have belonged to Aya, which means she's somewhere nearby, but where?)

After a few minutes of looking, Nagi shook his head in frustration.

(How am I supposed to find something I can't even see?) He asked himself. (Wait a minute...can't see. That's it! Maybe if I close my eyes and try locating that emotion using telepathy, I might be able to find Aya.)

Nagi then closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down completely, using the meditation he had learned from Garland Durev, and then reached out with his powers, all the while keeping a complete sense of calmness.

(Stay calm, breathe, focus...) Nagi thought as he concentrated on locating the emotion he had briefly felt. A few seconds later, he felt the emotion brush his consciousness, but this time Nagi was able to keep a lock on it.

(Alright, now all I need to do is follow this and then I'll reach Aya.) Nagi then ran in the direction he felt the emotion was coming from.

How long he ran, Nagi wasn't sure since he was keeping his eyes closed and only focusing on that single wave of emotion which was slowly getting more apparent to him. After a few more minutes, he felt the emotion intensify and what happened next almost made him want to stop.

Nagi immediately felt Aya's grief and sadness from the pain of loss, and the intensity of those emotions made him stop and then take a step backwards.

(I've gone...too far to back off now.) Nagi thought as he fought the urge to turn around and get away from the negative emotions. (If I can't...make it to Aya, then who knows how long she'll stay like this? I promised Yuhi, Chidori, and the others that I'd get to her, and I cannot and will not break that promise!)

As soon as he thought this, the overwhelming wave of emotions seemed to vanish and Nagi ran forward as hard as he could and after a few minutes of running, stopped, breathing heavily from the ordeal.

After taking a few minutes to catch his breath, Nagi opened his eyes and looked forward and saw a figure not too far off in the distance. He immediately ran in the direction of the figure and stopped when he was only a few feet from it.

The on in front of him was Aya, and she was kneeling on the floor clutching the very same necklace with the cross on it while weeping. The site of her like this, coupled with the intense feeling of grief coming from her wrenched at Nagi's heart, but it was what she said that was worse for him.

"Toya...I saw him... in a sea of blood... stop giving me these bizarre dreams, Ceres! Say something... this can't be real!!" Aya then doubled over and then her voice was practically a whimper. "Why... even though I've been waiting so long... why doesn't Toya come back?"

Nagi wasn't sure what to do and suddenly spoke.

"It's not that he isn't coming back, it's that he can't come back." He said and Aya immediately turned around and looked at him.

"Who...who are you?" She asked and then took a step back. "Y-you're not Ceres, how...?"

"Aya, please calm down, I mean you no harm, I just came to speak to you." Nagi said reassuringly. "You probably don't remember, but I'm one of the three mercenaries Suzumi hired."

"What...are you doing here?"

"Like I said, I came to talk to you. I..." Nagi was interrupted as Aya got up and started to run away from him.

"Wait!!" Nagi shouted and grabbed Aya's left wrist and then she immediately tried fighting to get free from his grip.

"Stop it, please!!" Aya pleaded. "I don't want to remember! I don't...I can't..."

"Listen to me, please. AYA!!" Nagi shouted keeping a firm grip on Aya's wrist to keep her from trying to retreat any further. Nagi's shout seemed to bring Aya back to reality. And he looked at her full in the face. "If you don't leave this dream, nothing will begin and nothing will end. Things will only get worse, believe me, I know."

Aya looked back at Nagi and as their gazes met, she could see that Nagi wouldn't give up at this. Her expression then softened as she slowly realized that Nagi was really being sincere about wanting to help.

"Alright...I'll listen." She said.

"You can hear my voice, right?" Nagi asked and Aya nodded. "Right now, you are at the bottom of your heart."

"The bottom of my heart?" Aya asked.

"Something heartbreaking happened, which was Toya's death, and you chose not to stay in the real world to consider and choose your next path." Nagi answered and his expression became more saddened. "You...ran away from reality."

There was a sudden sound of breeze and then Aya looked and saw a young boy standing in an empty playground with a sad and lonely look on his face.

"Is that...?" Aya asked.

"Yes, that's me." Nagi answered. "Because I was born as a psychic, I was shunned by others and left alone."

Aya watched as a few people walked by and then suddenly increased their pace as they saw the younger Nagi, fear etched on their faces. Aya then took a step towards where the image was, but Nagi put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Because this is my memory, you won't be able to reach me." He said. "Even if you ran."

"What happened to you?" Aya asked. "During that time, I mean."

"Sometimes the loneliness was too much and like you, I hid in my heart." Nagi answered. "I ran away from reality, just like you. I almost stayed when..." Nagi couldn't finish.

"When what?"

"Do you remember my partner Tot?"

"You mean that girl who was with you when you guys came to help us? Is she your girlfriend?"

"Yes, she is." Nagi answered. "And she means the most to me. I didn't realize it at first, but after awhile, I soon realized that she was the only one that I didn't want to be hated by."

"Why are you telling me this?" Aya asked.

"Because, there was a time when I thought that she had died and that one feeling of loss almost made me retreat even deeper into my heart." Nagi answered. "So I know a little of what you're going through. I thought I had lost the one dearest to me and felt grief similar to yours, but...the wound I received then, along with my other wounds from the past, and yours aren't the same." Nagi then looked at Aya seriously.

"It might be good for you to stay here if that is what truly makes you happy." He continued. "But... if you don't come back out, nothing will begin, and nothing will end. You won't be able to do anything when it's really important. You will only be a spectator... and also... there will be those who will feel grief at your loss."

(He's talking about Yuhi, Chidori, Suzumi, and Mrs. Q.) Aya thought. "What happened...when you thought you had lost Tot? Why didn't you...?"

"When I chose to stay in reality, I chose to try and make a future that would make me happy into a reality. No matter what would happen along the way."

"Did you make this choice because Tot was special to you, and you didn't want to disgrace her memory?" Aya asked.

"Yes, and therefore, you need to choose too." Nagi answered. "To continue living in your memories blaming yourself, or to awaken for the sake of the one you loved and the ones you hold dear."

"No... it's not just that I blame myself, the truth is, I know more than anyone else... that Toya's gone... and that no matter how much I wait, he's never coming back." Aya turned away and was silent for a few minutes before looking back at Nagi.

"But I...I do want to see everyone again, and also...I want to have Toya's child." Aya looked down and touched her stomach. "But I...I don't know if I can manage now that Toya's gone."

"Yuhi asked me to tell you something." Nagi spoke. "He wants you to know that he and everyone else, Chidori, Suzumi, Mrs. Q, and Maya, are waiting for you and they're willing to help you get through all of this."

"They're all waiting...for me..." Aya said and then a tear fell down her right eye.

"Aya, I don't know if this helps, but there's something someone in my group, a man named Michael Hansen, told me." Nagi spoke. "He said 'You know everyone...everyone carries a burden in life that's just how it is. Your burden is no heavier and no lighter then anyone else's'."

"I see...That does make sense, since I've noticed that to be true with others that I have met." Aya then brushed away the tear and then looked at Nagi gratefully. "Thank you...for that. I think I've made my choice, then. I'll continue living; for Toya's sake and our child's."

"Then, for the sake of those people..." Nagi said as some light started to flash, enveloping the both of them. "Come back."

Nagi then opened his eyes to find himself back in the hospital room. He then felt some arms wrapped around him and saw that the one hugging him was Tot.

"Are you okay, Nagi?" Tot asked with a concerned expression on her face.

"Yes, Tot, I'm fine." Nagi answered, smiling at her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad, Nagi..." Tot said.

"So how did it go?" Riku asked.

"Just fine, I hope." Nagi answered.

"Were you able to talk to Aya?" Yuhi asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Nagi asked in reply. "She should be waking up about now."

Yuhi and Chidori then turned to look at Aya, who slowly raised her head up from the pillow and got up. She then looked at Yuhi and Chidori.

"Hey, you two..." Aya smiled slightly at the two of them. "I'm sorry for..." She was interrupted as the two of them both embraced her.

"Idiot, don't apologize." Yuhi said, trying hard to hide the fact that he was crying. "Just promise you won't scare us like that ever again."

"He's right, you know." Chidori added smiling as she was also crying. "And don't think you're alone in this, because all of us really care for you, Aya. We'll be there for you, that's what friends are for."

"Yuhi...Chidori..." Aya smiled and then returned the embrace. "Thanks."

"We'll go and get Suzumi and the others." Riku spoke and then looked at Nagi and Tot. "Let's go, guys."

When Riku, Nagi, and Tot were outside the room, Nagi turned to Riku.

"So how long was I gone?" He asked.

"A little over an hour." Riku answered. "I've got to admit, you gave us all a bit of a scare a few times when you started to convulse a little like you were being hit by something." Riku then grinned. "Then Tot went over to you and then wrapped her arms around you and after that you seemed alright."

Nagi turned to Tot, who was blushing from what Riku had just told him.

"Thanks, Nanami." He said gratefully.

"Y-you're welcome, Nagi." Tot/Nanami replied.

"Nanami?" Riku asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, that's Tot's real name." Nagi answered. "Before she joined Schrient. She kind of forgot it back then, but she remembered it recently."

"You can call me Nanami if you want to." Tot/Nanami spoke and then looked at Riku sternly. "But don't call me anything like Nami or Nana, or else."

"Okay, okay, Nanami it is." Riku replied. "Anyway, let's head down and tell Suzumi and the others the good news."

Meanwhile: Hospital Parking Garage:

"So what's the plan, sir?" One of the Mikage goons asked Brad Crawford. They were all in a large van ready to move out.

"You and your men will lie in wait to ambush the target company when they come out." Crawford answered. "If we can surround them and effectively surprise them, then we should have an advantage. Now, head out and assume your positions. I must contact the chief and confirm some things."

"Yes sir." The hit man said and turned to the rest of the men with him. "Alright, move out!"

After all the men had left the van, Crawford smirked to himself.

(Now let's see how you shall handle this situation.) He thought. (Don't disappoint me, my student.)

Later:

Riku and co. sat in the lobby of the hospital along with Weiss. Suzumi, Shota, Mrs. Q., and Maya had gone up to see Aya.

"Why aren't the three of you up there with them?" Ran asked.

"There are some moments that aren't meant to be shared." Riku answered. "The three of us have actually only known these guys for a few days anyway, so it's more proper that they have moments to themselves."

"I guess that makes sense." Omi agreed.

Ran then looked over at Nagi.

"Hey, Nagi..." He said. "Look, I really think that what you did was a very noble thing to do, and I want you to know that I no longer see you as a member of Schwartz. You really are a good person."

"Thank you." Nagi replied. "And I no longer see you or any of the rest of your group as my enemies. I hope that we can be friends from here on."

Ran smiled slightly.

"Why not?" He said and he and Nagi shook hands.

Later:

"So the two of you are a couple now?" Aya asked Yuhi and Chidori, who both blushed but nodded. Aye then smiled. "It looks like a lot has happened since I've been asleep." She then turned to Maya. "It's great to see you too, Maya."

"Thanks." Maya replied. "I'm glad to see you too, Aya. So how are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess." Aya answered and then smiled slightly at her friend's worried expression. "Don't worry, after what just happened, I'm starting to get over losing Toya albeit slowly."

"I understand." Maya said. "Anyway, I'm glad you're alright now."

Aya then turned to Shota.

"Shota, it looks like your walking has improved." She noted.

"Yeah, I've been doing my best to try and walk again." Shota replied. "And I know I will be able to someday soon."

"Well, keep doing your best then." Aya smiled and then turned to Suzumi. "Suzumi, I...I want to thank you for how you helped me after all that happened a week ago."

"Think nothing of it, Aya." Suzumi replied. "You and your baby are safe and that's what really matters."

"Hey, you think we should head over to the cars now?" Yuhi suggested. "I mean, it's getting late and we should probably head home now. We can explain more on what's going on to Aya on the way and when we get there."

"Alright." Suzumi agreed.

Later: Hospital Parking Garage:

"So you're actually people from a secret organization called FOXHOUND and not mercenaries?" Aya asked Riku as they walked to the cars.

"The mercenary part was a part of our cover story, but unfortunately that was blown." Riku answered. "In case you're wondering, we're a reformation of the FOXHOUND that aided Solid Snake during Shadow Moses. I'll explain more when we get back to the house."

"I've got to admit, I was pretty surprised at hearing about that too, along with everyone else." Yuhi spoke.

"That's true." Maya agreed. "It's also pretty hard to believe that an organization like FOXHOUND would employ people our age."

"Well, we're a bit different from normal people as you've seen." Riku said with a smile. "Anyway, we..." Riku's smile immediately vanished as his eyes saw something to the side and he quickly reached into his pocket and threw something in that direction, quicker than the eye could follow. There was a scream of pain, and a man in a black tuxedo like uniform stumbled out, clutching a kunai shuriken embedded deeply into his right wrist.

"Alright, none of you move!!" A voice commanded. "You're surrounded!"

Riku looked around and saw that the speaker was correct. More men dressed similarly were emerging from behind the many parked cars, all carrying machines guns of various types which were pointed at them.

"You there." One of the hit men, who appeared to be the leader, spoke to Riku. "I don't know how many of those shuriken you have concealed, but if you value the lives of these people in your group, I recommend you not even think of touching them."

"I take it that you're people from the Mikage, aren't you?" Riku said.

"That is correct, now if you want to keep breathing, I suggest that you do as we say and come with us." The hit man spoke. "If you refuse, we'll just kill the ones the chief told us we didn't need, starting with the cripple brat with you." The hit man pointed his gun at Shota to show he wasn't joking.

"If you even try to harm my brother, I'll make you regret it!" Chidori said as she prepared to transform into her tennyo form.

"Before you do that, let me remind you about these." The hit man then indicated the protective bracelet he was wearing. "We're all equipped with these, so your celestial powers are worthless." The man's eyes then glanced over to where Ran and the rest of Weiss were. "You four, no funny stuff or else."

Ran grimaced and reluctantly let go of the handle of his katana while Omi, Ken, and Youji did the same with their concealed weapons.

"You make me sick." Nagi spoke, the upper part of his face concealed by shadows. The hit man's attention then turned to him. "The way you operate...it makes me sick."

"Sorry that you feel that way, kid, but that's business for y..." The man was interrupted as he was struck head on by the force of Nagi's mind, the force of the psychic blast breaking his neck, and the man fell to the ground dead.

"You guys head to the cars." Nagi said, as if the other hit men weren't there. "I'll catch up."

"Nagi..." Tot said in attempt to object, but Riku stopped her.

"If he says he'll handle this, then I trust him." Riku said to Tot. "Come on, don't you trust your own boyfriend?"

"Of course I do, but..." Tot then paused and then looked at Nagi. "Okay, just don't get hurt."

"I won't, you guys just go." Nagi replied. "I'll clear a path for you." He then looked over at the hit men standing in the way of the path to their cars. Suddenly they were struck by the force of Nagi's mind and sent flying, most hitting other parked cars or the walls of the parking garage.

Riku nodded and turned to Aya and co.

"Let's go." He said and they nodded.

When they had left, Nagi looked back at the hit men.

"Last chance for you guys to leave here unharmed." He said.

"I'd say the same to you, kid." One of the goons replied. "And since your buddies are gone, the odds are in our favor." He then drew out his beretta and the others did the same. "He won't be able to blast all of us, let's have a bit of target practice."

"You won't be so eager to fire those weapons soon." Nagi commented. "And the reason I told my friends to go is because I don't want them to see me do something like this."

"What are you...?" The hit man stopped when he suddenly felt his right arm tense up, like it was having a cramp, and it began to move on its own; then it pointed the beretta at his head.

"What...what the hell are you doing?!" The man screamed in fear as his hand moved the barrel of the gun to where it was just in front of his left eye.

"You!" One of the others shouted, pointing his gun at Nagi and suddenly his arm started to strain and then moved to the side and pointed at the man next to him, and the same thing was currently happening to the men around him. Within seconds, each of the other hit men had their guns pointed at each other.

"I did warn you." Nagi said to the now terrified men. "And all it will take is a single thought and all of you will be dead. Of course, I don't have to make you shoot each other to do that, I could always just stop your hearts from beating using psychokinesis."

"No wait, please spare us!" One of the men pleaded. "We were just following orders! Please, I have family!"

"Did you think about the families of the people the Mikage had you murder?" Nagi asked coldly. After a minute of silence, as the men all wondered whether or not they were going to make it through this, Nagi shook his head.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you." He said. "I'm just going to leave you guys like that for a while. I hope you guys enjoy holding the same position for an hour."

Nagi turned to leave and then looked back at the hit men.

"Have you wondered why I spared you?" He asked. "It's to show I'm not the same as you. I don't kill helpless people; scum or not. But just remember that I can do this again whenever I want to, and the next time, I might not be so lenient." He then turned back and walked to where Riku's car was parked.

(I don't usually do these kinds of things.) Nagi thought as he walked away. (I guess I'm just pissed off at these Mikage people for what they did to Aya.)

Unbeknownst to Nagi, Crawford was watching him from a behind a car, too far away for Nagi to see.

(Very good, Nagi, very good.) He thought. (A pity you didn't finish them, though. Oh well, that still serves my plans. Enjoy this temporary peace while you still can, for soon you're going to face a true trial by fire, and whether you survive or not will decide if you are truly worthy of being called my student.)

Later: Riku's car:

"So what happened back there?" Aya asked. She, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Omi, and Ken were riding in Riku's car while the others were riding with Suzumi. "You didn't..."

"Kill them?" Nagi asked in reply. "No I didn't. I just incapacitated them for a while, though if I had gone one step further..." Nagi shook his head. "The point is, I let them live."

"Hey, that's proof to show you're different from Crawford." Ken spoke. "I don't think he'd have spared a helpless enemy."

"I just don't like killing in cold blood, that's all." Nagi replied. "But thank you for telling me that."

"You know, he's right." Chidori said. "And you also did all that to protect Shota. Former assassin or not, you're a good person in my book for at least that."

"Not to mention you also helped me out of the state I was in." Aya added. "Besides, I'm sure Ceres likes you too, otherwise she'd probably have obliterated you instead of letting you into my mind."

"Actually, she hinted that she'd do that to me if I ended up hurting you or your baby." Nagi admitted. "She probably doesn't admit it, but I think she actually cares for you and your friends."

"Now that would be a real surprise." Aya said. "Ceres, well...isn't very agreeable sometimes."

"Maybe...you know her better than I do." Nagi shrugged.

"In any case, Aya's right too." Maya spoke. "You helped someone you hardly even knew purely out of compassion. There's no way you could do that and be a bad person."

"I have to agree with them, Nagi." Riku said. "Anyway, we're back at the house."

After Riku pulled into the driveway and everyone was getting out, Nagi felt Tot's hand touch his shoulder.

"What is it, Tot?" Nagi asked and then suddenly felt her kiss him on the cheek.

"I just want you to know that you'll always be a good person to me, Nagi." Tot answered to a now blushing Nagi.

"I...uh...I..." Nagi wasn't sure what to say.

"Aww, now isn't that cute." Chidori said as she looked in on them from the open car door. She was also holding her camera, indicating she had just taken a picture of them.

"Hey, what's that?" Youji asked, looking over Chidori's shoulder and then grinned at what he saw on the small screen in the back (AN: Digital camera, just to let you know). "Hey, nice picture you've taken. Ahh, young love..." This comment caused both Nagi and Tot to blush even more.

"Oh, I don't know." Riku spoke, looking at the picture screen as well. "You and Yuhi do the same thing, from what Suzumi's told me. Not to mention I've noticed all the calf eyed looks you've been giving each other during class." Riku grinned as he saw Yuhi and Chidori blush at that.

Riku then noticed Suzumi was talking to one of the house servants.

"Hey, what's up Suzumi?" Riku asked, walking over to where she was.

"It seems we have a visitor." Suzumi answered. "You, your partners, and Weiss should be in for a surprise."

"Well, as long as it isn't an unpleasant surprise." Riku replied.

A few minutes later, everyone entered the room and Riku noticed the visitor appeared to be a young man with glasses and semi-long dark hair tied back into a short ponytail.

"Shuro!" Aya exclaimed in recognition and then went over and hugged the young man.

"Hey, Aya." The newcomer, Shuro, said. "I'd heard from Suzumi what happened to you and I came to see you once my manager would let me take some time off. Looks like you're alright now. I'm glad to see that."

"You know this guy, Aya?" Riku asked.

"That 'guy' is actually a girl." Chidori answered for Aya. "She just so happens to also be the famous Shuro Tsukasa of GeSang."

"NANI?!" Riku, Nagi, Tot, and Weiss exclaimed.

"I can understand your surprise." Shuro said with a smile. "But I really am a woman; I was just raised as a guy by my family."

"Yeah, we know that." Riku said. "I'm just surprised to meet such a famous singer."

"Then I have a surprise for you, Riku Hanabishi of FOXHOUND." Shuro smiled as she saw the look of surprise on Riku's face. "I actually know your partners; Nagi Naoe and Tot. Your codenames are Drakken, Mystic Crow, and Usagi Ninja."

"How...how do you know all of that?" Riku asked.

"I'll explain all of that later, kid." Shuro answered. "Anyway, I have something you should know first, but before I tell you that I must thank you for helping with rescuing Chidori."

"You're welcome." Riku replied.

"Shuro, how did you know about that?" Suzumi asked. "I never told you about Riku and his partners, just a little about what happened."

"The reason is because I was the one who contacted them during that time and helped them sneak in." Shuro then smiled at Riku and co. "That's right, the contact, Kei, was me."

AN: And that ends chapter 18 of my fic! I hope you all enjoyed it. To GreyWolf4, I hope I used Michael's quote alright.

Now for some Easter Eggs:

1) If anyone who's seen the anime X or X/1999, then you should know that Nagi's diving into Aya's mind is based on how Subaru Sumeragi of Tokyo Babylon and X does something similar to the main character Kamui Shiro.

2) Nagi's handling of the Mikage hit men are based off Legato Bluesummers from Trigun.

Anyway, I'll make sure to have the next chapter up when I can. Please R and R!


	20. Chapter 19: Temporary Calm

AN: Well, here we are at chapter 19! Hope this one's to everyone's liking despie it's shortness. Enjoy reading it.

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers.

Chapter 19: Temporary Calm

Aogiri Residence:

"Alright, start talking, Tsukasa-san." Riku said seriously. "How did you know about our group and who told you about us?"

"Straight to the point aren't you, Drakken?" Shuro asked with a smile.

"I'm off duty right now, so you may call me Riku." Riku replied. "Now please answer my questions."

"I can understand why Riku would want to know about this, Shuro, and the rest of us want to know too." Aya insisted.

"She's right about that." Yuhi agreed,

"Alright, I'd better tell you." Shuro replied. "You see, after I lost Kei to those Mikage bastards, I wanted revenge on them for what they did. Not just to Kei and me, but to all those people victimized by C-Project."

"That's understandable, but how does that explain your finding out about FOXHOUND?" Chidori asked.

"Well, actually, I didn't find it out on my own." Shuro answered. "I was told about it by someone…"

"Who told you, then?" Nagi asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know who it was that did." Shuro admitted. "A month ago, I received an e-mail containing information about your group from an anonymous sender. I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing at first, but after I looked into it a little I was able to verify everything about what I was sent. Then, a few days later I was sent another anonymous e-mail containing a large amount of information on the Mikage's activities and the e-mail instructed me to send the information to FOXHOUND."

"So you're the one who notified FOXHOUND about all this?" Riku asked.

"Yes, but I decided to also use this information to help Suzumi and everyone else." Shuro answered. "After I sent the e-mail, I contacted the head of the Aogiri family…"

"You contacted my father!" Yuhi exclaimed.

"Hold on, it was my father in law that suggested this group to me." Suzumi spoke and then looked at Shuro. "You mean to tell us FOXHOUND's helping us was arranged by the both of you?"

"Yes, it was." Shuro nodded, and then looked to the side with a sad look on her face. "But, it seems that even though I did that, Toya ended up dying during the mission to rescue Chidori and Shota. I'm sorry Aya…"

"Shuro, there's nothing for you to be sorry about." Aya said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You were trying to help us, and that's what matters."

"But still…I wonder who sent you information about FOXHOUND." Suzumi spoke. "From what Riku's told us, it would be hard for someone to obtain any such information, and there's also the question of why they would want you to receive it."

"It could be because the sender knew Shuro was close to you guys, and also that she wanted revenge against the Mikage." Ran spoke and then looked at Riku. "According to what you've told us, the relationship between the Mikage and the Patriots are far from friendly. So there's a chance the Patriots may be trying to pit FOXHOUND against the Mikage and then take advantage of the fighting between the two groups."

"That would make sense." Riku agreed. "Due to the fact that the Patriots most likely played a major part in C-Project's development, they would know about Shuro's relation with Aya and everyone else here, as well as Shuro's grudge against the Mikage."

"But if the Patriots are planning that, then why do they have agents among the Mikage's men?" Yuhi asked. "If they're planning on just standing by and watching you guys and the Mikage destroy each other, why have their own men get involved in this?"

"Probably to spy on Kagami so he doesn't pull anything off to surprise them." Nagi answered. "The guy's obviously scum, but he's also scum with brains. I don't really think the Patriots would want any unnecessary surprises getting in the way of their plans."

"Hey, Nagi, do you know if Schwartz is working for the Patriots or the Mikage?" Chidori spoke. "I mean…you know them, so…"

"From how Crawford operates, I'd put my money on the Patriots." Nagi replied.

"Not very surprising, considering how you guys dealt with Takatori and Eszet." Ken said. "No offense, Nagi, I'm just using that as an example."

"None taken, Ken." Nagi replied. "Besides, I never really liked either of those guys very much."

"The feeling's mutual for all four of us." Omi spoke in agreement.

"But even if that theory about the Patriots' involvement is true, there isn't much we can do in that case." Ran surmised. "The Patriots are hidden and most likely out of our reach, and the only enemy we can currently strike are the Mikage, and not to mention that for now they are the immediate threat."

"Um…excuse me, but who are the Patriots?" Aya spoke.

"Oh yeah, we'd better tell you about them." Riku said and looked over at Shuro. "Do you know about the Patriots?"

"I'm afraid I'm as clueless as Aya." Shuro admitted.

"Okay, then it looks like one of us had better inform you two." Riku turned to Nagi, Tot, Ran, Youji, Ken, and Omi. "So should we draw straws as to who tells them?"

Everyone except for Tot sweat dropped at that.

"That sounds like a great idea." Tot said happily in agreement. "I'll get the straws."

Later:

As it turned out Nagi ended up being the one who told Aya and Shuro about FOXHOUND and the Patriots.

"If your theory about the Patriots was correct, then that means I've brought everyone here into a trap set by the Patriots." Shuro said with a shocked expression after hearing what Nagi had to tell her.

"Hey, we don't even know if that's the case." Aya reassured her.

"Even if it is, don't feel so bad about it." Riku added. "You wouldn't be the first to be used by the Patriots."

"I think for the time being, we should just keep an eye on the Mikage for now." Suzumi spoke. "I'll speak to my father about all of this and then see what we should do about the Mikage."

"Suzumi, I know this is asking a lot, but could you please try and find some more leads on the hagoromo of any celestial maiden?" Aya asked.

"I'll do what I can, Aya." Suzumi promised.

"Is there a specific reason why you want that?" Ran spoke, causing Aya's attention to turn to him. "No offense, and I don't mean to pry into your business, but it seems to me that finding this hagoromo is more important to you than eliminating the threat of the Mikage."

"He's got a point." Youji agreed. "It would make more sense to go after those guys first and then look for the robes."

"Well, there's a good reason…" Aya answered. "You see…a few weeks ago, Ceres told me that I had six months to return her hagoromo to her, or she would kill Aki along with Shiso in order to complete her revenge."

"NANI!" Everyone in the room shouted.

"Hold on, isn't that a little rash?" Maya asked. "I mean..."

"Not if you look at it from Ceres' perspective." Riku answered, and looked at everyone. "Okay, everyone's heard the old legend. How Ceres was forced to become Shiso's wife because he stole her hagoromo and wouldn't return it unless she did. Looking at it that way I don't really blame her for holding a grudge."

"Not to mention this Shiso guy obviously didn't keep his end of the bargain." Youji added. "Otherwise we wouldn't be doing any of this right now."

"Don't tell me you're justifying this!" Maya exclaimed.

"I'm not." Riku replied. "I'm just trying to explain how this thing with Ceres probably is. To be perfectly honest, I don't like Ceres' ultimatum either."

"Why don't we just give Ceres that hagoromo thingie the Mikage made?" Tot suggested.

There was a minute of silence as everyone considered this.

"You know that just might work." Aya said. "A hagoromo is a hagoromo, so Ceres will probably accept it."

"The only problem would be actually getting the hagoromo." Chidori spoke. "Trust me, after all the trouble the Mikage went through to kidnap me in order to create that thing, I don't think they'll give it up so easily."

"Hey, don't worry about that." Riku said with a grin. "I'm sure Weiss, my partners, and I can do a good job at persuading them."

"Hey, don't leave the rest of us out of this." Yuhi spoke. "This is our fight too, you know."

"The more the merrier." Riku agreed and then a thought came to mind. "But it might be a good idea if whoever it is that's coming along gets a bit of training."

"What do you mean?" Yuhi asked.

"Since there's no school tomorrow, I think a little trip to my uncle's mansion is in order." Riku answered. "Besides, I think it would be best that I inform my family about all of this, too."

"Why's that?" Aya asked.

"Well, for starters, I'm a ninja and it's best that a ninja keep his clan informed about things like these." Riku answered. "Also, my uncle's mansion houses VR simulators which should be useful for the training I just mentioned."

"Your family must be pretty loaded if you've got that kind of stuff." Omi noted.

"You're right about that." Nagi spoke. "I'm not sure how much money Kurei-san has, but I'd venture to guess that he's a billionaire."

"That aside, can you tell us why you think we need to train before we try to get that hagoromo the Mikage have?" Yuhi asked. "I've done some practicing lately on my martial arts…"

"I won't deny you're a skilled fighter Yuhi, but despite that your skills when it comes to stealth are lacking. At least that's how it looked back at the Mikage HQ a week ago." Riku answered seriously. "When we go to get that hagoromo, the best plan would be to sneak in and steal it. The fighting would most likely be on the way out, and even then we should concentrate on stealth to get out keeping the chances of any of us getting hurt or killed to an absolute minimum."

"So you basically want me to do some VR training in stealth, right?" Yuhi asked.

"Don't you mean 'us'?" Chidori spoke, before Riku could answer. "I'm coming too when we try to get that hagoromo."

"Chidori…" Yuhi said, about to object.

"Yuhi, don't." Chidori replied firmly. "I'm as involved in this as you are, and you guys are definitely going to need me on that mission. Since I'm a descendant of a tennyo, I can use my celestial abilities to locate the hagoromo for you so you guys won't be searching the whole building for it."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Ran spoke. "I doubt the hagoromo will show up on the soliton radar, and there's a good chance only a handful of the Mikage's top staff will know where it's being kept, leaving interrogating guards as we go along ineffective."

"Not to mention that the building has been designed specifically to keep intruders, or people trying to escape, in." Omi added. "A couple of days ago, Nagi and I hacked into their system and had a look at their security system."

"What did you find out?" Suzumi asked.

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm surprised your mission to rescue Chidori worked out as well as it did." Omi answered. "Their system is pretty advanced and well designed too. The only other organization in this country with a system better than theirs is NERV."

"NERV?" Yuhi asked.

"It's a large organization based over in Tokyo-3." Suzumi answered. "I'm not entirely sure about the details on them, but they seem to be very important to many of the world's major governments since they get their funding from them. Other than that, I only know a little from what a few of the Aogiri family employees who used to work for NERV told me."

"And what was that?" Nagi asked curiously.

"Just that the man in charge, someone named Gendou Ikari, was a real asshole and that they were glad they quit their job working for him." Suzumi answered with a smile.

(Why am I getting a sudden feeling of understanding towards those employees?) Riku thought.

"Anyway, that aside, the point is you guys need to work at sneaking if you're going to come along." Ran said seriously. "I don't mean to sound cruel, but in order for all of us to pull off something like what Tot just suggested, we can only afford to bring along people who won't drag us down."

"He's right about that." Ken said in agreement, his tone equally serious. "After your previous infiltration of their headquarters, the Mikage have probably increased security to the max. Don't expect these guys to be as easily surprised as they were before."

After a few minutes, Yuhi relented.

"Fine, I see your point." He admitted. "Now that I look back on this, Toya was the one who did most of the infiltration and I just followed him. By myself, I just kept getting caught off guard by the Mikage's men and because of that Chidori almost…" Yuhi couldn't finish.

"Yuhi, what's happened has happened." Chidori spoke reassuringly. "You don't need to beat yourself up about that."

"If you guys learn some basics, the chances of something like that happening again will be reduced considerably." Nagi said.

"I wouldn't mind using these VR things for training myself." Youji admitted. "The four of us don't really have any access to VR simulators, given how our budget is."

"Being a good assassin doesn't really pay much, does it?" Riku asked with a grin.

"You said it." Youji replied.

"So I guess that means we're going to this place." Suzumi said and looked at Riku. "Could you give me the address?"

"I'm afraid it's unlisted so just follow me when we drive there tomorrow." Riku replied.

"Well, I'd love to come too, but I'm afraid since I'm restarting my career as a singer, my manager's been putting up a busy schedule for me." Shuro admitted as she got up.

"So you really are going to sing again, huh?" Aya asked turning to her friend.

"Yes, and my next concert's going to be in a few days from now." Shuro smiled at Aya. "Don't worry, I've managed to get over Kei's death enough to do this, and I know he wouldn't want me to turn away from our dream. I'll be singing for the both of us now."

"Shuro…" Aya said, knowing how Shuro was feeling about all of this.

Shuro then grinned.

"Also, I'm going to make an announcement before the final song." She added.

"What kind of announcement?" Chidori asked, and then realized what it was. "Hold on, are you going to announce to everyone there that you're really a woman?"

"Exactly." Shuro nodded. "I'm sure that will give the fans quite a shock."

"Probably most of Japan too." Riku said with a chuckle as he thought about it. "Who knows, this news may even surprise the Patriots."

"I doubt that, but who really knows?" Nagi spoke.

"Oh yeah, one last thing." Shuro said before she was about to leave. "If you guys want, you can come to the concert. I should be able to pull some strings and get you guys some good seats."

"REALLY!" Tot, Aya, Chidori, and Maya exclaimed at the same time, causing everyone else to sweat drop.

"Uh…yeah." Shuro replied.

"Well, I don't see any harm in doing that." Riku spoke. "As long as everyone here comes to fulfill the whole 'bodyguard' part of the mission, of course. Count us in."

"Alright then, I'll see you then. Now I'd better get back to the studio before my manager has a fit trying to find out where I am." Shuro said and then walked towards the door.

"Hey, if the Mikage start bothering, you call us and we'll take care of them." Riku called out to her.

"I'll do that." Shuro nodded. "You guys take care of yourselves, okay? You especially, Aya."

"I will, don't worry." Aya answered, and Shuro opened the door and was gone.

(Well, I guess I'd better call Uncle Kurei and tell him to expect company.) Riku thought.

The Next Day: Outside Uruha Mansion:

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Weiss, Aya, Suzumi, Maya, Yuhi, Chidori, and Shota stood at the front gate for the Uruha mansion. All of them, except for Riku, Nagi, and Tot, were gaping at the large mansion.

(This place rivals the Mikage main house.) Aya thought.

(This place rivals the Aogiri main house.) Yuhi and Suzumi thought at the same time.

"Pretty impressive place, huh?" Riku said with a smile.

"So a real clan of ninjas lives here?" Shota asked turning to Riku.

"Yep, this mansion is the main house for the Hokage ninja clan." Riku answers. "Though we usually use this place as more of a family get together place, like on Christmas, New Years, and such, this is also where I train to sharpen my ninjutsu."

"Wow." Shota said.

"Still, why did we have to take a bumpy and old road to get here?" Suzumi asked.

"That's the only road to take; it insures this place is unknown to outsiders." Riku answered. "My relatives and I have taken steps to make sure the forest around this place is hard to get through, not to mention all the traps there."

"Traps?" Yuhi asked. "What kind of traps?"

"You really don't want to know." Riku answered. "Let's just say pretty nasty ones that don't have a good survival rate."

(In that case I pity anyone who does try infiltrating this place.) Yuhi thought with a shudder as he imagined what kind of traps might be hidden in the forest.

"Well, better talk to our guardsman first." Riku said. "Come on, but stick with me or he might think you're intruders."

"Who are you…?" Maya began but stopped at the sound of creaking metal, along with lumbering footsteps coming from the side. The front gate then opened and a large hulking figure, completely covered in armor stepped through. The armored person carried a large axe with a spiked chain ball at the end and the visor to the helmet was down, hiding the person's face.

"What business do you have here?" The armored man said in a large rumbling voice, brandishing his weapon threateningly causing Yuhi and co. to step back. "If you have none, then leave or suffer the consequences."

"J-Keeper would you cool it, they're with me." Riku said calmly, causing the armored man, J-Keeper, to turn to Riku. Apparently he hadn't noticed him.

"Oh, Riku-sama, I did not know that these people were friends of yours." J-Keeper said, immediately bowing his head to Riku.

"Please don't do that." Riku said with an embarrassed expression. "Anyway, couldn't you tell these guys were with me since my partners were with them?"

"Do forgive me, Riku-sama; I still have not gotten used to them as new members of our clan."

"Um, excuse me but who's this?" Yuhi said, indicating J-Keeper.

"This is J-Keeper, one of the members of Uruha as well as my ninja clan, Hokage." Riku explained. "He's one of the top of our security guards and is very loyal to my family, as you can see."

(Ninja? This guy looks more like some kind of knight.) Ran thought.

"Anyway, J-Keeper, these guys and I are here on important business so could you please let us through?" Riku asked, turning back to the guard.

"Of course, Riku-sama." J-Keeper nodded and then stepped out of their way. "Might I send for some men to escort you to meet with Kurei-sama?"

"That won't be necessary." Riku replied. "My uncle knows I'm coming. By the way, are my parents here yet?"

"Not yet, but if you like, I shall notify you of Recca-sama and Yanagi-sama's arrival, Riku-sama."

"No thank you, I'm sure they'll let me know when they arrive."

"Very well then. Good day to you, Riku-sama."

Riku sighed. "J-Keeper, how many times have I asked you to quit it with the 'sama' part? I've known you all my life, so Riku's just fine."

"I am sorry, but that is something I cannot do, and you have asked fifty five thousand seven hundred and seventy four times, Riku-sama."

"I only meant that as an expression." Riku grumbled, sweat dropping. He then turned to the others. "Well, let's get going."

As they walked towards the mansion, Shota looked at Riku. They were all slowing their pace so Shota could keep up due to his difficulty walking.

"So are we going to meet more ninjas?" He asked.

"Certainly, this is a ninja clan, after all." Riku answered. "Practically everyone that lives here is a ninja."

"Hey, Riku, does this place have maids to do the cleaning and all that?" Chidori spoke.

"Of course." Riku replied.

"Are they ninjas too?" Shota asked.

"Some of them." Riku shrugged.

"Ninja maids?" Omi asked; sweat dropping at the thought of that.

"Speaking of which, why is a knight in a ninja clan?" Ran asked.

"Oh, you mean J-Keeper." Riku answered. "He's not the only one in Uruha who wears armor. Armor is a great defensive accessory in battle even if it does reduce speed. J-Keeper's a special case in that area. He's a specialist at heavy weaponry and close combat, and the armor he uses is thick and powerful enough to take a point blank shot from a tank and still be intact."

"Armor like that must weigh tons." Ken said. "I can't believe that stuff isn't weighing that guy down."

"Believe it or not, J-Keeper's pretty fast with that armor." Riku replied. "I guess it's because he wears that armor almost all of the time."

"Why was he so respectful towards you back there?" Maya asked.

"Like, I said, he's extremely loyal to my family and clan." Riku answered. "He was originally a member of the Uruha, as well as a semi apprentice to Joker, another member, as well as a sensei of mine. My uncle Kurei saved his life previously, and as a result earned his absolute loyalty. J-Keeper actually became one of my uncle's bodyguards and would have participated in the Urabutosatsujin if he hadn't been too sick to participate at the time."

Riku sighed before continuing.

"Anyway, J-Keeper's loyalty to my uncle also extends to his family and therefore he sees any of blood relation, and on friendly terms, with my uncle as someone to be treated with great respect." He then shrugged. "Personally, while it's flattering, I don't really like being treated like a noble or something like that. But I do respect him greatly for his loyalty; it takes a big man to be devoted like that."

"So he's kind of like a butler, huh?" Chidori spoke.

Riku almost laughed at the image of the armored man doing the job of a butler while wearing the armor.

"Kinda." Riku grinned.

Later: Inside the Mansion:

The introductions to Kurei had been brief and polite, and then Suzumi and Ran decided to stay behind to talk a little with Kurei about the current situation while the others went over to the mansion's VR room to train. Aya, due to her pregnancy, decided to coma along and watch while the others trained. Omi, Youji, and Ken went to a different room and had proceeded to begin the more advanced sneaking and elimination modes. Riku, Nagi, and Tot were in the same VR room as Yuhi, Chidori, and Maya.

"So this is a VR simulator." Yuhi said as the program activated and they were standing in a cel shaded room.

"Yep, now all that needs to be done is select the training program." Riku said, and then glanced over at Nagi. "I'm going to have Nagi run you guys through the basic training modes and then he'll get to training with Tot once you guys start getting the hang of things. Just make sure to call him when you want to change modes and their difficulty levels."

"You mean you're not going to stick around to help us?" Chidori asked.

"Under normal circumstances I would, but I need to do some training of my own." Riku answered. "This is something I need to do just in case…"

"In case of what?" Maya asked.

"I didn't want to say anything about this earlier, but during that time I went to rescue you I ran into somebody who might be an enemy for us later on." Riku replied seriously. "I'm not sure who he is or how powerful he is. Nor do I know if he's even still alive after I shot him, but I can't take chances."

"Why didn't you tell me or Tot about this?" Nagi demanded.

"Because I didn't want to cause any unnecessary problems for you guys." Riku said. "If that guy I ran into does show up, I'll handle him myself. Anyway, I'll see you guys in a bit."

Riku then exited the room.

Nagi then turned to Yuhi and co.

"Okay, I think we'll start with stealth since that will be the main part of the mission to retrieve the hagoromo." He said, and then proceeded to select sneaking mission 1. "Okay, here's how it will work, once you guys manage to score as high as the highest record, we'll move on to the next level. Now let's begin."

Meanwhile:

Outside the room, Riku glanced down the hallway and saw a woman in her thirties with long pink hair, with strands that stood out at the sides behind her head that ended in a single curl, and had a fierce look in her blue eyes. She had two moles just under her left eye and was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"It took you long enough." The woman commented as she stood up and looked at Riku. "So are you ready, nephew?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, Aunt Miki." Riku replied with a confident smile. "So you're finally going to teach me to use your Idaten (Speed Dasher) madogu, right?"

"Of course. After I heard how your mission was going from Kurei and Neon, I decided you'd need it." Miki replied and bent down and took off an anklet with an orb that had a kanji on it that she was wearing at her right ankle. She then handed it to Riku. "Now let's get into a training room."

Riku nodded and followed his aunt into one of the VR training rooms.

"Before we begin, there's something I need to tell you about the Idaten madogu." Miki spoke as the door closed. "As you know, when worn at the leg, it allows the wearer to move at supersonic speeds without any injury to the user's body. However, it is still a dangerous item if used the incorrect way."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"Please let me explain more." Miki answered. "The madogu itself is a hard one to effectively master. As you become more skilled at using it, you will tap into a certain percentage of its speed increase power. I myself have only been able to tap into 90 of its true power. Also due to the speed that you will be moving at when you are fighting, you need to react quickly enough in order for you to hit your target. And you must also react quick enough in order to stop and turn, as well as maintain your balance and footing throughout, and that is when it gets dangerous."

"How so?"

"Think about how fast you currently move; now imagine how fast you'll move once your speed is multiplied. Now consider how much damage your body will incur if you hit something at that kind of speed."

Riku flinched as he considered that.

"So you mean if I ran into a wall or something like that…" Riku began.

"You'd break quite a few bones, and that's only if you're lucky." Miki finished. "So are you sure you want to go through with training to use this?"

"I have a feeling that I'm going to need to use that madogu soon enough." Riku replied.

"Alright, let's begin." Miki said simply. "Put the Idaten on and we'll begin the basics."

Riku immediately did so. As soon as he did, Miki activated the VR room and prepared to select an appropriate program. She then turned to Riku.

"Now then, we'll start with the basics at this sort of thing." She said. "I hope you're prepared, I won't be going easy on you."

"Push me as much as you see fit, Aunt Miki." Riku replied. "I need to be able to tap into at least 25 of this thing's power."

"Don't be so expecting, now enough talking, let's begin."

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

"Well, Crawford, when do you think Kagami will send us to try and capture Aya Mikage?" Schuldich asked his partner. He and Farfarello were with Crawford in a sound proof room Viper had secured for them to use to meet in.

"In a matter of days." Crawford answered, fixing his glasses. "I may not be able to see exactly when it occurs yet, but I can sense it. That will be the official starting point for the next phase of our plan."

"I take it Kagami will also have us accompanied by his own goons when this happens." Schuldich assumed.

"More than likely, but that will not be a problem. Those men shall make appropriate shields for when Hanabishi, my student, and his pet attack in retaliation." Crawford smiled. "They will simply be necessary sacrifices, along with the C-Genome Chidori Kuruma." He then turned to Farfarello.

"I'm sure you'll be able to arrange the appropriate 'accident' when this occurs." He said.

"Of course I can." Farfarello answered simply.

"Just don't inflict a killing wound, make sure it's only a critical one." Crawford instructed. "The strain shall do its work, and it will ensure that Kagami isn't too angry about the accident."

"Very well." Farfarello replied with a nod.

"What about the situation with Shade and the men the Patriots sent?" Schuldich asked.

"Most of them have arrived in Japan and are awaiting the orders to strike." Crawford answered. "And have you been successful in manipulating the minds of those mercenaries at the Mikage main base?"

"Yes, but I'm having trouble with the Metal Gear RAY pilots." Schuldich replied. "It's nothing I can't handle; I just need a little more time with them and they'll do whatever we command."

"Good, make sure that happens." Crawford said.

(It won't be long now, Nagi.) Crawford thought. (We'll meet face to face again soon, and it won't be much longer until your trial shall begin.)

AN: Well, that's the end of this chapter. I'm sorry if this one was pretty short and not as good as the ones before, especially for how long it's taken me to update, but this chapter's more or less a 'stepping stone' chapter to set things up for when the real action begins. I'm certain that you'll like the next chapter, and I promise that it'll be a lot longer than this one. I'll try to have it out by the end of the year, but no promises on that. Well, please R and R and stay tuned for an omake:

Omake: Practicing:

Mikage Intl. HQ:

The doors to wanker man Kagami Mikage's office burst open. Kagami turns, expecting me, but is in for a nasty surprise. The one who arrives is none other than ShardclawKusanagi's badass OC Greg Kinezono.

Greg: Kagami Mikage! I'm here to pay you back for all those creepy and evil things you've done all throughout the Ceres series! Prepare to taste a sample of what I have in store for Matthew Reese whenever I get my hands on him.

Kagami: DarkFusion sent you, didn't he!

Greg: Nope, I came on my own. I need a practice dummy for the stuff I have in store for Reese.

Kagami: Guards, kill this man.

Greg: Your minions can't help you, I already took care of them when I raised hell at your base.

Kagami: How come I didn't hear about that till now?

Greg: Probably because you were having some sick sexual fantasy about Aya, your own cousin, at the time you damned sicko! That's one of the many reasons I'm not showing you a single shred of mercy!

Kagami: How dare you! You can't say such things about me! I'm the most powerful and evil man in the Ceres series!

Greg: Don't you mean most cowardly and pathetic? All you do is sit around and give orders, manipulate people, and spout a bunch of damned nonsense. Anyway, I'm through talking to you, wanker man. Time to start my training!

Greg's nanoarm becomes charged up with flames and then begins the special 'wanker killer' training.

Kagami's death scene for this omake cannot be described due to the rating of this fic.

DF is currently watching the whole thing on a security camera.

DF (flinches as Kagami's screams of pain reach a higher volume): Whoah. And I thought 'D' did nasty stuff to his victims. Greg really is catching up to him in more ways than one.

AN: Anyway, thanks to GreyWolf4, TempestDynasty, and SharclawKusanagi for their reviews and suggestions, and also to new reviewer Epicentre (thank you for the kind words and I'm glad that you like my fic). Well that's all for now. Please R and R.


	21. Chapter 20: Shattered Calm

AN: We're at chapter 20 now, and this is where the main part of the story is really starting. I hope you enjoy this update, folks.

Disclaimer: Except for Riku and this story, I own zero. Nada. Nothing. No matter how much I wish I did… Also, Takeshi Ishida belongs to GreyWolf4.

Chapter 20: Shattered Calm

Uruha Mansion:

Kurei, Suzumi, Ran, and Recca (who had arrived recently with his wife Yanagi) were in his office meeting with him. They were discussing the current events of the mission.

"Riku did inform us about the situation, but I didn't think it would be as serious as this." Recca said. "No wonder he was so serious about the whole thing when he told Kurei and me about this."

"Yes, I thought that wasn't like him either." Kurei agreed. "Usually Riku's confident in how a mission will turn out, but this time…"

"I don't blame him for that." Suzumi spoke. "Even I have some doubts as to how this could turn out. We can't take on the Mikage head on, so our best bet is to try beating them with ingenuity instead of brute force."

"That I can agree with." Kurei nodded. "Your plan on retrieving the hagoromo is sound so far, but even if you do succeed, there is still the issue of retaliation from the Mikage."

"I would suggest hiding Aya and the others in a safe location while the enemy is eliminated." Ran said.

"In other words, after you've retrieved the hagoromo, assassinate Kagami Mikage along with any others in the Mikage family in charge of C-Project." Suzumi assumed and Ran nodded.

"That sounds like the most logical approach." Kurei agreed. "I think it would make the job easier if the Uruha lent a hand in that part."

"And I think it would be best if you and your friends hid here, Suzumi-san." Recca suggested. "Look, I'm not criticizing whatever protection the Aogiri family has to offer you, but that is probably what the Mikage will expect."

"So if we go someplace the Mikage aren't expecting…" Suzumi began and smiled. "I see what you're getting at. I accept your offer."

Meanwhile: Outside the VR Room:

"Well, you're doing better at this than I expected for someone who's just started using the Idaten." Miki congratulated Riku, who was sitting down on a bench drinking a whole bottle of water. He had multiple bruises all over his arms and legs from a bunch of collisions and trips that had occurred during the use of the Idaten and was sweating considerably from all the running and dashing he had been doing.

"Thanks, but according to you I've only been able to tap into 15 of the Idaten's power." Riku said after he finished drinking. "After I take a little breather, we should resume the training."

"Don't tell me you were actually serious about training until you could access 25?!" Miki asked in shock.

"Of course I was." Riku answered. "I need to do this so I can accomplish the mission and protect my friends."

Miki was silent for a few minutes before shaking her head with an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, but take a longer break than just a breather, okay?" She said to her nephew. "And go see your mother and have her heal those bruises too. If you're really serious about doing this, than you'll need to be in top condition, is that understood?"

"Of course, Aunt Miki, I'll make it a lunch break then." Riku smiled and then walked out of the hallway, leaving Miki alone with her thoughts.

(He certainly is stubborn about these kinds of things when the need arises.) Miki thought. (Always prepared to protect his friends and clan members, just like a real shinobi…Heh, he's just like his father was at his age. Actually, he's even a bit like Kurei is too…I guess that's how all flame masters of the Hokage clan are.)

Three Days Later:

It actually took Riku two days until he was able to access 25 of the Idaten's power. During that time, Riku, Nagi, and Tot brought Yuhi, Chidori, and Maya back to the Uruha mansion after school for VR training. Two of the members of Weiss usually went with them to train as well, while the other two stayed behind to protect Aya, Suzumi, and Shota.

During the three day period, Yuhi, Chidori, and Maya were able to grasp the basics of sneaking and the use of handguns in weapons mode and had succeeded at beating the top score after seven tries.

"Well done, especially for someone just starting this sort of thing." Nagi said to Yuhi after he had just finished level nine for Raiden's sneaking missions. Chidori and Maya were waiting for him.

"Do you guys in FOXHOUND actually go through this kind of stuff for training on a regular basis? Yuhi asked.

"Of course we do." Tot answered. "Actually Raiden's sneaking is pretty basic stuff. Ninja Raiden and Snake's are more challenging."

"If that's true, then I'm glad we're just doing the basics." Chidori said with relief.

"No kidding, I kind of envy Aya at being exempt from this part." Maya agreed. "Who'd have thought sneaking would be so challenging?"

"Games like Splinter Cell make it look easy, huh?" Nagi asked with a smile.

"You said it." Yuhi replied. "Anyway, are Omi and Ran still doing their training?"

"Yeah, I guess we shouldn't disturb them." Nagi answered and then he got an idea. "Hey, let's see how Riku's training is going."

"Why not?" Yuhi shrugged and they all left the room to the one Riku was using.

As soon as they walked in, they were in a large corridor with barely any lighting in it at all. After a few minutes, when their eyes got used to the dark, one thing that was the most noticeable was that there was a long row of candles adorning each wall that went on as far down they could see which wasn't very far due to the lack of light.

"Oh, so that's what he's doing right now." Nagi spoke.

"What's Riku doing?" Chidori asked curiously.

"It's kind of like a target practice type of training." Nagi answered. "It'll be pretty self explanatory soon." He then turned to Tot. "Hey, Tot, how far was Riku able to go last time?"

"Um…I think it was here." Tot replied pointing at a candle close to her. She then looked to the side at another candle. "Or was it this one? ...No wait, I think it's this one. Or is it…" Everyone sweat dropped as Tot was trying to decide which of the candles it was.

"Uh, Tot, I think your first choice was the right one." Nagi said.

"Oh, sorry." Tot rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, please stand right there." Nagi instructed, indicating the candle Tot had pointed out first, and the three of them did so.

"So what happens now?" Maya asked.

"You'll see soon enough." Nagi answered.

Suddenly some light appeared off in the distance, as two candles back there lit. Almost as sudden as it had come, the candles in front began lighting one after another at a very fast rate, so fast that it only took a few seconds for the candles Yuhi, Chidori, and Maya were standing at to be lit. A few candles later, the lighting stopped short of seven candles till the door to the VR room.

"Oh, Nagi, Tot, I see you've brought company." Riku's voice spoke. Yuhi and co. looked to see Riku strolling down the corridor.

"It looks like your range has gotten better." Nagi commented to his friend who smiled at that.

"Yeah, but it looks like I'll need to train a little more before I make the hallway longer." Riku replied.

"What exactly were you doing?" Maya asked Riku.

"Testing the range and accuracy of my flame skills." Riku answered. "I stand down at the midpoint of this hallway and then light the candles in front and behind me, which tests the range for which I can start a fire. I also have the lighting dimmed to one which I can barely see to make the targeting a little more challenging in order to test my accuracy. Anyway, how's VR training going?"

"Challenging that's for sure." Yuhi replied. "So how's that other training you mentioned before going?"

"It took me a while but I was able to complete it. I just hope it will be enough." Riku's expression was serious for a moment before it suddenly vanished and was replaced by his usual carefree one. "Anyway, we should probably head back to Suzumi's place, it's getting pretty late."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want her to worry." Yuhi agreed. "So I guess we'll be back here tomorrow to train some more."

"Just till you guys beat Raiden's sneaking missions then we'll get to retrieving that hagoromo." Riku grinned.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Kagami's Office:

The three members of Schwartz, along with Asamu Bagte, sat in the office in front of Kagami as he issued his orders.

"Our spies have been monitoring the activities of the Aogiris and their FOXHOUND allies, and through that, I have been able to devise a way to effectively capture our targets." Kagami said. "It is more than likely that the Aogiris and FOXHOUND are planning some way to infiltrate this building and retrieve the hagoromo, since I'm certain they know about it from Chidori Kuruma."

"So what plan, sir?" Asamu asked. "You want us ambush them?"

"That is part of the plan, yes." Kagami answered. "According to the reports of the spies, the best time to attack the enemy would be on their way back from an area outside of town that they seem to have been visiting for the past few days. We'll close off the roads around the area and then proceed with the attack."

"My, that's quite a tall order." Crawford commented. "You must have quite a lot of friends in the Japanese government to pull that off."

"So it would seem…" Kagami said simply. "Now, do you have anymore thoughts on the matter?"

"None at all, Mr. Mikage." Crawford replied. "But I must enquire who is to be captured and who to be killed?"

"Any C-Genomes that are among them, Yuhi Aogiri, and one of the FOXHOUNDers with paranormal abilities. Kill the rest."

"Of course, Mr. Mikage." Crawford nodded.

"So when do we set out for this?" Schuldich asked.

"Tomorrow. Asamu shall be in command of the operation, which means you will be taking his orders." Kagami answered.

"What happened to the Chinese guy, don't tell me he's been fired?" Schuldich grinned.

"Lee has more important business to attend to at the moment." Kagami replied. "Now that should be enough, you are dismissed."

The Next Day: Riku's Car:

Riku was driving behind Suzumi's van on the way back from the Uruha mansion. Suzumi had decided to come along with Aya to discuss a few more things with Kurei, while the others did their VR training. Riku's passengers were Aya, Nagi, Tot, Omi, and Maya. Everyone else was riding in Suzumi's van.

"Talk about your lucky days." Riku commented as he was driving. "There's no traffic at all today."

"Hey, you're right." Aya commented as she looked out the window. "I guess that would count as a small miracle."

"Yeah, considering how the traffic usually is at this time of the day." Maya agreed she then turned to Aya. "So how's the baby anyway, Aya? You know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

"No not yet, Maya." Aya replied. "Actually, I'm still trying to think of a name for whichever it turns out to be." Her expression then became a bit more thoughtful. "But you know when I start thinking more and more about the child, I start to wonder how things will turn out later on. Will I be able to be a good mother to it, will I be able to support it, and lots of other stuff too."

"Hey, don't let that get to you too much, Aya." Riku spoke. "Want to know something? My mom and dad married young, when they were eighteen, and mom had me a year later. So she wasn't that much older than you when I was born, and I think she and my dad did a great job at raising me. Look at me now."

"I don't really think that last part you said is very encouraging." Nagi commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riku asked, pretending to be offended.

Aya chuckled a little at this.

"I can see what you're saying, Riku." She said and then her expression became a little saddened. "But still…Yanagi-san had her husband Recca with her all throughout, while I…I just don't know if I can feel comfortable with my child growing up never knowing his or her father…"

Riku immediately felt a pang of pity for both of them at that moment.

"Alright then, it's decided." Riku spoke. "After this mission is over and the baby's born, Nagi, Tot, and I will help you out in taking care of it. Like those guys in 'Tokyo Godfathers'."

Normally Aya would have sweat dropped at that, but she could see that Riku was being sincere in what he said.

"You'd really do that?" She asked.

"Of course we will, right guys?" Riku glanced at his two partners.

"You got it." Tot said happily.

"You can count me in." Nagi said.

"Are you sure?" Aya asked. "I mean won't this…?"

"Aya, a kid shouldn't grow up without parents or parental figures. Besides, we're doing this for two reasons; one cause we want to, and two, cause you're our friend." Riku replied seriously. "And you can always count on the three if us to help a good friend."

"I never really knew my parents, so I don't want this kid to go through something like I did." Nagi said.

"I agree with Riku, and besides, this will help in training me for when Nagi and I are married and have kids." Tot added, causing Nagi to blush a little at that.

"Thank you." Aya said.

"Hey, I just thought about something." Maya spoke with a smile. "The three main characters in 'Tokyo Godfathers' are homeless, and one of the guys in the group is a gay transvestite. Are you sure you want too…?"

"I only meant that as an example!" Riku shouted, his freaked out expression causing everyone else to laugh at him.

Riku suddenly heard a loud bursting noise and looked and saw that one of the tires for Suzumi's van had blown out and they were pulling over.

"I should have known good luck would only last so long…" Riku said mournfully as he pulled over behind the van and then parked it. Everyone then got out to see how badly damaged the tire was.

"A blow out, just great!" Yuhi said in frustration after taking a look at the punctured tire which had a small circular hole in it.

Riku didn't say anything as he had a look at the tire. His eyes then looked sharply into the trees opposite of where they were as he noticed something. It was then that Riku knew that he only had seconds to react.

"GET DOWN!" Riku shouted and then shoved Suzumi out of the way, at the same time bringing his right arm up in front of him. Almost as soon as that happened, there was a 'clang' as a tranquilizer dart struck the tekko he was wearing.

Omi quickly saw where the shot had come from, drew out his blowgun and fired a poison dart in that direction. He was quickly awarded by the scream of someone hiding in the woods. A few seconds later, a man's body tumbled out with Omi's dart sticking in his left wrist. He was carrying a sniper rifle.

"I knew it." Riku said. "Everyone take defensive positions, there's a second one here somewhere!"

There were a few minutes of silence as they all kept their eyes on the forest to find the second sniper. As this was being done, Yuhi made sure he was close to Chidori and Shota in case whoever it was decided to take a shot at them.

"Over there!" Nagi shouted, suddenly breaking the silence and then threw a psychic energy ball to an area to his left. "Psyche Shot!"

There was a loud 'crack' as the energy shot struck something, and then silence. After a few minutes, Riku let down his guard now that he was sure there were no more snipers.

"It's alright; I don't think there are anymore." He said, still keeping his eyes on the woods the snipers had shot at them from. "But be ready to duck if I tell you to."

"How did you know about those guys?" Yuhi asked.

"Take a look at the tire for your van." Riku answered and Yuhi and the others took a closer look. Riku then pointed at the puncture of the tire. "Now how many tire blow outs have perfect circular punctures? Especially punctures that pass straight through the tires."

A closer look showed that there were in fact two holes in the tire, both in a straight line from the other.

"That one was caused by a bullet, and when I blocked that dart the other guy shot at Suzumi, it revealed a there was another one there." Riku continued and then turned to Nagi. "Can you detect anymore over there?"

"No, it looks like there were only two of them." Nagi answered.

"That's weird, usually the Mikage send more of these guys." Yuhi said looking to the side.

"You correct, we right here." A familiar voice spoke from behind. They all turned to see Asamu Bagte along with twenty five heavily armed Mikage hit men standing behind them, guns drawn and ready to fire. They had come up from the downward slope on the side of the road.

Riku gritted his teeth as he realized he had been tricked.

"I see…" He said. "So the snipers were a diversion so you guys could sneak up the slopes and surprise us."

"You smarter than you look, FOXHOUNDer." Asamu smiled, like a kid who was being praised for doing something great. "But you no smart enough; otherwise you not fall for trick."

"And you obviously need to develop your Japanese." Riku commented sarcastically. He then glanced over at Nagi, who gave a slight nod to show he knew what to do.

"I bet you planning on having that psychic in you group protect you." Asamu said. "Too bad we smarter than you, we bring more." The Indonesian assassin looked up, and suddenly there was the sound of an approaching helicopter. "They come."

Riku turned and saw a large helicopter start to descend and then land onto the street. Immediately, ten more Mikage hit men jumped out of the chopper with their M4s ready. But it wasn't those reinforcements that caught Riku, Nagi, Tot, and Weiss' attention, it was the three men who stepped out after them; Brad Crawford, Shuldich, and Farfarello.

"So the three of you finally show up." Riku growled.

"My, aren't you happy to see us." Schuldich commented and then noticed Ran, Youji, Ken, and Omi, who weren't very thrilled to see their enemies either. "Well now, none of us were expecting the four of you to show up."

"And we were hoping you guys wouldn't show up." Youji replied sarcastically.

"Too bad for you then." Farfarello said as he drew a pair of knives out and prepared to throw them.

Omi quickly loaded a dart into his blowgun and pointed at Farfarello.

"Try and harm any of these people and you won't live to regret it." He said. "And don't think this is your usual type of poison in this dart. This kind contains a rare and deadly type of poison which I highly doubt you're immune to."

"My, my, you certainly hold quite a grudge." Schuldich spoke, smiling at Omi. "Do tell me, was that girl Farfarello killed back then really so dear to you?"

"Don't you dare try manipulating him with that, Schuldich!" Nagi shouted. "I'll stop you if you do."

"Careful, he just might be able to give you some trouble this time." Crawford warned and then turned to Nagi and smiled. "Nagi, you never write, you never call… it's been such a long time since we last talked hasn't it?"

"Not long enough." Nagi replied flatly.

"Why the long face, disciple of mine?" Crawford asked. "The main reason I came here was to see how you were doing. Have those FOXHOUNDers that you've been mooching off of been treating you well?"

"Better than you guys did, that's for sure." Nagi answered.

"Enough talk!" Asamu ordered. "Our assignment to capture C-Genomes and kill ones we don't need, not small talk."

"Of course, sir." Crawford nodded to Asamu and then looked back at Nagi. "Well, my student, let's see how strong these FOXHOUND people have made you."

"I'll be glad to give you a first hand experience." Nagi then got into a fighting position.

"Wait!!" Asamu's voice shouted and looked at Riku. "He has power of fire and he not C-Genome. We charge him, he burn us all."

"Right on the money." Riku said with a grin as he made a fireball appear in the palm of his right hand and drew a kunai shuriken out with his left hand. "So who wants to try their luck first? Step right up!!"

Some of the Mikage hit men had been the ones who had been with Wei Fei Lee during his encounter with Riku and backed up a few steps since they knew how dangerous Riku was.

"I have better idea." Asamu spoke and then stepped forward. He then threw down his Uzi and drew out a knife. "You and me fight duel where no one interfere in battle. No use of special power or guns; just fists and knife."

"So what happens if I win?" Riku asked.

"Then I agree to spare ones we don't need bring with us." Asamu answered. "In other words, my men no kill non C-Genomes after they beat you."

"And if I lose?"

"If you still alive, we take you to headquarters for testing."

"What the hell kind of choices are those?!" Riku asked.

"Ones you not have much choice but choose between." Asamu replied. "You no want your people get hurt by stray bullet, me no want lose too many men."

(Riku, take him up on his offer.) Nagi said to him telepathically.

(You sure that's a good idea?) Riku thought to his partner.

(Each one of the hit men here has some bracelet on that protects them from attacks used by anyone with tennyo blood, right?) Nagi asked. (If you fight Asamu, his men will be too focused on the battle between the two of you to notice if I break their bracelets using psychokinesis.)

(Okay, but instruct Ran and the others to take a defensive position around everyone else.) Riku replied. (I don't trust Crawford, Schuldich, or Farfarello to not try something funny.)

(Got it, good luck.)

Riku then looked at Asamu.

"Fine, I accept your terms.) He said and then extinguished the flame in his right hand before tossing the kunai shuriken in his left hand into that hand. "Sassa to hajimeyou ze! (Let's get this thing started)"

Asamu then turned to look at the men under his command.

"All of you stay out of this. No one allowed to interfere." He ordered and then turned to the members of Schwartz. "That go for you too, this between him and me."

The men nodded and stepped back; Nagi looked over at Yuhi and co. and nodded and they also stepped back.

As soon as that happened, Asamu charged at Riku at a quick speed, knife raised to strike. Riku immediately brought his kunai up to parry the incoming blade. As the blades connected, Riku quickly ducked and did a lower sweeping kick at Asamu's legs in an attempt to trip the boy.

Asamu immediately jumped up to avoid the kick and at the same time slashed at Riku's face. Riku quickly jerked his head back, the blade's edge passing only a couple of centimeters from his eyes. Seeing an opening, Asamu quickly flipped the knife over and stabbed downwards at Riku's chest.

For a brief moment, it looked as if the knife had plunged into Riku's chest before there was a sudden puff of smoke and it revealed that the knife was sticking inside a log instead. Asamu, while trying as hard as he could to free his knife, looked up just in time to see Riku jump out from behind a bush and deliver an aerial kick at Asamu's head, sending the Indonesian flying back a few yards before hitting the ground.

Asamu quickly got up, his right cheek bruised from the kick. He then yanked his knife from the log and dashed towards Riku once again. Riku immediately got into a position to counter whatever incoming attack Asamu was planning.

As soon as his opponent was close enough, Riku immediately made a punch at Asamu who evaded it by falling to his side and sliding past Riku. He then stopped himself and leaped up at Riku, his knife ready to stab.

Riku quickly twisted his body around and his left hand shot out and grabbed Asamu's right wrist, stopping the knife, but as he did, the edge of it cut into Riku's left arm.

Asamu smirked as he saw blood draw from the wound.

"First blood mine." He said.

"Maybe, but the victory is mine." Riku replied with a grin. He then dropped the kunai shuriken in his right hand and used it to grab the shirt of Asamu's uniform while keeping a firm grip on Asamu's right wrist with his left hand. "Let me show you a taijutsu technique I learned in FOXHOUND. You're lucky I'm not using my powers of flame in this technique."

Riku then hurled Asamu into the air as hard as he could, about eight yards. Riku immediately leaped after him, stopping just below and behind Asamu. Hooking his arms under the Indonesian boy's armpits, Riku brought his opponent down into a fast downward spiral. The two of them spun downward at a quick rate that turned them into blurs as they spun. There was a loud crashing sound as Asamu slammed hard into the ground landing hard on his back.

Riku, who had leaped away from Asamu as he hit the ground, stood in front of his downed opponent, breathing heavily and trying to recover from the slight dizziness he'd gotten from the spinning.

(Damn, I still need to work on that technique.) Riku thought as he saw Asamu start to get up. (If I had used it right, that kid would be knocked out. Of course, if I used my flames like normal this might not be a problem.)

"You…you strong." Asamu said between breaths as he stood up. "But I still able to fight…"

"So am I, kid." Riku replied as the dizziness subsided. "And you look like you're barely able to stand. Why not just admit defeat and save yourself some trouble? I don't like hitting kids."

"I not helpless 'cause I young." Asamu declared reaching for a smaller knife at his boot. "I been fighting long as I able to remember. I grew up on battlefield. I no lose to someone like you!"

"Grew up on the battlefield…" This statement caused Riku to pause. "Hold on kid, are you telling me before you were with the Mikage you were a…"

"Chidori, do it now!!" Nagi shouted suddenly, interrupting Riku.

Suddenly there was a flash of light as Chidori transformed into her tennyo form. She then looked at the Mikage hit men and suddenly bolts of electricity shot out from her arms and struck the goons closest to her. The men cried out in pain and surprise as they were shocked by the electric bolts created by her celestial powers. The electricity also ignited the ammunition inside the men's guns causing it to all go off, injuring the men and their comrades near them.

At that moment, Ran and the other members of Weiss sprang into action. Ran charged towards the closest hit man and drew his sword out quickly at him, cutting the man down. Omi quickly took out and started throwing poisoned darts at each hit man he could. Ken wasted no time as he charged straight at the Mikage hit men and slashed at the nearest ones with his clawed gloves. Youji was about to attack when he spotted one of the hit men sneaking towards where Aya, Suzumi, and Shota were. He dashed straight up behind the goon, pulling out the wire at his wrist, and neatly looped the wire around the hit man's throat and began strangling him.

"What?!...How?" Asamu exclaimed, and looked at Riku angrily. "You promise no interfere!"

"The agreement was that no one would interfere in 'our' fight." Riku replied. "The fight between you and me. If you wanted a complete cease fire between our groups, you should have specifically asked for it."

"That not fair!" Asamu objected.

"I'm a ninja; I have my own definition of fighting fair." Riku said. "Besides most of what you people at the Mikage do doesn't fall into my book for fair anyway."

"You pay for this!" Asamu screamed and angrily charged at Riku, who calmly sidestepped each of his knife thrusts and slashes.

"Now you're getting emotional." Riku commented. "Look kid, you're tired and you obviously can't fight for very long so why not just save yourself some stress and quit. This fight's been decided."

"It decided when you dead!" Asamu shouted as he kept on his assault.

"Fine…have it your way." Riku replied. (5 of the Idaten's power should be more than enough.) Riku then focused on the power of the madogu he was wearing at his ankle.

As Riku slowed down to do this, Asamu immediately saw an opening and thrust the knife blade at his stomach. Just before the knife's edge could touch him, Riku suddenly vanished and the point struck only air.

Asamu's eyes widened as his enemy vanished before his eyes. Suddenly he felt something ram hard into his stomach. He barely had enough time to take a breath before a blur suddenly tackled him, ramming him into a tree. Asamu looked and saw that the attacker had been Riku, who was now holding him firmly against the tree's trunk with a kunai shuriken in his free hand and it was pointed less than an inch away from his right eye.

"Well, looks like I win." Riku said, keeping the kunai firmly pointed at Asamu.

(Is this it?) Asamu thought, feeling a sense of fear starting form in the pit of his stomach. (Is he going to kill me? Am I really going to die like this?) After a few seconds, that felt like hours to the young Indonesian, the boy sighed and resigned himself to his fate. (I guess this is the battle I will die in…Forgive me, boss, I failed you…)

"Go ahead, finish me…" Asamu said, and closed his eyes and waited for the end to come. A minute later, he opened them and looked at Riku. "What wrong? Why you no just kill me?"

Riku said nothing and then released Asamu. The boy's eyes widened in surprise, but that moment of surprise was ended quickly as Riku knocked him out with a hard blow to the head. The ninja then effortlessly picked up the unconscious body of the young assassin and then hurled him over to the landed chopper Schwartz had arrived in. Asamu landed a foot away from the open door. The boy groaned, but didn't wake up.

Riku then turned to survey what was going on with everyone else. He saw that things weren't going so well for the Mikage goons. Most of them had already been killed by the joint effort between all four member of Weiss and Nagi and Tot. Yuhi and Chidori were forming a defensive position around Suzumi, Aya, Maya, and Shota. The remaining Mikage hit men, now only eleven of them were starting to look less sure of whether they could win or not. A few were even glancing at the chopper nervously.

(Looks like this battle's been decided.) Riku thought as he walked towards the battle, calling the fire back into his right hand and drawing a kunai shuriken out with his left. (Now all we need to handle is Schwartz, so…)

As soon as Riku realized, he looked around for the three members but couldn't find any among the Mikage hit men. He then noticed a familiar figure creeping towards where Yuhi and co. were.

Fortunately, Nagi noticed him too and then turned and fired a psychic blast at the incoming attacker.

"You wish!" He shouted as he fired the blast at none other than Brad Crawford, who immediately foresaw the incoming attack and leaped out of the way with ease.

Crawford looked over at his student with a smile.

"Nice shot, my student." He congratulated. "I can tell your power as a psychic has grown since I last saw you. Unfortunately for you, you're still unable to see through my plans."

"What do you…?" Nagi then noticed a figure shoot out from behind Crawford and speed towards where Yuhi and co. were. "Look out!"

Yuhi immediately turned and saw that the incoming attacker was Farfarello and quickly got into a fighting position and took out the two iron chopsticks which were his weapons. He then got ready as Farfarello leaped at him, knife ready to strike. Yuhi immediately parried the knife with his chopsticks and then leaped back out of range of a knife slash.

Farfarello stopped and looked at his opponent, as if he were studying him. He then grinned at Yuhi and drew a second knife. For a moment it looked as if he were going to charge at Yuhi, but suddenly threw them both, one at Shota and the other at Chidori.

Yuhi immediately threw his chopsticks at the knife headed for Shota, knocking the knife out of the air. He then hurled himself in front of the knife headed for Chidori.

Chidori screamed as the knife struck Yuhi in the shoulder. Riku, who had immediately dashed towards them when he saw Crawford's attack, arrived just as Yuhi landed on the ground, clutching the knife stuck in him.

Riku took one look at his fallen friend before turning to Farfarello with an enraged expression on his face. He threw the kunai in his left hand away and then both his hands held large blazing flames in them. He was about to step towards Farfarello, fully intent on incinerating him right then, but suddenly stopped when he saw that wouldn't be necessary as bolts after bolts of electricity suddenly struck Farfarello, frying him up on the spot.

Riku turned and saw that the one who had fried up the Irish assassin was none other than Chidori who was looking even more pissed at Farfarello then Riku was as she charged up more electricity to shock the man even more.

The assassin quickly leaped up in an attempt to counterattack but was struck down by another electric attack. Farfarello's skin started to blister and crackle as the electric shocks burned him, but all he did was grit his teeth in frustration at not being able to make a counterattack at Chidori, as he couldn't feel the pain caused by the wounds.

Suddenly the electric onslaught stopped and Chidori collapsed to her knees breathing heavily from all that energy she'd just used to create all that electricity. Despite that, she got up and staggered towards where Yuhi was.

"Sis! Yuhi!" Shota exclaimed and then ran over to where his sister and Yuhi were at, stumbling a little as he did.

Riku was about to go there too when he noticed Farfarello start to get up. Riku glanced around to find Schuldich, but couldn't find him. Seeing that Crawford was still fighting Nagi, Riku immediately stepped between Farfarello and where Chidori, Shota, and Yuhi were.

"The only way to those three is through me." Riku said to Farfarello. "So, you want me to add another scar to you?"

"By all means." Farfarello replied, drawing out another knife. "And I'll slowly skin you alive!"

Meanwhile, Tot was fighting alongside Ran and the other members of Weiss against the Mikage hit men. As they were fighting Ran spoke to Tot.

"I admit, your form is actually pretty good." Ran said. "Better than the last time I saw you fight."

Tot quickly deflected a bullet with her Muramasa and then made a slash at the goon that shot at her, slicing off the man's gun and forefinger. The man screamed as he clutched his hand and then made a run for chopper only to get struck by one of Omi's poison darts. Tot then glanced at Ran.

"What do you mean by that?" Tot asked in an offended tone. "I'm not fat!"

"I was talking about your weapon skills, not about your body." Ran replied, sweat dropping.

"Oh, sorry." Tot said with an embarrassed look, but that immediately disappeared as she quickly dodged and enemy blow. She quickly made a slash at the goon's leg causing him to fall over, and then knocked him out with a hard kick to the head. Tot then glanced back at Ran. "Oh yeah, thanks for the compliment."

"Don't mention it." Ran replied as he cut down one of the hit men he was fighting.

Meanwhile, Nagi was alternating between firing psychic blasts at Crawford and using telekinesis to hurl rocks and pieces of wood at him. Crawford easily sidestepped and jumped away from both.

"Do you honestly think you can take me on with this?" Crawford asked as another rock whizzed past him. "I admit that your power has grown, but it's useless against me if you can't even manage to score a hit."

"You can't evade my attacks forever!" Nagi shouted as he resorted to psychic blasts.

"Oh, quite frankly I can." Crawford said calmly. "I don't even need to look into the future to know what you're going to do next. You are my student after all; I taught you everything you know. Do you really think you can defeat me with techniques that I taught you myself?"

"Let's put that to the test, then." Nagi then charged up a psychic energy ball. "Psy-!" Nagi was cut off as Crawford suddenly lunged forward and landed a critical punch at his stomach. Before he could react, Crawford knocked him upside the head with an upper cut, and then seized his former student by the front of his shirt and lifted him up till.

"Do you know why you don't have what it takes to take me on?" Crawford asked as he pulled Nagi close so to him so they were face to face. "That's because I know everything about you."

Crawford then smiled and dropped Nagi to the ground, and then turned to walk away.

"I guess that's enough now. It will happen soon anyway." He said as he headed for the chopper.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Nagi asked as he slowly got up. "Answer me!"

"Oh that's simple, my student." Crawford answered as he fixed his glasses and straightened his suit. "One of your friends is about to die."

(Die?!) Nagi then looked around to everyone else.

Weiss and Tot had managed to defeat the remaining Mikage hit men who were still willing to fight. The ones who hadn't been killed, six now, quickly ran to the chopper as fast as they could. Riku was currently fighting Farfarello, alternating between throwing balls of fire at the Irish man and attacking using shuriken. Nagi's then turned to where Yuhi and co. were.

Chidori had gotten the knife out of Yuhi and was using her tennyo powers to heal the wound despite her exhaustion.

"Chidori, don't, you're exhausted. Besides the wound isn't too serious" Yuhi said, noticing how tired she was. He tried reaching for her hand to try and stop her, but Chidori quickly brushed it aside.

"Chidori…" Yuhi said.

"Sis, don't push yourself too much." Shota spoke.

"I know that." Chidori replied. "But I can't just stand by and not do anything, knowing that you got hurt for me, Yuhi."

Nagi glanced over to where Maya, Aya, and Suzumi were. Maya was holding onto an M9 Riku had given her, ready to use it if the two she was protecting were attacked. All of them looked all right.

Nagi sighed with relief, and glanced back to see Crawford was just standing there with his arms crossed as if he was waiting for something.

(That expression…I know it all too well.) Nagi thought. (It means there's still danger for everyone.)

"If you're thinking you can prevent what's about to happen, my student, then your plan is a futile one." Crawford said. "The future is inevitable."

Suddenly, almost as if on cue, Chidori's healing Yuhi suddenly stopped and she collapsed onto the ground.

"Chidori!" Yuhi got up, his wound healed, and quickly, and gently lifted her up to support her. As he did Chidori started coughing heavily and soon started coughing up blood. Yuhi looked and saw that Chidori now had sickly look to her and blood was coming out her mouth, and her breathing was starting to slow down.

(Oh God no…) Yuhi thought as he realized what was happening to Chidori. (Please not this…this can't be happening to her, not now…)

"Chidori hold on!" Yuhi shouted, keeping a firm grip on her hand. "Don't…don't die! Please!!"

Riku immediately heard Yuhi's cry and turned to see what was happening. Farfarello was about to attack Riku, when Schuldich spoke to him telepathically.

(Don't.) Schuldich said. (This part of the job's done, and besides, Hanabishi might get an extra burst of flame power from the sight of a friend like this and kill you. Head for the chopper now.)

Farfarello snarled and then turned and made a dash for the chopper.

Nagi quickly forgot about Crawford and ran over to where Yuhi and Chidori were.

"And that's what puts you out of business, dragon boy." Crawford called out to Riku victoriously.

"GOD DAMN YOU!!" Riku screamed angrily and then hurled a gigantic fireball at Crawford.

Crawford smirked and stepped aside from the attack. The fireball continued on and then struck three of the six remaining Mikage goons, completely incinerating them in seconds.

Crawford merely smirked at Riku and then walked over to the chopper, and stopped when he came to the unconscious body of Asamu. He shrugged, picked the boy up, and hurled him into the chopper to the three remaining Mikage goons before getting into the chopper himself. The helicopter then took off and was quickly out of sight.

Ran, Youji, Ken, Omi, and Tot quickly headed to where Yuhi and the others were to see what was happening. While Riku ran over to Suzumi and spoke to her.

"What the hell's going on?" He asked. "What's wrong with Chidori?"

"That's…that's the strain that affects and ultimately kills reject C-Genomes." Suzumi answered miserably.

"But how can that be?" Riku asked. "Isn't Chidori…?"

"I don't know either, but…" Suzumi wasn't sure how to finish.

"This…this can't be happening." Aya said as she looked at Chidori desperately trying to stay conscious to keep from dying, Shota not sure what was happening to his sister only that it was serious, and Yuhi's shocked and grieved expression as he realized the girl he loved was slowly dying in front of him and there was nothing he could do. "Not to them…"

Riku turned to Nagi with a desperate look on his face.

"Nagi, please try something." He asked. "Try whatever it was you did to save Tot back then."

"I'm on it." Nagi said quickly and then ran to where Chidori was. He then placed his hand over Chidori's heart and then focused on keeping her heart beating and her lungs working using psychokinesis.

After a few minutes, Nagi shook his head and looked at Riku, Yuhi, and the others.

"I'm sorry, I can keep her alive for a few more minutes but I can't stop whatever it is that's killing her." Nagi said miserably. "When I healed Tot, I was healing a wound to the body; this isn't a wound so…"

"How long is 'a few more minutes'?" Riku asked.

"Ten minutes." Nagi answered. "Twelve if I use everything I've got."

"Do that." Riku then got on one knee and pressed the codec button.

"What are you planning?" Yuhi asked.

"I'm going to get some help that I hope works." Riku answered.

Riku's codec then got in contact on the other end and a woman with short black hair, and two moles on her chin, who looked to be in her late thirties appeared on the codec screen.

"Riku, what's going on?" She asked.

"Grandma, I'll explain later, but I need you to use the Eikai Gyoku madogu to teleport you and Mom over to where I am now." Riku answered seriously. "It's an emergency."

"I understand, Riku." Riku's grandmother, Kagero, nodded, seeing that Riku was being completely serious on this. "Your mother and I will be there soon."

A minute later, Kagero suddenly appeared with Yanagi at her side. The two of them both ran over to where everyone was and Riku went to meet them.

"Riku, what…?" Yanagi then saw Chidori and nodded that she understood.

She walked over to Chidori and then placed both her hands over her and then she focused on her powers of healing. Immediately, a warm and soothing energy emerged from her hands and then transferred to Chidori. The girl's breathing suddenly became easier and a healthy color began to return to her face. It was then that Chidori turned back to her normal form. Yanagi looked over at Nagi and nodded. Nagi then cancelled using his psychokinesis and sat on the ground to catch his breath as all that concentration and use of his powers had taken a lot out of him.

Yanagi looked at Yuhi and Shota and smiled.

"Don't worry; she's out of danger for now." Yanagi told them.

"Thank you Mrs. Hanabishi." Yuhi and Shota chorused the both of them very grateful.

"We all have to thank you." Suzumi said and looked at Riku, Nagi, and Tot. "You, your son, and his partners. You all really have done a lot for us."

"Not to mention you four too." Maya spoke looking at Weiss.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but I could only delay whatever disease it was that was afflicting Chidori." Yanagi spoke looking over at Chidori, who was sleeping in Yuhi's arms.

"You mean you couldn't cure it?" Yuhi asked.

"I'm sorry…" Yanagi lowered her eyes, knowing how this news was affecting them. "Wounds I can heal, but with diseases that damage the body…All I can do is heal the damage done to the body, but the disease is still there. All I did was delay it."

"Hey, come on, aren't you a healer?" Maya asked. "I mean, there has to be something…"

"I wish that there was something I could do." Yanagi answered. "But even my healing powers have their limits."

"How much longer does she have?" Yuhi asked his voice barely above a whisper.

"Hold on, you're talking about sis like she's…" Shota stopped as he realized what was happening. Tears started to form in his eyes as he did. "Please…tell me that Chidori will be all right."

As Riku heard this, he clenched his hands in frustration and then looked over at Kagero.

"Grandma, is there some madogu that…" Riku stopped when he saw Kagero shake her head.

(I guess there's only one last option left that might work. But that would mean…) Riku thought and then shook his head. (Ah, screw whatever consequences will be waiting for me when I get to HQ. At least I'll have the additional pleasure of pissing off Reese to helping out my friends.)

"I think I have a solution to this." Riku spoke, causing everyone's attention to turn to him.

"Solution?" Yuhi asked.

"You and Chidori come with me to the main headquarters of FOXHOUND, there's a doctor there named Naomi Hunter." Riku answered. "She's a specialist at making nanomachines and I'm sure she can help."

"Riku…" Nagi began but Riku looked back at him with a look that plainly said 'be quiet', and Nagi sighed and said nothing. Tot looked like she was about to say something but Nagi looked at her and shook his head.

"Hold on do you mean over in America?" Yuhi asked.

"That is where the main HQ is." Riku replied. "So do you want me take you and Chidori there or not?"

"Of course I do, but why just the two of us?"

"Less people to bring along means less time to get ready to leave." Riku shrugged. "The reason I'm bringing you along is because I'm sure you want to be with your girlfriend rather than just sit here worrying about her " Riku then smiled. "Besides, I'm sure she'd rather have someone close to her there for her during this, than just this scruffy ninja and his fellow FOXHOUNDers."

"Right." Yuhi smiled slightly, he then turned and looked at Yanagi seriously. "How much time do we have?"

"I don't know." Yanagi replied. "I guess a few days, but I'm just guessing."

"Then I guess that means we need to get to the Japanese HQ, and get a flight to the main HQ ASAP." Riku said and then turned to Yuhi. "Let's get into my car and I'll get you there quick, you can count on that."

"Alright." Yuhi nodded and then carried Chidori over to the car.

Riku was about to head to the car when he noticed Shota. He then walked over to him.

"Hey Shota, don't worry, I'm sure Naomi can cure Chidori of that strain thingie." Riku said reassuringly. "There's nothing nanotechnology can't heal."

"Will she really be alright?" Shota asked hopefully.

"Of course she will." Riku promised. "Yuhi's going to be with her, and I know he'll make sure nothing bad will happen to her."

"Yeah, I know." Shota agreed. "And I also know he'll do everything he can to protect and support her. But still…"

"You want to come along so you'll be able to make sure your sister will be alright, huh?" Riku finished and then patted Shota's shoulder. "Kid, I would take you along, but where we're going is practically bordering on a military base and I don't think that's someplace you should be."

(Not to mention a kid shouldn't meet an asshole like Reese.) Riku thought to himself. (The mere sight of him would probably be a bad influence.)

"But…" Shota objected.

"Tell you what; either me or Yuhi will contact you as soon as Naomi's finished curing Chidori." Riku said. "But, seeing as we'll be on the other side of the world at the time, be prepared to be woken up in the middle of the night."

"I don't mind that, just please make sure my sister and Yuhi stay safe."

"Ninja's honor." Riku promised with a smile before running over to his car, getting in, and then quickly driving off.

When they were gone Kagero turned to Suzumi.

"Will you be going back to the Uruha mansion or to your house?" She asked.

"Oh…well, I was thinking it would be better if we go back to our house for the time being." Suzumi answered, and then looked at the bodies of the dead Mikage goons. "But what about…"

"I'll contact Kurei about it and he should be able to take care of all this." Nagi answered for Kagero.

"If that's the case, then I'll tell Kurei for you instead." Kagero said. "I'll teleport to the Uruha mansion after I drop Yanagi off."

"Okay, thank you, maam." Nagi bowed.

"You're welcome." Kagero replied. "Anyway, I'll be in touch soon. Until then, be safe and good luck." She then turned to Yanagi. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Mom." Yanagi smiled and then the two of them suddenly vanished.

"More ninjutsu?" Ran asked looking at Nagi.

"No that was actual teleportation." Nagi answered. "Kagero-san has a magic item that grants her the ability to teleport."

"Magic? You mean ninjas can actually do that kind of stuff like in anime?" Shota asked.

"You'll have to ask Riku about that, I'm not all that familiar with the secrets of the Hokage clan, I'm afraid." Nagi replied.

"Oh. So I guess I'll ask him about it when he comes back with Yuhi and sis. When she's been cured and all." Shota smiled.

(It looks like he's hoping for the best.) Suzumi thought. (I hope this Naomi Hunter can actually do something to cure that strain. I don't even want to think about how losing Chidori would affect Yuhi, especially since they've practically just started their relationship. And Aya, Maya, and Shuro, they're C-Genomes too meaning they can be afflicted by the strain at anytime… I guess the only thing I can do now is hope for the best.)

Suzumi then turned to Aya, who had been silent throughout the whole thing.

"Hey, Aya, pretty amazing, huh? A ninja clan that has a bunch of magic items and all that." Suzumi said to her.

"Huh?" Aya looked over at Suzumi. "Oh yeah, sure…"

"Aya don't get all down about this." Suzumi said reassuringly. "I'm sure this Naomi Hunter that Riku mentioned can help Chidori."

"I hope so." Aya said. "To lose someone that you love is something I wouldn't wish in anybody, and I hope Yuhi doesn't have to go through that with Chidori."

"So do I Aya." Suzumi agreed. "Anyway, I guess we should head back."

A thought suddenly came to Suzumi as she got into the van.

(That woman in black, did Riku really call her grandma?) She thought. (Nah. I must have been hearing things. She looks way too young to be anyone's grandmother.)

Meanwhile: Uruha Mansion:

"ACHOO!" Kagero sneezed as she appeared in the mansion.

Meanwhile: Mikage Chopper:

(So, has it been done?) Crawford asked Schuldich telepathically.

(It has.) Schuldich replied. (I had to be careful so I wouldn't alert Ceres, but I was able to plant the idea inside Aya Mikage's mind during the battle.)

(Good, so everything's going according to plan.) Crawford smiled. (I'm glad to see that you weren't wasting your time hiding in the chopper.)

(As long as FOXHOUND does not interfere with Aya Mikage's part, everything should go smoothly.) Schuldich said.

(That won't happen.) Crawford assured him. (I know Nagi, his one weakness has always been his habit of attaching himself to whoever he ends up liking. That one trait makes him too shortsighted to see the big picture.)

(But wasn't that how you were able to make him your student in the first place?)

(Yes, but that's also what eventually got him to turn against us.) Crawford shook his head. (To this day I wonder why he never changed to our type of psychic.)

(Probably from giving the kid too much freedom.) Schuldich leaned back. (If we hadn't let him get involved with that Schrient girl, he'd probably still be with us, too bad…)

(In any case, let's come up with a nice story for Kagami about this, and after we're done listening to his prattle we can await for Miss Mikage to do what she's supposed to do.) Crawford fixed his glasses as he thought to himself. (It won't be long now…)

Later: FOXHOUND Helicopter:

Chidori Kuruma slowly came awake, to the sound of a helicopter engine as it took off. As she opened her eyes, she could see that she was lying down on a seat inside the helicopter. Pushing aside the groggy feeling in her head, she slowly lifted her head up.

"Chidori, you're awake." Yuhi's voice spoke. Chidori looked over and realized was lying right next to where he was sitting and he was holding her hand.

"Hey, what happened to me?" Chidori asked as she sat up. "Why are we inside a helicopter?" She then looked around and saw the only other person there besides Yuhi was Riku.

"Chidori, you know that strain that kills reject C-Genomes?" Yuhi asked, and Chidori nodded. "Well, you got afflicted by it and that's why you were out for a while."

Chidori's eyes widened in surprise as she heard this.

"But how am I still…" She began, in a tone of almost disbelief.

"Alive?" Riku finished. "Well, you've got my Mom to thank for that. She was able to use her powers to keep that strain from killing you and also to delay it. Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm taking you to the main HQ of FOXHOUND to meet Dr. Naomi Hunter who should be able to fix the problem using nanomachines."

"Are you going to get some of these things for Aya, Maya, and Shuro, if this is successful, I mean?" Chidori asked. "I mean, they're C-Genomes too."

"Of course I will." Riku answered. "I'll make sure that happens, no matter how much Reese…I mean, count on it."

Chidori sighed.

"Riku, do you realize that you're a really awful liar?" She asked. "No offense, but you suck at trying to hide stuff. So what is it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Riku answered, trying to sound official.

"Nice try, but you obviously meant something with that last part." Yuhi spoke, and looked at Riku seriously. "What's going on?"

"I guess I might as well tell you now." Riku said with a sigh. "Bringing civilians to HQ, especially civilians I'm not supposed to let know about FOXHOUND, without proper permission from my superiors is against the rules."

"Couldn't you have just asked them?" Chidori asked. "I'm sure they'd understand."

"One of my bosses, yes, but the other one…" Riku shook his head. "Anyway, don't worry about that. Whether the bosses approve or not, I'm going to make sure Naomi gets a chance to try and treat Chidori. Reese can yell at me all he wants afterwards, I don't really have to listen to him anyway."

"Reese?" Yuhi asked. "Hold on, are you talking about that jerk you were talking to on the codec when we were rescuing Chidori and Shota? The guy who wouldn't let you take Chidori to your headquarters for treatment when she got shot?"

"The very same, but I have many more names for him besides jerk." Riku answered. "Everyone in FOXHOUND hates him, that's no exaggeration, but for some reason my other boss, Col. Roy Campbell insists on keeping him in the group." He then noticed Chidori and Yuhi's worried expressions. "Hey don't feel guilty about this, I'm the one who decided to do this and everything I do, good or bad, I'm always ready to take full responsibility for."

"So that's why you didn't take Nagi and Tot along for this." Yuhi said. "I was wondering why you didn't just have Ran and the others do the guard work, and then all three of you would come. You're planning on taking the full weight of this aren't you?"

"I guess I'd be lying if I said otherwise." Riku replied. "Look, Nagi and Tot just recently joined FOXHOUND, and I can't just let them get in trouble for this. If anyone should, it should be me; my being in FOXHOUND longer should cushion the severity of the punishment." Riku then grinned. "Besides, what are they going to do, kill me?"

Riku then noticed that last statement didn't do much to alleviate his friends' concerns.

"Hey, come on, I meant that as a joke." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"Please don't joke about something like that." Chidori asked. "Especially now…"

"Sorry, I guess that was inconsiderate of me." Riku said. "Well, I guess the only thing to do now is wait till we get to America. Too bad there isn't a movie for this flight."

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

"Are you telling me that not only did you lose thirty four of my men, but you also failed at retrieving a single C-Genome?!" Kagami asked Crawford and the other two Schwartz members.

"Mr. Mikage, due to the duel started by your young fighter, Mr. Bagte, we were all caught off guard by the sudden attack by the others with them." Crawford stated calmly. "There are certain limits to what can be done."

"Really? Then why is it that the only one of your group that has been harmed is Farfarello?" Kagami indicated Farfarello, now covered in various bandages from the wounds Chidori had given him.

"Schuldich and I were simply fortunate enough not to get hit by Chidori Kuruma's attack." Crawford explained.

"And according to what you and my men have told me, Pallas has been killed by the genome strain." Kagami then shook his head. "Thanks to that we have lost a valuable specimen."

"There are still a few more that are available…" Crawford began.

"Yes, but like you said, there are only 'a few'." Kagami glared at Crawford and sighed in disgust. "I'm placing all three of you under temporary suspension for this blunder. You are not to leave this building without my consent. Now get out."

Three guards in the room stepped toward the members of Schwartz to escort them out. Farfarello made an instinctive move for a hidden knife, but stopped and then quietly proceeded to follow them to the door.

"Hey, what about that kid you put in command?" Schuldich spoke. "Isn't he going to get any punishment since he was the one in command?"

"Asamu is currently receiving medical attention. His fate is none of your concern." Kagami said simply.

"Damn, talk about showing favoritism." Schuldich grumbled as he followed his partners out.

(So the strain is affecting them too, just like it's affecting our C-Genomes.) Kagami thought to himself. (No doubt Crawford has informed the Patriots of all of this. It seems we'll have to act quicker now before the Patriots decide to act on this.)

The Next Day: Aogiri Residence:

Maya Hirobe walked into the living room to find Shota was sleeping in a chair next to the phone and Suzumi was sitting on the couch along with Omi. The other three members of Weiss were informing Manx and Birman of the current situation via codec.

"So Riku hasn't called yet?" Maya asked, causing Suzumi's attention to turn to her.

"No, I'm afraid he hasn't." Suzumi answered, shaking her head. "But then again, a flight from here to America would probably take a while. Even so, Shota's insisted on staying here waiting for them to call."

Just then, Aya walked in along with Nagi and Tot.

"I guess there hasn't been any word, huh?" Aya assumed.

Suzumi shook her head, confirming that.

"Suzumi I was wondering…would it be alright if I went back to where Toya and I were living at? Back in Nigata." Aya asked. "There are some things I need to pick up."

"Well, I guess there isn't anything wrong with that, as long as someone goes with you of course." Suzumi answered. "We can't afford to take any chances now."

"Tot and I will go her." Nagi volunteered. "We should be able to avoid the Mikage's notice, and if they do we'll be able to handle them."

"In the meantime, we'll stay here and guard everyone else." Omi said. "I'll tell Ran and the others once they're done talking with Manx and Birman."

"Alright then, I guess we should get going." Aya spoke. Nagi and Tot nodded and followed her out the door.

"Be safe." Maya called after them.

"We will." Tot called back cheerfully.

As they walked to the van, Aya looked back at the house one last time.

(I'm sorry, Suzumi, but this is something I must do.) She thought. (I just hope Riku, Yuhi, and Chidori don't freak out too much when you have to tell them…)

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ: Washington DC:

Riku walked into the main part of headquarters with Chidori and Yuhi. A few of the people there turned and noticed but didn't say anything.

"Riku, I didn't know you were back." A man's voice called out to him.

Riku, Yuhi, and Chidori turned to see a muscular middle aged man of Japanese descent, with brown hair and eyes, wearing a mustache walk over to them. Riku smiled as he recognized the man.

"Ah, Ishida-san, it's good to see you again." Riku bowed to the man.

"A friend of yours, Riku?" Yuhi asked.

"Yep, this guy's Takeshi Ishida, or Night Owl, which is his codename." Riku answered.

"So who are these two?" Ishida asked. "New recruits?"

"No, just some friends of mine I'm protecting as part of the mission." Riku replied. "Actually, we're here to see Naomi about some important business."

"Oh, I see." Ishida nodded. "Well, I'll talk to you afterwards."

"Will do, Ishida-san." Riku replied, and then turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "Come on; let's get to where Naomi is."

Meanwhile: Suzumi's Van:

As Aya was driving, she suddenly remembered something and looked over at Nagi.

"Nagi, is it alright if we make an extra stop?" She asked. "There's someone I need to see."

"I don't see why not." Nagi answered.

Later: Hospital:

Aya was sitting by the bedside of her mother, a woman with features similar to Aya's except older and her hair was black, in the hospital room that she was in while Nagi and Tot waited for her outside the room. Even after a year, Aya's mother was still comatose after the events that had started everything.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been able to come by to see you for months, Mom." Aya said to her mother, even though she knew she probably couldn't hear her. "But unfortunately, I have to go far away again so I really wanted to see you again before I go, no matter what. A lot has happened since I last came to visit you, and…the one who came with me before, Toya…he's gone…"

Aya's expression became saddened as her memories of Toya started to come back, but she quickly shook it off.

"But Mom, now I understand all too well how you felt when you lost dad." She continued. "I didn't for a long time... deep in my heart; I didn't understand why you attacked me. But... you loved dad that much... and I know you loved me too. And I... in another six months, I'm going to be a mother too!"

There were a few minutes of silence, before Aya spoke again.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Aya asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. "The Aya you knew before was just a lazy, empty-headed high school girl who was always wearing loose socks and playing around with her friends. But now, I want to live... and fight to protect this baby. I realized that I was just running away from Kagami and everything else after all... and it took losing Toya and the help of all my friends to make me realize this."

Aya then got up to leave and looked down at her mother one last time.

"I know that it'll be okay in the end." She said. " I know I have the strength to keep on living, no matter where or how I end up. So you need to live on as well, mother, if not for yourself, then for dad."

"Well mom, I guess I've gotta get going." Aya said and turned to leave.

Aya was about to head to the door when she heard a faint noise behind her. She turned around just in time to see her mother's lips move slightly. Aya's mother then slowly started to open her eyes.

"...a... ya..." The woman's voice was barley above a whisper.

"MOM!!" Aya exclaimed as she ran over to her mother, who looked over at her daughter and started to mouth her daughter's name. "That's right, it's me. Aya."

"...Aya..." Aya's mother spoke.

Aya then embraced her mother and started crying.

"I'm right here!! I'm here, mother." Aya said as she was crying.

The door to the hospital room opened, and Nagi looked in to see what was going on. Aya then turned and looked at Nagi, who nodded that he understood and quietly closed the door.

"What happened, Nagi?" Tot asked when Nagi closed the door.

"It looks like Aya's mother came out of her coma, and I think they're catching up now." Nagi answered as he sat next to Tot on the hallway bench.

"That's wonderful!" Tot exclaimed with a smile, and then she had a confused look on her face. "Come to think of it, how did Aya's mom end up in a coma?"

"I don't know the full details, but shortly after that birthday party that started all of this a year ago, Aya's father was killed by the Mikage family when he tried protecting her." Nagi explained. "Aya's mother wasn't present when that occurred, so Kagami somehow was able to convince her that Aya killed her father." That got a horrified gasp from Tot.

"Horrible, huh?" Nagi asked before continuing. "Anyway, that news brought on some kind of psychological breakdown on the poor woman and it eventually drove her to try to kill Aya, her own daughter. Fortunately, that was when Ceres emerged and she stopped Aya's mother, but I guess all that grief and mental strain at losing her husband, along with the guilt at realizing that she'd tried to kill her own child probably put her into the state she was in."

"That's disgusting, what that Kagami did to Aya's mother." Tot said.

"You're not getting any arguments there." Nagi said in agreement. "You know, I think Riku, me, and whoever else wants to, should have a long private chat with Kagami to let him know exactly what we think of him before we hand him over to Campbell to be interrogated about the Patriots."

"You know, you're starting to sound a little like Riku." Tot spoke.

"I guess it's alright if he's rubbing off on me a little bit, but please promise that you'll intervene if Riku starts to rub off on me too much, Nanami." Nagi said with a smile.

"Okay, Nagi, I will." Tot/Nanami promised.

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ: Naomi's Lab:

"ACHOO!!" Riku sneezed, causing the attention of Chidori, Yuhi, and a woman with light tanned skin and dark hair to turn to him.

"Catching a cold, Riku?" Yuhi asked.

"Hope not." Riku answered and then turned to the woman, Naomi Hunter. "So Naomi, I've given you a brief summary of what happened, so can you help?"

"I'm not sure yet. I first need to know a little more about this strain you're talking about." Naomi said and then turned to Chidori, who was sitting on a chair next to Yuhi. She then took out a small needle. "Miss Kuruma, would you please hold out your arm?"

Chidori nodded and did so. Naomi then inserted the needle into her arm, causing Chidori to flinch a little, and then quickly drew it out. She then handed a small band aid to Chidori, who put it over the small prick wound.

"Well, all I need to do is have a look at this and I'll be able to see what I can do." Naomi spoke and then turned to Riku.

"Riku, would you come with me?" She asked. "There might be some things I'll need to ask you about this."

"Of course." Riku answered and then turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "Will the two of you be alright waiting here?"

"Yes, I think so." Yuhi replied, and with that Riku followed Naomi over to a door opposite them. The door opened, and he followed her in.

"Hey, Yuhi, do you really think she'll be able to cure me?" Chidori asked her tone of voice almost nervous.

"I'm sure she'll be able to find something." Yuhi answered. "Besides, Riku told us himself that…"

"What if she can't do anything?" Chidori interrupted him.

"Then we'll find some other way." Yuhi almost shouted and looked at Chidori seriously. "Chidori, I can't…I won't lose you. So please don't give up, because I won't give up at finding some way to save you."

"I know that, Yuhi, it's just…" Chidori' eyes started to tear up as she put her arms around Yuhi and clung to him. "I…I'm scared. I don't want to die…I don't want to leave you, or Shota, or any of the other people I love."

"Chidori…please don't talk or think about dying." Yuhi said as he held Chidori close to him. "I love you, and I don't want you to die either."

As the two of them silently held each other, Riku was talking with Naomi inside the main part of her lab.

"Let me guess, you brought those two to base against regulations, huh?" Naomi asked as she carefully laid a drop of Chidori's blood sample on a slide for a microscope.

"Guilty as charged." Riku admitted.

"Well, I understand why you'd do this." Naomi said, turning to Riku. "Your position in FOXHOUND means nothing to you if it means losing a friend, in FOXHOUND or out."

"Rank can always be regained, the life of a friend can't." Riku replied with a shrug. "Besides, it's not like the penalties will be anything I can't get over."

"I hope you're correct and Reese doesn't do something to evict you from FOXHOUND." Naomi said, now turning back and carefully sliding the slide under the microscope. "FOXHOUND can't afford to lose any of its recruits."

"I doubt that will happen." Riku said.

"In any case, I'll have a look at the sample now." Naomi then looked under the scope. What she saw caused her eyes to widen in surprise.

Later: Suzumi's Car:

"Are you sure you don't want to stay any longer with your mother, Aya?" Nagi asked as Aya drove out of the hospital parking garage.

"Yes, I'm sure." Aya answered with a nod. "She and I have talked and after we decided it would be best if she stayed in the hospital a little longer for rehab."

"Does she know you're going to be a mom soon, Aya?" Tot asked.

"She does." Aya smiled. "She took it pretty well, actually, and she's pretty happy about being a grandmother."

"That sounds wonderful." Tot said with a happy smile.

Later: Nigata:

Aya, Nagi, and Tot stood at the front door of the apartment that used to belong to her and Toya. Aya silently took out the key to it, unlocked the door, and opened it. She then stepped in and looked around. She could see that the apartment was just as she and Toya had left it.

(I'm home…Toya…) Aya thought as she looked around. (It's funny…I almost expected you to be here waiting for me…)

Aya then shook her head to keep the memories from flooding back to her. She then turned to Nagi and Tot.

"Well, I guess we should get started." She said and then stopped as if she remembered something. "Hey, since we need to clean out the refrigerator, would you two like a snack?"

"Sure why not." Nagi said and turned to Tot. "What about you."

"Okay." Tot replied.

"Give me a minute; I need to go use the bathroom first." Aya excused herself.

Later:

"So what stuff do you need from here, Aya?" Nagi asked as she handed him a mug of hot chocolate. Tot had already gotten hers and was already drinking it.

"Well…just stuff…" Aya answered, she then looked to the side and seemed to notice something. "Oh, I'd better get that." She then walked over in that direction.

(She's hiding something…) Nagi thought as he stirred his drink, waiting for it to cool.

A minute later, Aya came back, and as she did, she absently tossed something in a nearby waste basket.

"Hey Aya, the three of us were serious when we said we'd help you when your baby's born." Nagi spoke seriously. "And in the meantime we'll protect you and your friends from the Mikage."

"Thank you, Nagi." Aya said gratefully. "But still…I'm more worried that you guys will be able to live to fulfill that promise."

"Of course we will." Nagi replied confidently, and then took a sip of his hot chocolate. "And like Riku said, you're our friend so don't think you're taking advantage of us, right Tot." Nagi turned to Tot and sweat dropped when he saw that she was resting her head on her arms sleeping.

(And she says Riku's rubbing off on me.) Nagi thought shaking his head. He then put his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and gently shook her.

"Hey, Tot…" He said.

"Oh yeah, like Nagi said, we'll help you cause you're our friend, and the power of friendship can do anything…" Tot said sleepily, and then went back to sleep.

Nagi sweat dropped at that and was about to shake Tot a little more when he suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness overcome him. He got up and staggered a little and looked over at Aya, who was just sitting there with a sad look on her face.

"A…Aya…" Nagi said and then suddenly noticed the thing Aya had thrown in the wastebasket. It was a box of sleeping medication. Nagi immediately knew what was happening and turned to Aya.

"Wh…why…did…you…?" Nagi asked as he finally fell over on to the ground.

"I'm sorry about this. Don't worry you'll wake up in a couple of hours." Aya said to Nagi. "But I'm afraid you guys can't help me on this one. Thank you for your kindness…"

Nagi tried to speak, but suddenly felt his eyelids become too heavy to bear, and his head fell as he finally descended into unconsciousness.

Aya then walked over to where her and Toya's room was and then picked up two blankets. She then walked over to where her two friends lay and then gently put a blanket over each of them. Ay then took out a letter and placed it on the table and then exited the apartment. As she closed the door she looked back at Nagi and Tot.

(You guys and your partner really were real friends to me, even though we only knew each other for a short time.) Aya thought to Nagi and Tot. (Please take care of everyone…farewell.)

Aya then walked past the van and to the road. As she walked down it, she started thinking to herself.

(I'm going to the Mikage. I won't let those bastards do as they like with the hagoromo.) Aya thought. (This time I'm going to face them head-on.)

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ: Naomi's Lab:

"Well, can you…?" Riku asked and Naomi nodded. Riku sighed with relief.

"Before, I get to work on an appropriate nanocolony to treat your friend's affliction, I need to explain some things." Naomi said.

"Like what?"

Naomi then gestured towards the microscope.

"Have a look at the blood sample and you'll see." She said.

Riku shrugged and looked into the scope. His eyes widened at what he saw.

"What the hell is this?!" Riku asked.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

Kagami sat in his office talking on a phone with an important client, when he received a call on his cell phone.

"Please excuse me…" Kagami said to the man on the other line, and then put him on hold before answering his cell phone.

"This had better be important." Kagami said to the man on the other line of the cell phone.

"I'm sorry, Chief, but I have something very important to tell you…" The man on the other line said.

Meanwhile:

Aya quietly stood in front of the Mikage building. She hesitated for a minute, and then opened the door and walked in.

Meanwhile:

"I see, so Aya Mikage has arrived, and right on schedule too." Crawford said.

"That appears to be the case." Viper replied. "I assume it will be time soon."

"Indeed." Crawford nodded.

"Then I will get into my position so I can keep this charade up a little longer." Viper then left the room.

Crawford then turned to Schuldich.

"You know what to do." He said to his telepathic partner. "Contact Shade and tell him to have his men ready. Now that our target has come, we will make our strike within a matter of minutes."

"Heh, sure thing, boss." Schuldich grinned and prepared to contact Shade.

AN: Sorry if this one's a cliff hangerish ending but this is as far as I can go for now. After finals, my writer gears have been running like mad, but they've reached their limits now, at least I could finish this chapter earlier than expected. Anyway, enough about me, now for the important stuff.

To GreyWolf4: I know Ishida's appearance was brief, but I'll introduce him more formally in the next chapter. Also, Michael will be showing up again (and not in a flashback this time) and Shade is going to start reeking some havoc in the strike against the Mikage.

Anyway, now for some Easter eggs:

1) Tokyo Godfathers is an anime movie by Satoshi Kon, the guy who did Paranoia Agent and Perfect Blue. It's a good anime movie (pretty heartwarming too) that's perfect to watch for the holidays.

2) What Riku said just before the fight with Asamu was something Chip Zanuff (A GGX2 character Riku's based off of) says before a fight.

3) Riku's training with the candles is what Robin Sena (Another character Riku's based off of) from Witch Hunter Robin uses for the exact same purpose.

Now stay tuned for a Christmas Omake:

Omake: Christmas Carol?

Once upon a time there was a wanker man named Kagami Mikage. The wanker was so much of a bastard, everyone hated him, and so the spirit world took action.

Ghost of Gendou Ikari appears in front of Kagami.

There are several boos from the audience and rotten fruit and vegetables, along with a few rocks, are thrown at the ghost and they all hit him.

Gendou: I am a fellow wanker man, killed by ShardclawKusanagi, here to warn you of your fate. It shall be the same as mine, unless you do as three spirits of Christmas say.

Kagami: And who are these spirits?

Suddenly, Riku, Nagi, and Tot appear.

Tot: I'm the ghost of X-mas past.

Riku: I'm the ghost of X-mas present.

Nagi: I'm the ghost of X-mas future.

Gendou: You fools, you're supposed to show up later on and not at the same time! And the ghost of X-mas future doesn't talk.

Riku: Who cares? Now go back to hell wanker man. We've already had the pleasure of killing you.

A fiery pit opens up under Gendou and a bunch of clawed hands yank him down. As the hole closes, Gendou's screams of pain can be heard.

Kagami: Alright, ghosts, tell me how I can avoid the fate the author of this fic has in store for me.

Tot: Get someone else, wanker man.

Nagi: Like we'd help an evil guy like you.

Riku: Let's get out of here and do something better than this. I hear there's a special Christmas party for us FOXHOUND recruits. Let's go.

The three of them promptly leave Kagami in the dust.

Kagami: This can't happen to me!! According to this play, I'm supposed to be visited by spirits.

DF (appears via teleportation): Alright your wish is my command.

I snap my fingers and MGS3s The Sorrow appears.

DF: You wanted spirits, this guy will provide them. Bye! (teleports away)

The Sorrow looks at Kagami.

The Sorrow: Evil…so evil…a host of sorrows surrounds you for your evil deeds. These spirits demand to devour your soul. I shall oblige.

Suddenly hundreds of ghosts appear, surrounding Kagami.

Ghost 1: We shall devour your soul.

Ghost 2: Do not expect it to be pleasant, wanker man.

On the TV screen I shudder as the ghosts slowly start to devour Kagami's soul.

DF: Oh well, I kind of like this version of a Christmas Carol…

Well, that's all for now. Everyone have a very merry Christmas!!


	22. Chapter 21: New Problems

AN: Well here we are at a new year and a new chapter, folks. Happy New Year to all of you! Get ready, cause there's going to be quite a bit that's in store in this chapter. I hope you like this one, GreyWolf4, because in this chapter some of your OCs are finally going to be getting some spotlight. Please enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 21: New Problems

Nigata:

Nagi slowly opened his eyes and got up. As he looked around and realized where he was, Nagi immediately remembered the events that had occurred before he lost consciousness. He sighed and shook his head, knowing that it would be pointless to look around the apartment since Aya had obviously left a long time ago.

Nagi then saw that Tot was still lying on the ground asleep. Nagi bent over and gently shook her till she woke up.

"What is it, Nagi?" Tot asked as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

"Nanami, it looks like we have a really big problem." Nagi answered.

"What do you mean?" Tot/Nanami then looked around. "Hey, where's Aya at?"

"That's the thing, you see…" Nagi then spotted a neatly folded up piece of paper on the table. He immediately picked it up and opened it. Nagi's eyes then widened as he read the contents.

"Hey, earth to Nagi." Tot/Nanami said. "What happened and where's Aya?"

"I'm afraid things have just taken a turn for the worse, Nanami." Nagi replied as folded up the note and put it in his pocket.

(Suzumi is going to kill us when she finds out we let this happen.) Nagi thought. (Aya, just what the hell were you thinking?)

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Kagami's Office:

Aya stood in front of Kagami, who was seated at his desk studying her calmly. She was handcuffed at the wrists and had two guards standing next to her with M9s drawn and ready to use in case she tried to escape.

"I must admit, I'm surprised, dear Aya." Kagami said as he got up from his seat. "I didn't expect that you'd come to face me yourself, what with the aid you're getting from FOXHOUND."

(Aya…) Ceres' voice spoke to her in her mind.

(Ceres, please settle down for now.) Aya replied firmly. (Don't come out unless I'm really in trouble.)

(Very well…) Ceres said.

"Oh yes, how remiss of me... congratulations on your pregnancy." Kagami said. "I'd heard about it from the hospital you were at previously and had been planning to celebrate it for you--I am your cousin, after all."

"Are you?!" Aya asked, glaring at Kagami. "How can you say something like that to me when you've taken away those I love?!"

"You came to talk with me, right?" Kagami said simply, not bothered in the least by that question. "If you want to understand, then please calm down and follow me... I'll take you to the place you'll be living for a while afterwards."

"These don't really make very good handcuffs, you know." Aya looked down at the cuffs on her wrists.

"No need for worries about that. I seriously doubt you'd run away from us now. After all, the hagoromo that you want is here."

Kagami paused for a minute to see how Aya would react, but saw no reaction on her face.

"Of course, it hasn't been completed yet." He finished. "Well... where do you want me to start? We have plenty of time--oh, have you eaten dinner yet?"

"First tell me what it was you were planning for Chidori?" Aya asked angrily. "One of the people from FOXHOUND told me that you were planning on performing some kind of surgery on her, but it wasn't just for her, was it? Does this have anything to do with all those other C-Genomes you've been collecting here?"

"My, my, so many questions all at once…" Kagami shook his head. "But I'm afraid I'll have to explain about the hagoromo to Ceres in person."

"Fine, it's for her anyway." Aya replied.

"Well, I suppose we should start with the first question." Kagami spoke and then gestured to the door. "Please follow me."

"Chief, you aren't…you aren't really going to show her THAT room, are you?" One of the guards asked.

"You needn't concern yourself with that." Kagami answered. "She--Ceres--is the Genesis Mother of this line. I want her to understand this properly."

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ: Naomi's Lab:

"What the hell is this?!" Riku asked as he looked into the microscope. The blood sample looked like a normal one except for one minor detail. There was a strange circular symbol on each cell in the sample.

"I'm afraid I don't know either." Naomi answered. "I was hoping you would know that."

"Well, I'm as stumped as you are as to this." Riku said and then he got an idea and then opened the door to where Yuhi and Chidori were.

"Hey, could the two of you come here and have a look at this?" Riku asked, and the two of them got up from where they were sitting and entered the main part of the lab.

"What is it, Riku?" Yuhi asked, with a slightly worried expression.

"Hey before you jump to conclusions…" Riku turned to Naomi. "Naomi, tell them the good news."

"I should be able to create an appropriate nanocolony to cure Miss Kuruma of her affliction." Naomi said, causing both Yuhi and Chidori to sigh with relief.

"Can you make more than one dose?" Chidori asked. "You see there are some other people I know who'll probably end up with this too."

"Of course I can." Naomi answered. "How many will you need?"

"Four of them." Chidori replied.

"Alright, I'll get to work on them shortly, but first I need to have you look at something." Naomi then gestured at the microscope.

"What is it?" Yuhi asked as he walked over to the microscope.

"There was something…unusual about Chidori's blood sample and I was wondering if you knew what it was." Riku answered.

Yuhi looked into the scope for a minute and then looked at Riku and Naomi, his face not showing any surprise.

"I take it that you know what this is." Riku assumed.

"Yeah, it's a kind of seal used by the tennyo." Yuhi replied. "I'm not exactly sure how it works, but since Chidori's a celestial maiden, it's not all that surprising."

"What's not surprising?" Chidori asked.

"Have a look." Yuhi said and Chidori looked into the microscope.

"Hey, cool." Chidori said once she saw the sample.

(She's actually amazed at this?) Naomi thought, sweat dropping at that.

"Well, since this doesn't seem to be anything…unusual for you, then I'll assume it's all right and begin working on the nanocolony." Naomi spoke. "Would the three of you please wait outside, please?"

"Of course, Naomi." Riku nodded, and he, Yuhi, and Chidori walked out of the lab.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Outside:

Two Mikage guards stood guard at the entry gate to the loading bay for trucks. Suddenly they heard the sound of an incoming truck and stood at attention as it pulled up to the gate. One of them then walked up to the driver's side door.

"We're here to make a delivery, could you please let us through?" The driver asked.

"I'll need to see some appropriate clearance first." The guard said officially.

"Do we have to go through this?" The driver asked as he fumbled down in his pocket. "Come on, mister, I got a job to do."

"Either cough up some clearance, or I call security, your choice." The guard answered.

"Fine, I got ya." The driver then seemed to pull something out of his pocket and then dropped it. "Oops…"

The guard shook his head in frustration as he glanced to where the man had dropped whatever had been in his pocket. It was at that moment that the driver whipped out a small pistol and shot the guard in the head at point blank range, killing him instantly.

The other guard immediately heard the gunshot and saw his partner collapse to the ground. He made a reach for his radio, when he heard the sound of something whiz past him, and then felt a strange sensation in his throat. It was the last thing the guard ever felt as he then collapsed to the ground with his throat slashed open.

Shade calmly stepped out of the shadows, catching his chakram as it came back to him. As he put his weapon away, he kicked the body of the guard he had just killed off to the side and out of site and then walked over to the terminal the guards had been at and opened the gate for the truck to go through. He then turned to the driver.

"Park this thing at the highest level of the garage so we won't waste too much time getting to the lab, and then unload the men." Shade instructed. "According to Crawford, our strike is to begin once all of the regular employees have left the building. That should be more than enough time for the rest of our men to arrive. Remember, as soon as the signal is given we must strike swiftly and silently so we can take over this place in a matter of minutes."

"Understood sir." The driver saluted.

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ:

Riku, Yuhi, and Chidori were sitting outside where Naomi's lab was, waiting for her to finish making the nanocolony for Chidori.

"Hey Riku, could we ask you a couple of questions?" Chidori spoke.

"I don't see why not." Riku replied and then smiled. "Of course if any of the info you ask about is confidential, then I can't tell you."

"Are you trying to be funny or are you being serious?" Chidori asked.

"It's really your choice." Riku grinned. "Anyway, ask away."

"Well, what was your life like before you joined FOXHOUND?" Yuhi asked.

"Normal, I guess." Riku answered. "Of course, my learning to be a ninja at a young age probably wouldn't count as normal in your book."

"Why did you?" Chidori asked. "Learn to be a ninja, I mean."

"Well, I guess because I've always admired ninjas; unlike the samurai, they could choose what they wanted to be." Riku smiled. "I guess to me, the way of the ninja is a symbol of freedom. Not to mention my whole family's made up of ninjas. My dad's one, my uncle, his wife, and her sisters are also shinobi; my grandparents on my dad's side were ninjas, and so were their parents, just like their parents were before them, also like their parents were before them, which was like their…"

"Okay we get it." Yuhi and Chidori chorused.

"Oh yeah, could you tell us why you joined FOXHOUND?" Yuhi asked.

"Why do you want to know that?" Riku asked in reply.

"Well, it's just that, you seemed to have a normal civilian life before." Yuhi answered. "I was just wondering why you'd join a group like FOXHOUND and use your skills as a ninja in battle."

"Well, first of all, the Patriots tried harassing my family over the legacy of my clan, so it's not like I could just ignore that." Riku replied, and then his expression softened as if he were recalling something very important. "And also, I felt it was something I had to do, after hearing from Snake and Jack about all the horrible things the Patriots were doing."

"Things like the S3 and C-Project, huh?" Chidori spoke.

"Exactly." Riku nodded. "Anything else you guys want to know?"

"When you were fighting with Asamu, I noticed he said something that surprised you." Yuhi said. "What was it?"

"From what he told me, it seems like he was a child soldier before joining with the Mikage." Riku answered. "Also the way he fights kind of reminds me of how I've seen some guerilla fighters fight while I was on a mission in Indonesia at one time."

"Is the reason that surprised you because that reminded you of your friend, Raiden?" Chidori asked.

"Yeah, and also another FOXHOUND member I know." Riku replied. "His name is James Masterson; his codename is Silent Scorpion. I don't know the full details, but he was also trained to be a soldier at a young age. Actually he's the youngest recruit, younger even then Nagi. James is a pretty good guy after you get to know him for a while, though there are times when he seems a little antisocial…" Riku then shook his head a little. "Anyway, enough about that, why not ask me your next question?"

"Well…" Chidori stopped to think about what else she wanted to ask. "How about how you know that guy who talked to you when we got here?"

"Ishida-san?" Riku asked and Chidori nodded. "Well, he's the first FOXHOUNDer who welcomed me to the group after my joining was approved…"

Flashback: 2 Years Before: April 20, 2010: FOXHOUND HQ:

Recca, Yanagi, Kurei, and Neon stood with Riku inside Col. Roy Campbell's office as Riku's admittance into FOXHOUND was finalized.

"Well, Mr. Hanabishi, I welcome you to FOXHOUND." Roy said and he and Riku shook hands. "Due to your pyrokinetic abilities, you are hereby designated 'Drakken' as your FOXHOUND codename."

"Thank you very much, Colonel." Riku said respectfully. "I am honored to be a part of your group, and you can count on my skills as a shinobi to be a benefit to FOXHOUND."

"I look forward to that." Roy replied with a slight smile and then turned to Riku's family. "I suppose we should begin discussions on the terms of the alliance between FOXHOUND and the Hokage clan."

"Indeed." Kurei answered with a nod and took out a paper and handed it to Roy. "My brother, Recca, and I are both the current leaders of the Hokage clan and we both agreed that these terms should be reasonable enough for an alliance."

"Yeah, but I guess there are some things that are still open for discussion." Recca added.

"Excuse me…" Riku spoke. "But since this may take a while, would it be alright if I had a look around headquarters?"

"Of course, Riku." Recca replied to his son. "Just be back in a couple of hours and try not to get lost."

"Since when have I ever gotten lost in a building?" Riku asked with a smile and then left the office.

Later:

Riku stood in front of a vending machine and then pulled out a soda after it fell out. He then sat down on a bench to take a drink.

"Excuse me, but are you new here?" A man's voice spoke.

Riku turned around and saw a muscular middle aged man of Japanese descent, with brown hair and eyes, wearing a mustache standing behind him.

"Hai (yes), I am." Riku replied politely and then bowed. "My name is Riku Hanabishi, I just officially joined a few minutes ago."

"Well, welcome to the group then, son." The man smiled as he shook Riku's hand. "My name is Takeshi Ishida; I'm one of FOXHOUND's field operatives."

"Well, what a coincidence, so am I." Riku smiled. "My codename is Drakken; what's yours?"

"It's Night Owl." Ishida answered and looked at Riku. "Forgive me for saying this Hanabishi-san, but you seem a little young for a field agent."

"Well, I admit I'm young, but I've got the skills to make up for it." Riku replied. "I just so happen to be a genuine ninja from the Hokage clan."

"A ninja?" Ishida smiled. "Well then, I suppose you'll make an excellent addition to FOXHOUND." Ishida then stopped as he remembered something and turned to Riku. "If you want, I'll introduce you to some of the men in my unit. After all, it is important that you get to know your colleagues around here."

"I'll gladly accept your invitation." Riku bowed politely. "Thank you very much, Ishida-san."

"You don't have to be so formal, kid." Ishida said with a sheepish grin. "Anyway, please follow me."

End Flashback…

Present:

"And after that I met some of the guys in Ishida-san's unit." Riku finished. "A lot of them are pretty much all around good guys; a good portion of them are married and have families too. I've even met a few of them too."

"You seem to make friends pretty easily." Yuhi commented and then smiled. "Still, it's kind of hard to imagine you being all formal and all."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Riku asked.

"Oh nothing." Yuhi replied.

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Nagi and Tot were sitting in the living room as Suzumi finished reading Aya's letter. As she sighed and put it down on the table, Maya and the four members of Weiss walked in.

"Suzumi, could you tell us what exactly happened with Aya?" Maya asked.

"I'm afraid I don't have very good news." Suzumi answered.

"Well, I have a good idea of what this might be, but you might as well confirm it." Ran spoke.

"It seems Aya's decided to take matters into her own hands and get the hagoromo to Ceres by going turning herself over to the Mikage." Suzumi explained.

"Nani?!" Maya exclaimed. "Why would she do something like that? We were already planning on retrieving the hagoromo from the Mikage, so…"

"If you look back at what happened recently, it makes sense." Nagi spoke. "With what happened to Chidori and all…Aya probably realized that there wouldn't be much time until that strain started to affect her, you, Shuro, and Suzumi so she would want to end all this as quickly as possible."

"Couldn't she have just waited until Riku, Yuhi, and Chidori got back?" Maya asked.

"She's got a point." Tot agreed. "I mean, all we'd need to do is steal the hagoromo from the bad guys and then give it to Ceres. We could do that pretty quick, right?"

"It's not that she was doubting us or our abilities." Omi spoke. "The real reason was…"

"She didn't want to risk losing anymore of her friends to the Mikage." Suzumi finished. "I know Aya meant well, but I'm afraid of what might happen to her as a results of this."

"So what do we do now?" Maya asked.

"For now the only thing we can do is wait for Riku to come back with Yuhi and Chidori, and start making plans for a rescue." Ran spoke.

"But…" Maya objected.

"Hey Maya, I know you're worried for Aya, we all are, but with everything that's just happened we can't afford to act rashly." Nagi said. "If we attacked the Mikage HQ now, we'll probably end up walking right into their hands. According to the information Omi and I have managed to obtain from hacking into the Mikage database, all of the regular employees, ordinary people who know nothing about C-Project, have left for the day. I'm sure that now that Aya is in their custody, security in that building has been heightened to the max."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if every floor is crawling with guards right about now." Ken spoke. "Until we can come up with a good idea for a rescue mission, our hands are tied…"

Meanwhile: Mikage International HQ:

Kagami and Aya stood inside the main part of the Mikage lab, which had been repaired after the FOXHOUND attack.

"Bring out one of our most recent successes." Kagami ordered to one of the scientists standing near what looked like some kind of freezer.

"Yes, of course, sir." The man nodded as he opened the freezer and took something out. "I believe the one for C-Genome Kumi Akiyama should suffice."

Kagami took what the scientist gave him and then slid it under a microscope. He then turned to Aya.

"Why don't you have a look?" He asked, and Aya looked into it and her eyes widened at what she saw.

"This looks like…" She began.

"You are correct." Kagami finished. "This is the ova we extracted from one of our C-Genomes, which we were planning on extracting from your friend, Miss Kuruma, before those FOXHOUND meddlers interfered. Anyway, what we keep here is the ova of the C-Genome's daughters."

"What are you…?" Aya began.

"We cross their ova with the sperm of certain... selected people." Kagami continued, as if he hadn't heard Aya. He then smiled slightly. "A pity we weren't able to use a sample from the late Big Boss or Liquid Snake, but certain people wouldn't allow that. I guess they didn't want another 'Les Enfants Terrible' to happen."

"You mean the Patriots, don't you?" Aya asked, that question causing Kagami's expression to temporarily turn to one of surprise, but he quickly smiled at that.

"I see you've heard of them. Most likely from FOXHOUND, I assume." He noted. "But we'll get to that later. Anyway, concerning the present topic, we, of course, examine the genes first to ensure diversity. After fertilization, we transplant them back into the womb, and produce children."

"However, unfortunate as it may be that we were unable to use Miss Kuruma as a test subject, half of the C-Genome are pregnant mothers like you." Kagami continued. "Some of them were virgins, but all of them gave their consent in this."

(What... the...) Aya thought, feeling faint as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. (What the hell is he talking about?)

"You look a little pale. Shall we head into the reception room?" Kagami asked and then looked at Aya for a moment. "Probably morning sickness. As I said, we have facilities for childbearing, so you needn't worry yourself."

He then reached to take Aya's hand but she immediately slapped it away.

"DON"T YOU TOUCH ME!!" Aya screamed looking at Kagami with an expression of revile and disgust. "You inhuman... what you were planning to do to Chidori's body... without permission... just what the hell do you think you're doing you son of a bitch?!"

"I beg your pardon?" Kagami asked simply. "In-vitro fertilization isn't unusual these days. In fact, that is even how the Sons of Big Boss were born. You got pregnant naturally, but once the child's born, the result is the same."

"NO!! It's not the same at all!" Aya shouted. She couldn't believe how casual Kagami was being about all of this.

"As I said, we handled the fertilization artificially." Kagami continued, ignoring Aya. "The children who will be born are superior in various ways. We can give them an excellent environment and education from the very start..."

"But I loved Toya!!" Aya shouted. "Because of that, I have this child--and I can tell him that he was brought into this world because his mother and father loved each other!!"

Kagami then laughed bitterly and then looked at Aya with a smirk.

"I see.... you think that if there's 'love', then...?" He asked. "Well, let me ask you a question... why do males and females mate? The answer is simple--to carry on their bloodline. It's nothing but reproductive behavior incorporated into all genes. Every living organism on this planet exists simply to pass on their genes."

"Long ago, asexual creatures divided into males and females to unite different genes and reorganize them." Kagami continued. "That stimulated the process of evolution, and from this comes the strength to overcome any environmental changes and disease-causing germs--so that they can continue reproducing. However, human beings are a little more complex. For example, although I just had sex, there was no love involved, and I don't have any intention of passing on my seed. I simply do it to satisfy my biological desires. The fact is, we seek pleasures of the moment--even though we're just puppets dancing on the strings of evolution. That is how we're designed, after all."

(...Oh my god...) Aya thought, not believing what she was hearing.

"You know, every day there are brainless little bitches who never hesitate to sell their bodies to their equally brainless male counterparts." Kagami shook his head. "The very thought of those stupid women bringing children into this world utterly terrifies and disgusts me."

"How many of these fools doom their children to die without a second thought by doing so, heedless of the laws of nature?" Kagami asked, and then paused and turned to Aya. "Then again, you're quite familiar with that mistake, aren't you?"

"That's not true!" Aya shouted, remembering her mother waking up from her coma and calling her name. "My mother loved me, and that's why…"

"Even if not all of them are like that, it ends up the same if they can't stop it and pretend they don't know it's happening." Kagami interrupted her. "Only superior creatures can survive in an evolving world... how can it be wrong to prepare our new descendants for the ruin that will come in the future?"

"Ruin?" Aya asked and Kagami suddenly realized what he'd just said.

"Perhaps I'll tell you of that another time." He replied quickly.

(After all only a select few know of Third Impact. Not even Alec knows of it.) Kagami thought to himself. (The Patriots or SEELE would probably have me eliminated if they knew that I knew of it.)

"So what does Ceres have to do with all of this anyway?" Aya asked.

"That is simple." Kagami answered, fixing his glasses. "Ceres is the pinnacle of the feminine form, and she possesses amazing intelligence and abilities as well. If we're to live outside of this fragile earth, all the better, since the tennyo have adaptability for space..."

"What a load! Just who the fuck do you think you are, spouting that kind of shit?!" Aya shouted. "You talk like you're some kind of god!!"

"If I didn't do this, then the Patriots would do something much similar though it would be entirely for their gain and not for humanity." Kagami replied simply. "Even this barely scratches the surface. Anyway, you'll find out soon enough. Love is nothing but an illusion to make reproduction possible."

"That's not true!" Aya shouted in reply.

"It's inevitable--love flickers and fades. Men and women betray and hate each other so easily... and kill each other off in their hearts."

"YOU'RE WRONG!!"

Kagami shook his head as he could see he was getting nowhere with explaining this to Aya. He then seemed to remember something.

"Oh yes... I have something for you..." Kagami then reached over to a drawer and took out a cross necklace which Aya immediately recognized as the one she had given to Toya. Kagami then handed it to her.

"A memento for Toya…" Kagami said calmly as he watched Aya's eyes widen as she looked at the necklace.

(Smeared with blood…Toya's…) Aya thought as she saw the red rust like stains on the cross.

"...Who died, never again to speak words of love... nor even to see the face of his child.... such a pity." Kagami simply shook his head.

The room was silent for a moment and then there was a sudden large burst of energy that shook the whole room, shattering various pieces of equipment. The force of it all threw many of the techs back and to the floor.

Kagami simply smiled and looked in the direction Aya was in.

"Well, finally you've decided to show yourself... we've been waiting for you... Ceres." Kagami smiled as he saw the smoke clear and Ceres was now standing where Aya was a moment before. The expression on her face cold and her eyes clearly showed her anger.

Unbeknownst to Ceres, Kagami, or any of the others in the lab, Brad Crawford watched what was going on with interest.

(Boss, the last of the regular personnel for the Mikage have left.) Schuldich spoke to Crawford telepathically. (I've contacted Shade and he's told me that all of his men are present and awaiting the orders for the strike to begin.)

(Excellent. Tell Shade that now's the perfect time to make the strike.) Crawford replied as he fixed his glasses. (Commence the operation now.)

(Understood.) Schuldich replied.

Meanwhile: Outside:

"Alright, ladies, it's time to get to work." The commander for one of the squads said to his men after he received Shade's orders via radio. He and the other soldiers were wearing black uniforms with a gray armor like vest over their chest area and were wearing helmets and IR goggles over their heads. Some were carrying shotguns, while the rest were carrying high-powered assault rifles. Many of them were checking to make sure the safety on their guns had been taken off.

With a nod one of the men immediately broke down the door to the building and as one they all charged into building.

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ:

"I have finished preparing the nanocolony for Chidori." Naomi spoke after she emerged from her lab.

"Well, that didn't take too long." Riku commented as he, Yuhi, and Chidori got up from where they were sitting.

"After I took care of a few technical difficulties, the nanomachines weren't all that hard to manage." Naomi replied and turned to Chidori. "Miss Kuruma, please follow me."

"Should we come too?" Riku asked.

"No, I believe it would be more proper for you two to wait outside." Naomi answered firmly. "After I administer the nanomachines, I will have to make a set of regular checks on Miss Kuruma for about an hour in order to make sure the machines are doing their job properly and are integrating with her body correctly." She then noticed neither of them understood what she meant. "In other words, the routine checkups will have to be private, in other words you two are not allowed inside until the procedure is complete."

"Okay, we understand, right Yuhi?" Riku grinned as his friend blushed a little as he realized what Naomi meant. "Anyway, while we're waiting I'll give you a little tour of our headquarters and see if I can introduce you to anymore of my pals here."

"That sounds like it should be interesting." Yuhi commented.

"Aww, I wanted to take a tour too." Chidori complained.

"I don't mind doing another one." Riku said. (As long as I move around headquarters, I have a good chance of avoiding Reese and only have to explain all of this to Campbell.)

"Oh one more thing Riku." Naomi called out to him. "I'll need to speak with you before you leave on an important matter, so please remember to speak with me before you return to Japan to get back to your mission."

"Of course, Naomi." Riku replied.

Later:

Riku and Yuhi stepped out of the VR room after he had finished showing it to Yuhi.

"So what do you think of the FOXHOUND HQ so far?" Riku asked.

"I've got to admit, you guys sure know how to run a base." Yuhi answered. "Not to mention a lot of people seem to know you here."

"It's important to get to know your colleagues." Riku stated matter of factly. "Both the field operatives and the general staff. That way things in FOXHOUND go a lot smoother and you get to make a lot of friends."

"Hanabishi, I finally found you!!" A harsh voice called to Riku from behind.

"Of course, there's always the kind you can never make friends with, not that I want to in this guys case." Riku grumbled in a low voice to Yuhi, as he recognized Matthew Reese's voice. "Just please stay out of this, Yuhi. Reese can get pretty nasty…"

(I have no luck at all…) Riku thought as he turned to face Reese.

"Well, good afternoon, Lieutenant." Riku said in feigned politeness. "Nice weather you're having over here in America, huh?"

"Shut up, you little punk! I don't have any time for your sarcasm." Reese said angrily. "You know why I'm here…"

"No, actually why are you here?" Riku asked and completed the question mentally. (Why hasn't Campbell fired you from FOXHOUND yet, or actually, why did he even allow someone like you into our group in the first place?)

"You know damn well, why I'm…!!" Reese spluttered.

"Look, Reese, I really am not in the mood for this right now." Riku said in a now almost tired tone of voice. "You can yell at me later, but right now…"

"How dare you speak to me like that, Hanabishi!!" Reese shouted. "Now you listen to me, you have completely broken the rules of FOXHOUND by not only giving away confidentiality, but also bringing outsiders to this base without proper permission when you knew perfectly well this was against the rules. I should have you discharged for this!"

"Gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know that I was breaking the rules." Riku said innocently, fighting the urge to laugh as he saw Reese's infuriated expression. As the man was now on the verge of inarticulate rage at how insolent Riku was being towards him. "Could you please find it in your heart to forgive me and let this slide, sir? I promise that I'll never do it again."

"You… little…" Reese growled, before turning and making as if to walk away. He then stopped and looked back at Riku. "Very well then, I'll simply have Campbell deal with you. Breaking the rules of confidentiality, and then disrespecting a superior officer…" Reese then smirked as he made to leave. "I bet you're regretting saving that lab experiment that you rescued not too long ago; perhaps things might have turned out better for you if you had simply let nature run it's course back there, or maybe you should have done that now instead of bringing her here."

Riku was about to approach Reese and say something, but he stopped when he saw Yuhi rush past him and stop Reese.

"What do you…?" Reese was cut off as Yuhi grabbed him by the shirt and roughly slammed him against the wall.

"Say that again…" Yuhi said angrily, his face a mask of pure rage. "I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME, YOU BASTARD!" Yuhi then pulled back his right hand in a fist in an attempt to slug Reese.

"Yuhi, stop it!" Riku shouted, grabbing Yuhi's arm in order to keep him from hitting Reese. Riku then looked at Yuhi with a completely serious look on his face. "Listen, I know you're angry, and I can't say I blame you, but if you hit this guy right now, my hands will be completely tied as to what will be done about you, Chidori, and also the mission. Please try and understand…"

Yuhi gritted his teeth in frustration and then reluctantly lowered his fist and let Reese go. Reese then got up and adjusted his uniform before smirking at Riku.

"Hmph. It would have been worth getting hit just to see you further disgraced, Hanabishi." Reese said with a sneer and then turned to Yuhi. "You're lucky this brat stopped you, kid, or I would have had you arrested for assault. Well, I look forward to seeing what Campbell will have to do as punishment to you for your disorderly conduct, Hanabishi. The offenses that you've committed can't go unpunished; Campbell won't be able to save you now." Reese then laughed before walking away.

Yuhi and Riku were silent for a few minutes until Yuhi broke the silence.

"Riku…look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for…" Yuhi started with a guilty expression on his face.

"There's no need to apologize." Riku replied calmly, his voice carrying no blame. "What you did was perfectly understandable and not to mention justified. Hell, I'd have done something much worse to Reese if he'd said something like that about someone dear to me." Riku's expression then softened as he remembered something. "Yuhi, why don't you go over to the infirmary now? It's been about an hour anyway, so I'm sure Naomi's done with the checkups and all. Why not go and see her, huh?"

"What about you?" Yuhi asked.

"I've got to report to Campbell now and face the music." Riku answered. "Don't worry about me. Like I said, I'm prepared to take full responsibility for this, so don't feel guilty, alright?"

"Are you sure that you'll be alright?" Yuhi asked.

"Like I told you, don't worry. I'll be fine." Riku answered with a slight smile before turning and walking to where Col. Roy Campbell's office was.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

A heavy gunfight was occurring between Shade's men and the Mikage guards. So far only a few of the men under Shade's command had been killed, mostly by lucky shots from the guards, while the Mikage were taking heavy casualties due to the fact that their opponents were better armed and experienced then they were.

"What the hell's going on!?" One of the guard commanders shouted to one of his men. "Can't you contact any of the other patrols for back up?"

"I'm sorry sir, but these guys are using chaff so our radios are useless." The guard replied as he took a few pot shots with his M4 at one of soldiers. "On top of that, the alarm systems have been disabled too."

"Can't you send some men to the other floors?" The commander asked as he ducked behind some steel crates for cover.

"No sir, the elevators have also been disabled." The guard answered. "The enemy has also managed to secure the stairs and all attempts to take them have failed. They've completely cut us off."

"Cut us off?!" One of the other guards exclaimed and then looked over at the commander. "Sir, we've as good as lost this floor, let's just surrender."

"Don't be absurd." The commander growled. "Are you betraying us?"

"What? NO! No, I…" The unfortunate guard never finished as the commander drew out a pistol and shot the man at point blank range.

"C-commander…" The other guard stammered as he watched his colleague collapse to the ground dead.

"We will not abandon this floor so lightly." The commander spoke. "If it means we fight to the death for this, then so be…" The commander was then interrupted as a shot from an enemy assault rifle caught him in the chest, sending him rolling onto the ground mortally wounded.

"Alright, now listen up because this is the only time we're going to give you this opportunity." A soldier's voice announced over a megaphone. "Throw down your weapons now and surrender, and your lives will be spared. If you do not comply, then you'll be joining your deceased comrades soon and there will be no prisoners taken."

The remaining guards immediately got the message and quickly threw down their weapons and surrendered.

As this was happening, the other soldiers were working as quickly as possible to lock all the doors to the stairways to the floors below them, as the attack had been made on only the upper floors. They were insuring that the upper floors were completely sealed off from the guards on the lower levels.

After the last door had been effectively locked, one of the soldiers took out his radio and contacted Shade.

"Commander Shade, our squad has effectively cut off the lower levels of the building." The man reported.

"All right." Shade's voice answered over the radio.

"Sir, my squad has succeeded in capturing the fiftieth floor." Another man reported over the radio. "Easy money."

"Well done." Shade said. "My squad has succeeded in getting past the security of getting into the laboratory area. I shall go on ahead and pave the road for my squad so we can go in smoothly and capture our targets."

"Understood sir, but what shall we do in the mean time?" The first soldier asked.

"The squads on the upper levels are to head to your level to join you in preparation for the complete take over of the building." Shade answered. "Be on standby to begin your attack on the lower floors, but do not attack until I give the orders. We need to capture Kagami Mikage, the top personnel of C-Project, and most important of all Ceres first."

"Understood." The soldier replied. "Oh, on last question sir, every squad has managed to capture quite a few prisoners. What should we do with them?"

"Confine them to some secure areas for now." Shade said. "Make sure you do a thorough search of the prisoners before doing so though. We cannot afford to risk any mistakes."

"Yes sir." The soldier replied.

Meanwhile:

"Now Ceres, you are a very important person to us. I promise we will take good care of you, as well." Kagami said calmly.

"Where is the hagoromo?" Ceres asked firmly.

"Like I told Aya before, it hasn't been completed yet." Kagami answered simply and then fixed his glasses. "More importantly, there's been something I've been wanting to ask you for quite some time."

"And what would that be?" Ceres asked in reply.

"What I want to know is did you come from a place within this planet? Or was it from somewhere else?"

Ceres was silent for a few minutes and then Kagami spoke again.

"To a tennyo, the hagoromo is her life..." He said. "And according to legend, it is an item which enables them to rise to the heavens. However, it seems as though you still have the ability to fly. Which means that there must be more to the hagoromo than just that...In Japan, we have 'tennyo' and 'hagoromo', but it's different in various other countries. For example, there are things like Poland's White Robe, Scotland's Leopard Skin, China's 'fleece'. And the various women are represented as swans, mermaids, wolves, cats, and other mystical creatures..."

"Also according to legends in Shizuoka and Tango, humans who put on '_faulty hagoromo'_ turned into monsters." Kagami continued. "Which means that what you call the 'hagoromo' can rearrange the make-up of genes. It is a system that can transform cells. So that means that you have the ability to transform...that 'unknown matter' which is believed to be the hagoromo is extracting massive power. Then perhaps you tennyo also have the same substance within your bodies."

"…I'm not going to ask you again…" Ceres said threateningly. "Where is the hagoromo?"

"H-hey, Ceres looks pretty pissed." One of the scientists whispered to another. "You think the chief will be okay?"

"Like she can do anything to hurt him." The other scientist replied. "As long as the Chief's wearing that bracelet thing, which is soaking up the C-Genome's power as we speak, she can't touch him."

Meanwhile Crawford was still watching the events unfold.

(Shade and his men should be here shortly…) He thought as he had his handgun ready. (I just need to give the word and they attack, but still…I find this little conversation to be quite interesting. Perhaps I'll listen to a little more…)

Meanwhile:

"Nnn…" Aki/Shiso grunted as he moved about in his sleep.

Alec glanced at the guards who were watching him and shuddered as he saw that they were still keeping an eye on him.

"...You can cut it out with the scary face already!" Alec said in frustration "Aren't I being a good boy obeying orders as it is?!"

(I haven't even had a chance to play any video games!) Alec added mentally.

"Just shut up and work, Dr. Howell." One of the guards spoke.

(...I only wanted to know about the mysterious legend...To see if it would be a help to the future of humanity...) Alec thought as he continued his work to reawaken Aki. (Please turn back into Aki, and after that, I'll be able to reunite you with your sister and then do everything I can to stop this madness…)

Meanwhile:

"This is your last chance." Ceres warned as she started to glow intensely from the celestial power she was summoning. "Give me the hagoromo at once! It is of no use to you humans!"

"I can't do that..." Kagami answered simply. "Finding out how we can leave this Earth and establish life on other planets would take far too long if I simply gave the hagoromo to you. But just think of all the possibilities that could be made with the hagoromo. It certainly looks as though you tennyo were able to take on a different form when you came here."

"Return it at once, or I will take it from you!" Ceres shouted and with that a surge of energy shot out from her body enveloping Kagami and some of the personnel near him.

Suddenly Kagami heard a cracking sound and looked down at his bracelet. A large crack was forming and getting bigger.

Meanwhile:

"CERES!!" Shiso screamed as his eyes snapped open. Apparently he had sensed her and that had awoken him.

Alec's eyes widened in surprise at this.

"It's Ceres...That woman is close by!! My woman..." Shiso then tried to get up but immediately noticed he was bound to the chair. "Hey, what's going on? Who the hell tied me up!! Kagami!! If you find the hagoromo are you going to try to eliminate me?! If you do I'll fucking kill you!! I'll kill everyone here except my woman!!" Shiso then started to tug and pull at the bonds restraining him.

"Quick, knock him out before he hurts himself!" Alec ordered to one of the technicians who nodded and pressed a button in front of him. Immediately, a needle filled with a tranquilizing chemical shot out of a hidden slot and quickly injected the chemical into Shiso, knocking him out.

(It's no use…) Alec thought. (Because he's been drugged and hooked up to the machine for so long, Shiso himself is going insane. If Aki doesn't come back soon, he'll be done for…)

Alec's thought was interrupted, as there was a cry of pain behind him. He turned around just in time to see the last guard in the room fall to the ground dead, alongside the other guards with him, his head almost entirely cut off by something.

As the corpse fell to the ground, a tall man in a black trench coat and hat, with a series of scars on the right side of his face stepped in, carrying a bloodied chakram. The man's cold black eyes then turned from the corpses to Alec.

"Dr. Alexander O. Howell…" The man spoke. "It seems I've found one of the targets." The man then turned to the side. "Men, secure this room, and make sure no one leaves here. I'm going to go and see how Crawford's end is doing…"

"Understood sir." A soldier's voice replied, and suddenly a dozen heavily armed men appeared behind the man in black.

As the man was about to leave, one of the technicians made a move towards the alarm. Unfortunately, the man immediately saw this and casually tossed his chakram towards the unfortunate technician, who screamed as the chakram completely sliced off his hand.

"Do clean that up…" The man said casually to one of the soldiers before leaving.

As the soldiers entered the room, guns drawn and ready, Alec just collapsed into his seat in shock.

(What in the world is going on here?) He wondered. (Just who are these people? Could they be…?)

Meanwhile:

(Why…? How is this possible?) Kagami thought as the bracelet kept on cracking. (These were specifically designed to block and absorb a tennyo's power. What's going on?)

One of the technicians screamed as his bracelet was destroyed and the celestial energy immediately vaporized him.

(Ceres stop it!! That's enough!) Aya's voice cried out into her mind. (I know you just killed someone…Please stop now…at least consider the baby!)

That apparently did it as Ceres' attack suddenly stopped. She then turned back into Aya before collapsing to the ground unconscious.

(That's a relief.) Kagami thought with a relieved sigh. (Even though she's in her tennyo form, she's still pregnant…) Suddenly, Kagami realized something and then smiled.

"W-what is it chief?" On of the technicians asked nervously looking at the unconscious Aya.

"Oh...now I see…" Kagami said. "What if the power surge she just caused came not only from Ceres..."

"Huh?" The technician said in confusion.

"The child in her belly might have powers, too." Kagami then turned to the technician "Anyway, call Alec. Have him strengthen these bracelets and..."

Suddenly two loud gunshots sounded, interrupting Kagami, who screamed in pain as a bullet struck him in both legs. As he fell to the ground injured, Crawford emerged from his hiding place, casually putting the gun back in its holster. He then looked at Kagami and clapped.

"My, my, you do certainly love to hear yourself talk, don't you, Kagami Mikage?" Crawford asked calmly. "It seems what Ocelot once told me about those with the gift of the silver tongue is true after all."

"Crawford…how dare you…" Kagami gritted his teeth in pain.

The guards in the room immediately drew out their guns and pointed them all at Crawford.

"You're gonna pay for doing that to the chief, you traitorous bastard!" One of the guards spoke.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that." Crawford said simply with a shake of his head. "The shadow of death is already upon you…"

Suddenly there was sudden whizzing sound, and a second later all of the guards collapsed to the ground dead from a slash to the throat that suddenly seemed to just appear on their necks.

"You certainly took your time, Crawford." Shade spoke as he stepped into the room.

"Well, I couldn't help it, there was quite the interesting conversation going on here a moment ago." Crawford replied with a smile.

"Black outfit…a chakram…scars on the right side of his face…" Kagami spoke as he saw Shade. "You're…"

"Good to see you know of me and my reputation." Shade said to Kagami with a grin. "But I have no time for this…" Shade then snapped his fingers.

Within seconds, over two dozen of Shade's soldiers barged into the laboratory. Guns drawn and ready to fire.

"All of you get on the ground now!!" One of the soldiers ordered. All of the technicians immediately complied dropping to the ground so they wouldn't be shot.

"This…why are you doing this now, Crawford?" Kagami asked as two of the soldiers lifted him up. "You know you won't gain very much with the stage C-Project is…"

"My dear Mikage, what ever made you think the Patriots wanted C-Project under their control at any specific stage?" Crawford asked with a smirk. "You see, the Patriots can complete C-Project on their own as long as they have Aya Mikage, the other C-Genomes, and the genome embryos."

"But…" Kagami objected.

"My, you are so convinced of your own importance, too bad that made you decide to betray the Patriots." Crawford interrupted. "But you really should be happy. Since you have some…information the Patriots and I need, you'll be allowed to live a little longer." Crawford then turned to the two soldiers. "Get those wounds treated, we need this one alive and then have him confined as soon as you finish that. We'll be leaving for the main Mikage base shortly."

"The main base?" Kagami asked. "Do you actually think you can take it over with only a handful of…"

"We already have it under out control." Crawford said simply. "Schuldich had a little mental chat with all of those mercs you hired and was able to bring them over to our side of things." Crawford then smirked. "Did you think Schuldich's sudden laziness towards your orders was laziness alone, Kagami? No, he was actually manipulating all those mercenary soldiers you spent so much time and money to get, one by one."

"Are you done chatting with him?" Shade asked. "If you want this thing alive, you'd better get him treated before he bleeds to death."

"Of course." Crawford nodded and turned to the soldiers. "Take him away."

The men saluted and dragged Kagami off to the infirmary.

"Shall I order my men to begin rounding up all of the other essential personnel?" Shade asked.

"Do that." Crawford answered. "After that commence the complete take over of this building."

"Very well." Shade nodded.

"Oh, one last thing." Crawford spoke. "Make sure to take the guardinals prisoner and not to kill a single one."

"Why is that?" Shade asked.

"They will be necessary for the completion of this mission." Crawford answered. "Not only that, Viper still needs to play the role of Kagami's faithful dog a while longer. Keeping those other two alive should insure no suspicion is cast onto him."

"Very well then." Shade then looked over at the unconscious Aya. "What about this girl?"

"I'll have the men confine her to a room for the time being until we leave." Crawford replied and looked at Shade sharply when he noticed how he was looking at Aya. "Don't even think about it Shade. The Patriots gave specific orders that this girl is to be unharmed and unspoiled. You would do well to obey those orders."

"Heh, fine." Shade said and then left the room.

Crawford then walked over to the refrigerator containing some of the genome embryos. He then opened it and looked inside.

(So these are the other things the Patriots want.) Crawford thought as he looked at the samples. (I'd better get a container for these things so I can deliver them, along with the rest of the embryos at the main base, to the Patriots at the end of this assignment.)

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ: Col. Campbell's Office:

"So you do not deny the charges against you, Drakken?" Roy Campbell asked Riku. He and Matthew Reese were overseeing this.

"No sir, I freely admit that I went against regulations and let civilians in without proper authority." Riku answered calmly. "I will accept any punishment for my misdeeds, and also take full responsibility for this. My two partners had no part whatsoever in this."

"Whether that is true or not, which I highly doubt it is, I believe it would be better that they also be punished for not doing anything to…" Reese started.

"Lieutenant that will be enough for now." Roy said. "If Drakken says that Crow and Usagi had no part in this, then there is no substantial reason to punish them. Also, your charge of Drakken's having broken the rules of confidentiality have been dropped. Drakken already reported that to me in his previous report, and since circumstances were that it couldn't be avoided the charges for that have been dropped."

"Colonel, I believe that…" Reese got up and spoke but was cut off.

"Lieutenant Reese, need I remind you that I am the one in charge of this and not you, so please sit down." Campbell said firmly, causing Reese to reluctantly do so. He then turned back to Riku.

"Drakken, I must admit that you and your partners have done an excellent job in the handling of this mission, despite this, especially considering that this mission has turned out to be more advanced than originally anticipated by our previous reports." Campbell said. "However, that does not change the fact that you broke one of the cardinal rules of FOXHOUND, and that is something that cannot go unpunished. As such, I hereby remove you from command of this operation."

Reese grinned in triumph as he heard this, but that was soon to be wiped off completely.

"Therefore, I am placing FOXHOUND operative Michael Hanson aka Venom in command of the operation." Campbell finished. "You and your partners will be taking orders from him, is that understood?"

"Now hold on a minute, Campbell, this is hardly a suitable…" Reese objected.

"Reese, do not make me repeat myself…" Campbell warned him.

"But this kid disrespected his superior, me." Reese said. "That is also a major offense because it shows faulty conduct as well as discipline. For that, Drakken should…"

"I have already put that into consideration." Campbell finished. "For that, Drakken will be put under a week's suspension for that when the mission has been completed."

"But Colonel…" Reese pressed him.

"Reese, while we're on the subject of this, from what Drakken has told me that this was primarily the result of your rudeness towards the ones he had brought with him here." Roy interrupted. "Regardless of whether they were brought to HQ without proper permission, those two are still under FOXHOUND's protection. I highly suggest that you reevaluate your approach to such things in the future, Reese."

Reese gritted his teeth in frustration as he realized he was being humiliated in front of one of the recruits he so despised.

"Fine, do whatever you want." Reese growled and stormed out of the room.

After a minute of silence, Riku turned to Roy.

"When shall I be expecting to meet with Venom, sir?" Riku asked.

"I have already contacted him, and he will meet you in the lobby within an hour." Roy answered. "After which, I expect you, Venom, and your companions to head back to Japan as soon as possible so you can complete your mission."

"Yes, sir, you can count on me." Riku got up and saluted Campbell before turning to leave. As he was about to step out Riku was nearly run over by Yuhi and Chidori as they were running to the door.

"So there you are." Chidori said to Riku as she and Yuhi stopped to catch their breath.

"Uh…yeah." Riku replied, not sure what to say.

The two of them then glanced past Riku and saw Roy. They then dashed past Riku and stood in front of Roy's desk both bowing.

"We both apologize for this, Riku brought us to your headquarters on our account." Yuhi said apologetically. "So please don't do anything harsh to Riku for this."

"And I was the one who got sick, so this is my fault." Chidori added. "Riku was only trying to help me and…"

"You guys…" Riku said with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "Come on, it's all been taken care of and…"

"It's all right." Roy spoke and looked at Yuhi and Chidori. "Don't worry about Riku, I took that into consideration made sure the penalties were as light as possible. But please try to understand; rules, as well as laws, have to be enforced no matter what the reason for their having been broken and that is why what he did cannot go unpunished."

"I…I guess so…" Chidori admitted reluctantly. "But still…"

"You guys, it's all right, really." Riku said to the both of them. "Come on now, we'll be getting back to Japan soon, you know."

As the three of them turned to leave, Roy called out to Riku.

"Drakken, one last thing." He said. "Despite the fact that you disobeyed orders, you still kept your part of the mission in protecting these people and have done a very admiral job at it."

"My partners and Weiss have done the same as me in that area." Riku replied. "But thank you."

"You're welcome." Roy nodded. "Anyway, since you seem to have done a such a good job, I suppose I can shorten the suspension to three days instead when your mission is completed. Just promise not to tell anyone about this."

Riku's eyes widened a little in surprise and he then smiled gratefully.

"Thank you very much, and I will, colonel." He said and he, Yuhi, and Chidori left the office.

(Two years in FOXHOUND and he still hasn't lost that kindness and sincerity he had when he first joined.) Roy thought as he watched Riku leave. (Though I fear that I'll one day end up giving him a mission or assignment that will take all of that away…)

As Riku stepped out with his two friends he noticed that Takeshi Ishida was standing out there waiting for them.

"Ishida-san?" Riku said in recognition. "What are you doing here?"

"Well those two came to me and asked me where Roy's office was so I showed them." Ishida admitted. "I actually had to run a little to keep up with them. They seemed pretty worried about you."

"Really?" Riku asked.

"Anyway, you still owe me a tour of this place." Chidori said pointing to Riku. "So let's get started."

"Heh, sure why not?" Riku replied and turned to Ishida. "Hey, Ishida-san, you don't mind coming along and acting as a secondary guide in case I mess up, do you?"

"I suppose not." Ishida answered with a shrug.

As they started to walk on, Ishida glanced back at Campbell's office. He had heard the whole thing.

(So you decided to be lenient this time instead of favoring Reese, Roy.) Ishida thought. (Maybe there is hope that you'll rethink your position on Reese sometime, old friend…)

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

Wei Fei Lee and Asamu Bagte were caught off guard as a squad of soldiers broke down the doors to the room they were in along with Viper and a few Mikage guards.

"Alright, all of you on the ground and surrender now." One of the soldiers ordered.

Lee immediately reached for a concealed weapon when Viper grabbed his wrist, looked at him and shook his head.

"Viper, what are you…?" Lee whispered.

"Now is not the proper time." Viper whispered back in reply. "These guys might just have the Chief in their custody, if they didn't we would have been alerted a long time ago."

"We can't be sure of that." Lee objected.

"We also can't risk the Chief's life." Viper reminded him. "I don't know who these people are, so there' no guarantee they won't kill him in retaliation for any attacks on our part. For now we need to feign surrender, in effect getting a chance to size up the enemy, and then think up a new COA. We put C-Project and all we've worked for in danger of complete loss if we act rashly."

"I see your point." Lee agreed and turned to Asamu and shook his head. The boy made a face but immediately put away his weapon.

As Lee, Asamu, and the guards surrendered, Viper fought the urge to smile in victory as he also surrendered to the soldiers.

(Gullible…) He thought with a sense of satisfaction.

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ:

Riku walked into Naomi's lab. Ishida had decided to finish the tour for him while Riku went to meet Naomi.

"Well, Naomi, what is it?" Riku asked and then noticed a case containing four needles with a strange substance in them.

"Are these…?" Riku started.

"Yes, those are the nanomachines for your friends back in Japan." Naomi answered. "But I did not just call you here to tell you I'd finished them."

"Then what's this about, Naomi?" Riku asked.

"While I was analyzing your friend, Chidori's, blood sample, I was able to study this strain that affects these C-Genomes." Naomi answered and looked at Riku seriously. "Riku, I want you to promise me that you and your partners will do everything you can to keep that girl and her friends who are vulnerable to this from using their powers to excess."

"Of course Naomi, you have my word." Riku promised. "But what does the strain and the C-Genome powers have to do with one another."

"According to the report on your mission, the powers are forced to awaken using some sort of vector while naturally they would never have been unleashed." Naomi replied. "Riku, your powers, along with Greg's, Maggie's, and your new partner Nagi's all came out naturally on their own. The power of a C-Genome apparently doesn't."

"What does it's coming out naturally have to do with anything?"

"What I mean is, while your body is used to your powers because it has had time to adapt to them since you've had them since birth, a C-Genome doesn't have that luxury. Their powers were forced to awaken and increased at a rate too fast for their bodies to deal with as a result of the vector that the Mikage used."

"So what you mean is…"

"Yes. While those like Miss Kuruma don't know it, the use of their powers, along with their ability to transform into their celestial maiden form, taxes their bodies at an exhausting rate. The strain is actually the process of where the body finally has had enough and rejects the vector completely…"

"Which explains why the strain struck when it did. In the case of the C-Genomes that were killed almost immediately after receiving the vector, their bodies must have been too weak to control the vector." Riku then looked at Naomi. "So how do these nanomachines keep the strain from happening?"

"At first they repair the damages caused to the body and then act as a control for the vector in order to keep it under control." Naomi answered. "When a C-Genome's powers are used, the nanomachines immediately sense it and work faster to keep the vector in correct balance and also keep the body from rejecting the vector and causing the strain to happen."

"So why do you need for us to keep Chidori and her friends from using their powers?" Riku asked.

"Even nanomachines have their limits." Naomi sighed. "Working at their maximum, the nanomachines will only be able to function for thirty minutes before finally failing and after that there won't be anything that can stop the strain from doing its work."

"Alright Naomi, I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Riku promised and then looked at his watch. "Oh yeah, I've got to meet up with Michael in a few minutes." Riku then went over to the case containing the nanomachines, closed it and picked it up. He then headed for the door but stopped and looked back at Naomi. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Just make sure to give those doses to your friends as soon as possible." Naomi replied. "There's no telling how much time each of them has."

"Consider it done. See ya around." Riku said and then walked out of the room.

(Good luck on your mission, kid.) Naomi thought after Riku.

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ: Kagami's Office:

"My men have successfully rounded up all of the necessary personnel and also confined all of the captured prisoners." Shade told Crawford, who was sitting comfortably at what had been Kagami Mikage's desk; Schuldich and Crawford were with him.

"Excellent work." Crawford replied. "Oh, and just recently a message from Kagami has been sent to all of the regular employees that work at this place telling them that due to 'important and very extensive' renovations the building will have to be shut down for a couple of days. There's an apology of course for the inconvenience, but also an assurance that this won't cut into their vacation time."

"So to insure no outside interference, you're giving them a free vacation." Shade noted with a smile.

"You must be in a good mood today, boss." Schuldich added. "It's not like you to do something nice to a bunch of people."

"That's hardly the case, though I do admit seeing the first stage of an assignment go successfully does brighten up my day." Crawford said with a smile. "This period if no work will undoubtedly cost the Mikage millions if not billions of dollars, and quite a lot of employees will find themselves unemployed soon. Oh well…"

"Heh, you're a hard man Crawford." Shade grinned and then stopped as he remembered something. "Oh yes, what are we supposed to do with Aki Mikage and the guards we've captured?"

"Aki Mikage will be coming with us." Crawford answered. "There's a chance we'll be needing him later, but for now make sure he stays sedated until we get to the Mikage base and also ensure that he not have any contact with Aya Mikage. As heartwarming as a sibling reunion sounds, we cannot afford having a tussle between Ceres and the Mikage progenitor disrupt our mission."

"Of course." Shade agreed. "But what about the guards? You're not suggesting we take them along too are you?"

"No, I actually have a much more appropriate idea for them." Crawford replied with a smile. "You see, my dear student and his associates will with out a doubt be coming here to rescue their friend soon. Of course by then we'll be at the base and not here."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Shade asked.

"I think it would be more appropriate if we left them a message." Crawford answered. "I believe the guards should do a good job at delivering it for us."

"Deliver? What…?" Shade then grinned fiercely as he realized what Crawford meant. "I like your way of thinking, Crawford."

"Always glad to make a partnership satisfactory." Crawford replied with a simple smile. "You and Farfarello will be the ones in charge of 'releasing' the prisoners just before we leave."

"I can do that myself." Shade said glancing at Farfarello. "I do not need this one's help."

"I'm afraid that we're on a pretty tight schedule, my good man Shade." Crawford replied. "This will insure things are done quickly and efficiently." He then turned to Farfarello. "You have no objections, do you?"

"As long as Shade does not get in my way." Farfarello said simply.

"Very well then, also our late colleague Pyro Bison took care of the last part of our little message." Crawford said. "Make sure you don't disturb them."

"Of course." Shade replied.

Meanwhile: Okinawa:

"I see…" Shuro said over the phone to Suzumi after hearing her tell her about the situation with Aya. "Aya must have had her reasons for doing this though, even though I don't agree with her decision. Anyway, I was wondering if you received the tickets I sent you for the concert tomorrow."

"Yes, I received them in the mail yesterday, but…" Suzumi replied.

"Hey, I understand if you can't come." Shuro said. "After hearing about what just happened I'd personally rather be over with you guys to help you out."

"Shuro don't worry about it." Suzumi said over the phone. "Anyway, just continue with your concert and if we can't make it you can always send us a DVD or something of it."

"Not a bad idea." Shuro smiled. "Well, I'd better start practicing or my manager will probably start having a coronary or something if she thinks I skipped out."

"Okay, talk to you later, bye." Suzumi said and the call ended.

"Hey, Shuro, practice will be starting soon." One of the sound technicians called to her.

"I'll be right there." Shuro called back and then started coughing and nearly fell over.

"Hey man, you alright?" The tech called as he rushed over to where Shuro was.

Shuro stopped for a minute to catch her breath, and then got up. She then turned to the man and smiled slightly.

"It's nothing, really I probably just caught something going around." Shuro said. "Anyway, I'll be ready in a minute."

"Shuro, you sure you're well enough to go on with tomorrow's concert?" The tech asked.

"Of course, I'm sure." Shuro answered. "I'm just feeling a little under the weather today, that's all."

"In that case, drink some coffee or something before we start." The tech replied. "It wouldn't be good if you collapsed on stage you know."

"Got it, I'll also take some medicine tomorrow if this cough is still around in the morning." Shuro assured him.

"Yeah, can't have you coughing or anything during the real concert, huh?" The tech smiled. "Anyway, I'll make up some excuse to the manager so take your time, 'kay." The man then walked off.

(I suppose everyone's not coming is for the best anyway.) Shuro thought as she walked to her dressing room. (I can still use my powers one last time to do Aya a favor…)

Shuro then glanced down at a ring she was wearing.

(Kei…) She thought.

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ:

"Michael, let me introduce you to my friends Yuhi Aogiri and Chidori Kuruma." Riku said to Michael Hanson. They were in the main lobby for HQ.

"I'm pleased to meet the both of you." Michael said with a smile as he shook their hands.

"So you're another one of the FOXHOUND operatives?" Chidori asked.

"I certainly am, Miss Kuruma." Michael answered. "I'm supposed to assist you guys in this mission along with Riku and his partners."

"And with this guy on our side we can't lose." Riku said with a grin. "Not only is Michael, or Venom which is his codename, an expert when it comes to martial arts, he's also a master tactician. With his tactical knowledge, we'll walk all over the Mikage."

"Riku…" Michael said feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Well it is true." Riku replied.

"Riku's mentioned you a few times to us, and so have his partners." Yuhi spoke. "They all seem to think highly of you and if you're really as good as they say, I'm honored that you're helping us."

"Thank you very much." Michael smiled and then noticed how close Yuhi and Chidori were to one another. "Pardon me for asking, but are you and Miss Kuruma in a relationship with one another?"

Both Yuhi and Chidori blushed as they heard this.

"How did you figure that out?" Chidori asked.

"Well, when you've been a soldier, then a mercenary, and then a member of FOXHOUND you sort of tend to notice a lot of things." Michael answered. "Well, we'll be leaving for Japan soon, why don't we get on the helicopter and we can talk some more then." He then turned to Riku. "You'll also have to explain what's going on for this mission too, since this was so sudden."

"Of course, Michael." Riku nodded and the four of them headed to the helicopter pad.

AN: And that's it for this chapter folks. I hope you liked it cause there's going to be some more interesting stuff to come in the next chapter. To GreyWolf4, I hoped I've portrayed your OCs well in this chapter. Hopefully I can have the nextone out soon once my writer's gears start working again.

Oh yeah, while that conversation between Aya and Kagami sounds like something out of MGS 1, trust me aside from a few changes I made that was more or less how it originally was. Though I have to admit, when I first got to that part when I started Ceres it did make me think of MGS 1.

Anyway, please R and R. Thank you and once again, Happy New Year (even if it is a little late)!


	23. Chapter 22: Preparations

AN: Chapter 22 has arrived, folks, and I hope you all enjoy what I've got in store in this chapter. Well, read and enjoy.

Also, to Jyde, thank you very much for the review and I'm glad you like Riku as well as the story. I'll be keeping an eye out for when you update your Yuhi/Chidori fic, which I believe is an excellent story. Keep up the good work.

Oh yeah, and to the reviewer who flamed me, James Christ, your review was hardly even worth noticing. All your review basically said was 'this sucks' with no real elaboration as to what you didn't like about the story, which only indicates how low your intelligence is if that is all you can come up with, and for the first chapter too. Not only that, you're registered here but it looks like you haven't written a single story since you've been here which means you either don't have the brains to put your money where your mouth is and write your own story, or all you do is go around flaming people. If the second case is true you seriously need to get a life. Also, we writers write whatever we want to because it's fun so you have no business disturbing that fun. Whether this reaches you under the rock you live under or not, I don't care, your existence means just about as much to me as those of the roaches that live in the wall of my dorm.

Disclaimer: Me…own MGS and all the other wonderful anime and games that have and will crossover into this fic? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Chapter 22: Preparations

FOXHOUND Chopper:

"And that's everything that's happened so far in this mission, Mike." Riku finished explaining the events both during and before the mission to his friend and FOXHOUND comrade Michael Hanson.

Michael was silent for a few minutes as he contemplated everything Riku had told him He was actually very impressed with how Riku and his partners had handled the mission so far.

"Well Riku, I must admit that you and your partners have done well with the handling of the mission so far." Michael said. "Especially since this is your first mission as a team."

"Thank you, Mike." Riku replied. "So any ideas on what to do once we get to Japan, commander?"

"First I'd like to meet this Weiss group along with the rest of the people you're protecting."

"No problem."

Michael then looked at Riku with a slight smile on his face.

"Oh yeah, I heard about what you did for your two friends here." He said. "That was a good thing that you did, you know."

"The only one who disagrees with that is our resident asshole Reese." Riku replied with a grunt. "Why a self centered, apathetic man like that is in any position of authority here is beyond me…"

Michael nodded in understanding. He, along with a lot of the other FOXHOUNDers hated having Reese as a superior, as the man, along with being an incompetent commander, always lost his temper when things didn't go his way or when someone didn't acknowledge his position as he saw it should be acknowledged. Everything he did made him look like an idiot, but unfortunately he was an idiot with power that he always used for his own sake.

"Well, I guess there's no point in complaining when I managed to get off easy." Riku said with a sigh and turned back to Michael. "I think I'll get some rest. Wake me when we're close to Japan, okay?"

"Sure, of course." Michael replied.

"Oh and one more thing." Riku added. "When we get the chance to, what do you say to a game of Go?"

"Still trying to beat me, Riku?" Michael asked with a smile.

"You bet, I even managed to get two pro players to train me." Riku answered confidently. "Those two would probably give even you a run for your money."

"Well, I'll be looking forward to our match then." Michael replied.

Riku then lay his head back, and then glanced over at Yuhi and Chidori who were both sleeping.

(Let's hope everything's gone alright back over in Japan.) He thought as he closed his eyes to try to sleep. (I don't know why, but I'm having a nagging feeling about it…)

Michael looked at Riku with a kind smile on his face and then at Yuhi and Chidori.

(It's unbelievable what those kids and their friends went through.) He thought to himself. (Riku, Nagi, and Tot probably feel the same way which is probably why they're so intent on protecting them from the Mikage and the Patriots. I hope I can do the best I can to help them accomplish that.)

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

Kagami Mikage slowly came awake to find himself handcuffed to a chair in side a barely lit room. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in the lower part of his legs and glanced down to see bandages over where he had been shot not too long ago.

"Ah, good to see that you're awake, Mr. Mikage." A voice spoke in the darkness.

There was the sound of a switch being used and a few more lights came on, revealing the speaker as none other then Brad Crawford, with his partner Schuldich standing next to him. A look around showed that the room was actually the office for one of his employees.

"Crawford…" Kagami grumbled as he saw him. "What exactly is it that the Patriots are ordering you to do? There's no way C-Project can be completed without…"

"Without your knowledge along with that of key members of your staff, correct?" Crawford asked in reply. "Well, that isn't really a problem. We have ways of obtaining their cooperation, along with yours."

"Why are you really doing all of this, Crawford?" Kagami asked. "Are you trying to obtain a place in the Wiseman's Committee? Or do you want the powers of the C-Genomes for yourself?"

Crawford started to laugh at that question as if it were a funny joke, startling Kagami.

"You think in such predictable terms, Mikage." Crawford shook his head with an amused smile. "I really don't care about either of those; what I want is something much more interesting than that. But enough about me, it's time for you to start telling us the secrets regarding C-Project so it can be completed."

"Do you honestly expect me to be intimidated by threats?" Kagami sneered. "You know you can't afford to have me tortured. The information I hold is too valuable to risk losing."

"That is where Schuldich comes in." Crawford turned to his partner. "Schuldich…"

"Of course, boss." Schuldich grinned and walked over to Kagami and then stopped when he was standing right in front of him.

"Well, Kagami, I admit it's been real, but I'm afraid orders are orders." He continued.

"You won't find diving into my mind to be very easy, Schuldich." Kagami said. "I've been given surgical implants to block such things."

"Indeed you have, but even then I can still here your thoughts. Actually, all I'm going to do is give you a nice little dream…"

"Just make sure you make the proper adjustments with your telepathy before you begin so his mind doesn't give out on us, Schuldich." Crawford spoke seriously. "And don't overdo it either. He'll be useful later on with our plans."

"I don't know what you're planning for me, freak, but you won't get anything out of me." Kagami said to Schuldich.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you, Mikage." Schuldich replied in a warning tone. "You may be one of the most ruthless men I've worked for in a while with no emotions to speak of, but now is the time to put that all to the test."

Suddenly, Kagami felt a wave of dizziness strike him and blacked out. When he opened his eyes, he was bound by his hands to a large cross in what looked like an open field. The sky seemed to have turned red, like it was dawn or evening. Kagami then heard the sound of footsteps and turned to see Schuldich walking up to him. The German telepath looked up at Kagami with a friendly smile on his face.

"The information on you from the Patriots did tell us that you underwent hypnotherapy to suppress your emotions." He spoke. "Now we'll find out how effective it was."

Schuldich then gestured to the area around him.

"This is a special place created by both our minds." He said, almost proudly. "I got the idea for this from a little stroll through my partner Farfarello's mind. Within this area, time, space, everything is under my control."

Schuldich then held his right hand open and a naginata appeared in it, and then a pile of them appeared at his side.

"And for the next twenty four hours, I will continually stab you with these naginatas until you tell me what I need to know." He said calmly and then smiled at Kagami. "Oh don't worry, I've made the adjustments using telepathy so your brain won't register any of these wounds as real, but you will still feel the pain of each stab. A bit of a complicated process but it gets easier after a while."

Schuldich then raised the naginata in preparation to stab.

"When you've had enough, just give up and the pain will be over." He said. "Of course, you can save yourself some pain and tell me now."

Kagami grimaced and then spat at Schuldich, who calmly swatted the wad of saliva away with the naginata.

"Have it your way then." Schuldich then thrust the naginata into Kagami's lower abdomen as hard as he could.

Kagami screamed as he felt the pain of the cold blade biting into him.

Meanwhile:

"The base is now completely under our control, sir." One of the soldiers reported to Shade.

"Good work." Shade replied with a nod. "And the prisoners?"

"So far all of the captured guards and technicians are being compliant." The soldier answered. "It's the same with the staff members for this place as well."

"And what about the Mikage twins?"

"Aya Mikage is still unconscious, but she doesn't appear to be in any danger for the moment so we're simply keeping her under guard. As for Aki Mikage, we've been making sure to sedate him whenever he shows any signs of waking."

"Make sure to report to me if the girl should wake up." Shade ordered the soldier. "According to information in the Mikage's data banks, she could become quite a nuisance if she transformed into Ceres."

"Yes sir." The soldier saluted.

Meanwhile:

"Well, it looks like you've set a new record for yourself." Crawford said to Schuldich after he finished the mind trick he had used on Kagami. "This time it only took you five minutes to make him experience twenty four hours of torture. So did he talk?"

"He's surprisingly good at resisting my technique." Schuldich replied. "It seems post Second Impact hypnotherapy is more affective than I believed." He then looked over at Kagami who was unconscious from the whole ordeal.

"Let's wait till he regains consciousness and see how willing he is to cooperate with us." Crawford spoke. "In the meantime, get some rest. That mental torture skill of yours uses up quite a bit of energy and we need you fully restored in order to perform your tasks well enough."

"Boss, I didn't know you cared…" Schuldich grinned.

Hours Later: Aogiri Residence:

It had taken the chopper some hours to reach Japan, but as soon as Riku, Michael, Yuhi, and Chidori arrived Riku immediately drove them over to the Aogiri residence. When they arrived, they were greeted by Nagi and Tot.

"Hey, it's Michael!" Tot said happily as she and Nagi saw him.

"Good to see the both of you." Michael spoke as he walked over to them.

Riku smiled as he saw Shota's relief that his sister was alright. He then turned noticed Suzumi's expression, and immediately knew something was wrong.

(This just isn't my day…) He thought and then noticed Aya wasn't there. (Please don't let this be about what I think it is…)

Later:

"And that's what happened, Riku." Nagi finished telling his partner what had happened with Aya. "Look, I…"

"Don't bother apologizing, Nagi." Riku spoke and then smiled a little and rubbed his head. "I'd probably have ended up being tricked just as easily as you and Tot were anyway, maybe even more easily."

"So what should we do now?" Yuhi asked. "We can't just leave Aya with the Mikage."

"Yeah, Yuhi's right." Chidori agreed. "We have to try and rescue her."

"If you're suggesting we try an all out attack on them, then I'm against it." Michael spoke. "I won't deny that surprise is a useful advantage that may work, but in this case the likeliest outcome is that it will result in unnecessary casualties."

"Who's this?" Ran asked as he and the other members of Weiss walked into the room and noticed Michael.

"Michael Hansen, one of our friends from FOXHOUND." Nagi answered. "His codename is Venom. He also happens to be a very talented tactician which I'm sure will help in the mission."

"Pleased to meet all of you." Michael said as he shook Ran's hand and then Ken, Youji, and Omi's.

Suddenly Riku remembered something.

"Hey, Suzumi, isn't today when Shuro's concert is supposed to happen?" He asked Suzumi.

"Yes, but with all that's happened it's too bad we can't make it." Suzumi answered. "And Shuro went to all that trouble to send us those tickets too."

An idea suddenly came into Riku's head.

"Do you still have the tickets?" He asked and Suzumi nodded. Riku then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Nagi, Tot, why don't you two go to that concert?"

"Nani? We can?" Tot asked, delighted that she was being given a chance to go out on a date with Nagi.

"I don't see why not." Riku answered. "Besides, I need you to give something to Shuro while you're there. Which reminds me…" Riku then took the case Naomi had given him and took out two syringes and then handed them to Suzumi and Maya.

"These are specially made nanomachines that are designed to counter the genome strain." Riku explained. "Take these and as long as you don't use your powers too much, you should be fine."

"Hey, don't forget the one we're supposed to give to Shuro." Nagi spoke.

"Of course." Riku handed a syringe to Nagi, who carefully put it into a container before putting it in his pocket.

"Are you sure it's alright for us to just go to this concert?" Nagi asked. "I mean…"

"Nagi, don't worry, all we're going to do is plan our rescue mission for Aya." Riku answered. "I'll provide the necessary info while Omi shows Michael the layout of the Mikage headquarters so Michael can start laying out a plan for all this. You two just deliver that to Shuro and then have some time to yourselves."

"I agree with Riku." Michael said. "I have a feeling that this mission will probably become more intense, so the two of you shouldn't pass this up."

"Alright then." Nagi replied. "Thanks Riku." He then turned to Tot. "Well Tot, shall we get going."

"Hai!" Tot said happily.

She then took Nagi's arm and the two of them left the room and then left the house, heading for the train station that would take them to where the concert would be.

"Well, I guess it's time to get to work." Michael said. "Alright, show me what you've got on this place."

Later: Outside Stadium:

Nagi and Tot stood agape at the line of people waiting to buy tickets for Shuro's concert.

"Whoah…talk about huge." Tot spoke.

"Yeah." Nagi agreed. "Good thing we got those tickets early."

"So where will we find Shuro?" Tot asked.

"That's what the backstage passes are for." Nagi answered. "Let's hurry so we can give those nanos to Shuro before the concert starts."

"Right." Tot nodded. (The sooner we do that, the sooner our date can start…)

Later:

"Hey look, kid, I'm sorry but Tsukasa-san can't have any visitors just before the concert." A security guard said to Nagi.

"But this is important; we need to speak with…him." Nagi narrowly avoided calling Shuro 'her'.

"I'm sure that it can wait until after the concert." The guard replied firmly.

"Hey come on, we're Shuro's friends!" Tot complained. "Can't you cut us some slack?"

"I'm sorry, but…" The guard began.

"It's alright, they can come…" A voice spoke behind them.

All three turned and saw that it was Shuro, who was wearing her standard outfit for a concert.

"But, Tsukasa-san…" The guard objected.

"I told you it's fine." Shuro said firmly.

"Very well then." The guard then let Nagi and Tot pass.

The two of them then followed Shuro to her dressing room, followed her in, and then sat down on some chairs.

"So has your partner come back with Yuhi and Chidori?" Shuro asked after she closed the door.

"Yes, and they were able to find something to cure the strain." Nagi answered. "Which is why we're here." Nagi then took the container out of his pocket and handed it to Shuro.

"This is a nanocolony that acts as a counter to the genome strain." He explained. "According to Riku it should work."

"Thank you." Shuro put the container onto her vanity.

"You're not going to use it now?" Tot asked.

"I…I'll use it after the concert is finished." Shuro answered, her eyes avoiding them.

Nagi immediately sensed something wasn't right, but decided not to say anything about it for the moment.

"Shuro, I think it would be better if took those nanos now." Nagi spoke. "I mean it; you don't really look very well. I mean…you look a little pale…"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Shuro replied.

Nagi almost believed her, if it weren't for a flicker of emotion he felt from Shuro. It was brief, but Nagi recognized that feeling behind the emotion for it was a feeling he knew all too well from experience.

"Shuro, what's really going on?" Nagi asked seriously. "I don't know what you're thinking of doing, but depending on your answer, I may have to stop you from performing in this concert."

Shuro was silent for a minute before speaking.

"Nagi, the nanomachines will just be wasted on me." She said, with a tone of regret in her voice. "I'm sorry…"

Nagi's suspicions were immediately confirmed from that statement. He immediately focused his powers so that they would block any sound coming from the room.

"Tot, whatever you do don't let Shuro leave this room!" Nagi ordered.

Tot's expression was confused but she quickly stood in front of the door.

"What's going on, Nagi?" She asked.

"It's Shuro, she's…" Nagi began.

"Before you say anything else, how did you guess what I was planning on doing?" Shuro asked.

"I'm a psychic so I can sense strong emotions coming from people. I admit you did a good job hiding yours, but they were still too strong for mw to miss." Nagi answered.

"So you were able to tell from my emotions, huh?"

"It wasn't so hard really." Nagi said. "When you have a miserable childhood, suicidal thoughts aren't too uncommon, so I can recognize those easily enough from experience."

"Suicidal?!" Tot exclaimed and looked at Shuro. "Shuro-san, please tell me you're not…"

"It isn't exactly suicide…" Shuro replied and looked at Nagi. "Would you please just hear me out?"

"Fine."

"You know about, Aya's brother Aki don't you?" Shuro asked and Nagi nodded. "I'm going to try to seal away the progenitor's spirit using every last bit of my celestial maiden powers."

"And that's what the concert's really for." Nagi finished. "So you can generate a song powerful enough to do something like that."

"Yes, but the energy required for it is tremendous." Shuro said. "Even if you gave me that shot of nanomachines, it wouldn't help. In order to seal a soul away…"

"The very life force of the sealer must be given up." Nagi finished. "In other words, you are going to commit suicide."

"What I'm trying to do is help Aya!" Shuro replied.

"Calling it something else isn't going to change what it really is." Nagi said firmly.

"If I can help Aya, even if it is one last time, then it doesn't matter." Shuro replied and looked at the ring on her finger. "It would also mean that I'll be with Kei again…"

"Do you actually…?" Nagi was cut off as Tot stood between them. What happened next he never expected.

Tot suddenly reached over and slapped Shuro, something neither she nor Nagi expected.

"Why?" Tot asked, some tears starting to appear in her eyes. "Why would you want to do something like that?! Do you know how many people will be sad, how many people will cry, when you're gone? Aya, Chidori, Yuhi, and everyone else…"

"Nanami…" Nagi said.

"I…I don't want you to go…" Tot/Nanami continued. "I don't want to lose anymore friends."

After a moment Nagi spoke.

"Tot's right." He said. "And, I don't think Kei would want you to do this either. I'm sure that if he really cared for you…what he'd wish for is your happiness."

Shuro was silent for a minute and then looked at Tot.

"Tell me something." She said. "If Nagi were killed during one of your missions wouldn't you feel the same as me?"

Tot's eyes widened as she considered that. After a minute of thinking she answered.

"I…I don't know." Tot shook her head. "I…"

"Shuro, stop it." Nagi said. "Let me tell you something. What I said about Kei wishing for your happiness, I said because that's what I would want for Tot if I died. That's what I want even now, for Tot to be happy, and I'm sure that's what Kei would want for you."

Shuro didn't say anything and only stared at the ground in shame.

Nagi then sighed and shook his head.

"I'll give you some time to think." He said and turned to Tot. "Let's go Tot."

"But…" Tot objected.

"This is her choice in the end. Whether to live or not." Nagi then walked over to the door. Before he touched the knob he turned and looked back at Shuro before turning it and opening the door.

Tot turned and looked at Shuro.

"I…I'm sorry about slapping you like that." Tot said regretfully. "Just please promise you won't die."

She then turned and walked over to Nagi and the two of them left the room, leaving Shuro alone with her thoughts.

The singer stood where she was for a few minutes and then sank into her chair, tears starting to fall freely down her cheeks. As she started to cry, at the same time wondering what to do, Shuro looked down at the ring one more time.

(Kei…what would you say if you could see me now?) She thought.

Meanwhile:

"Do you really think it was a good idea to just leave her like that?" Tot asked Nagi as they walked down the hallway.

"I'm sure Shuro will make the right decision." Nagi answered as he and Tot found a bench and sat down together.

"But still, the concert will be starting soon…" Tot spoke.

"Not to worry." Nagi smiled confidently and looked at his watch. "Five…four…three…two…one…"

Suddenly all of the lights went out, shrouding the whole building in darkness.

"Oh shit! Not a black out!" One of the technicians complained,

"This just isn't my day." Another technician moaned. "I hope they pay us for going over time…"

"Um…what exactly did you do, Nagi?" Tot asked.

"Nothing much, I just used my powers to disconnect a few important electric wires." Nagi answered. "I've hacked into places like this before so I'm familiar with their layout."

"Oh, so you're turning off the lights in here will delay the concert." Tot said. "That was great thinking."

"Thanks, Nanami." Nagi smiled sheepishly, he then felt Tot/Nanami's arms wrap around him as she embraced him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Even if it's like this, a date's still a date." She said to a now blushing Nagi.

Nagi then put his right arm around Tot/Nanami, drawing her in close to him and then the two of them just held each other. Both content at being so close to one another.

Later:

It was a little over half an hour when Shuro arrived.

"Hey, I hate to interrupt your romantic moment, but could you turn the lights back on?" Shuro spoke, surprising both Nagi and Tot, causing the both of them to pull apart both blushing furiously.

"Alright…" Nagi said and in a few seconds all of the lights came back on. As soon as they did Nagi only had a second to react before catching the container for the syringe. He looked inside and saw that the syringe was empty.

"Well, what are you two waiting for?" Shuro asked. "The concert will be starting soon you know."

Tot then got up and hugged Shuro as she was glad her friend had made the right choice. Shuro said nothing and returned the embrace.

(Don't worry, I promise we'll do what we can to save Aki when the time comes.) Shuro heard Nagi's voice speak in her mind. She looked over at Nagi who smiled and nodded.

"Well, Tot, let's get to our seats." Nagi said to Tot and the two of them then left to where their seats for the concert were.

"Thank you…" Shuro said after them, even though neither Nagi nor Tot could hear her.

Hours Later: Aogiri Residence:

"So how was the concert?" Riku asked when he saw Nagi and Tot come in.

"It was great!" Tot said with a big smile on her face. "Nagi and I had a great time."

"I can see why Shuro's so popular." Nagi answered. "She's a really good singer."

"Which reminds me, did Shuro really tell everyone her secret?" Riku asked and both Nagi and Tot nodded.

"So what was everyone's reaction?" Chidori asked.

"Actually quite a few of them were shocked. Some didn't really care." Nagi answered and then sweat dropped as he remembered something. "Actually, there was this one fan girl in the audience who shouted that she didn't care she still loved Shuro."

This last statement caused everyone in the whole room, except Tot and Nagi, to sweat drop. Actually, Tot was the only one who didn't have a slightly freaked expression on her face.

"What?" Tot asked with a clueless look on her face.

"You didn't find anything unusual about that?" Maya asked.

"Nope, why should I?" Tot asked in reply. "It just shows how much she loves Shuro's music."

(I don't think it's just Shuro's music that she loves.) Suzumi thought.

(Poor innocent girl…) Everyone else except Nagi thought.

"Anyway, how are the plans for rescuing Aya going?" Nagi asked.

"Well, it took a while, but Michael was able to come up with a strategy." Riku answered. "Actually, we were waiting for the two of you to come back so we could start the briefing on it."

"Well, we're here now, so let's get this started." Tot spoke.

"You heard them Michael…" Riku said, turning to Michael.

"Of course." Michael nodded. "Alright, here's what the plan is so far…"

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

"Alright, have your men prepared to leave within the next two hours." Crawford instructed Shade. "It's time for us to head to the Mikage main base."

"Of course, Crawford." Shade replied. "Shall I order my men to prepare to transport the essential prisoners as well?"

"Yes, do that." Crawford then remembered something. "Oh by the way, have either of the Mikage twins woken up yet?"

"No, the host for Ceres is still sleeping." Shade answered. "The host for the progenitor we've been keeping sedated as per your instructions."

"Good, have some men ready to transport them as well."

"And the rest of the prisoners? When do you want them 'released'?"

"As soon as your men have completed preparations, you and Farfarello may begin." Crawford answered. "Make sure to finish the task as quickly as possible, we need to be at the base by the time my student and his friends arrive."

"My, being a precognitive must give you a tight schedule, huh?" Shade smiled.

"You have no idea." Crawford replied.

AN: And that concludes chapter 22, folks. Sorry if this one was short, but this one was more of a filler chapter in order to get things going. And to GreyWolf4, don't worry, Michael will have more to do with things as the story progresses. Anyway, please R and R.


	24. Chapter 23: Messages

AN: Here we are at chapter 23 now. I hope you all enjoy this one, folks. Get ready, because the main plot is going to start moving from here.

Oh yeah, here are the codenames for the members of Weiss, since they'll be using them in this chapter and later on in the story:

Ran: Abyssinian

Youji: Balines

Ken: Siberian

Omi: Bombay

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Chapter 23: Messages

Aogiri Residence:

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Suzumi, Ran, Omi, Youji, and Ken were standing in the living room of the house as Michael laid out the details of the plan to rescue Aya from the Mikage.

"We'll make our strike in the early morning, around 5 AM." Michael spoke. "Most of the guards will probably be expecting an attack at night. With it being so close to day time, they'll probably be more relaxed."

"But what about the regular employees there?" Maya asked.

"Actually, we're in luck." Omi answered. "It looks like the Mikage are giving all of their employees the day off. I intercepted an e-mail sent to all regular employees telling them that."

"Must be to keep the whole thing with Aya secret." Yuhi spoke. "Since Ceres might decide to raise some hell in the facility, they probably want to avoid any outsiders finding out."

"So much the better then." Riku grinned and then turned to Michael. "Well, boss, how are we going to do this?"

"The plan is to split into groups and sneak in from various points." Michael replied and then pointed at four circled areas at a layout of the facility. "Now the plan is for one of the groups to cause a distraction that will draw away the guards' attention so that the other groups can sneak in."

"That will be my team." Riku spoke, indicating him, Nagi, and Tot. "The three of us should be able to make a big enough distraction, right guys?"

"You betcha!" Tot said.

"Nothing a couple of psychic blasts won't do." Nagi smiled confidently.

"And the other teams?" Ran asked.

"You four will split into two groups and one of those will take Maya with you." Michael answered, he then turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "You two will come with me."

"Good idea, you're probably the best person for that job, given the fact that these two don't have very much battle experience." Riku commented and looked over at Yuhi and Chidori. "No offense, you two."

"None taken." Yuhi replied. "We both know we're nowhere near you're level when it comes to this kind of thing."

"Anyway, Mike, now that we know how we're going to sneak in, what's the plan to rescue Aya?" Nagi asked.

"Not to mention getting that hagoromo thing too." Youji added, and then turned to Ran. "Anyway, fearless leader, what's our team arrangement going to be and who's in charge Maya."

"The first will be you and me; the second will be Ken and Omi." Ran replied, and then turned to Ken and Omi. "I think it would be best if Maya was on your team, since Youji and I are better at attacking than protecting."

"Also given that Ken's a specialist at close combat, Omi should be able to provide cover for both him and Maya with that crossbow of his." Michael observed. "Anyway, my team will start looking for the hagoromo while both of the Weiss teams will look for Aya." Michael then turned to Riku. "Riku, once your team has distracted the enemy enough, I want you to contact me. The situation at the time will decide which team you'll back up."

"Got it Michael." Riku nodded, and Nagi and Tot did the same to show that they understood.

"Alright, that concludes the briefing then." Michael said.

"Well, I guess I'll head out into the yard to do a bit of training until dinner time." Riku got up and stretched some.

"I'm coming too." Tot volunteered. "Besides, I need to train more so I can use my super secret weapon!"

"You mean the Kuchibashio madogu?" Riku asked.

"Nope. That's just my secret weapon." Tot answered matter of factly. "I'm talking about my super secret weapon."

"Okay…" Riku said, sweat dropping.

"I'll go and get it." Tot then left the room.

"Do you have any idea what she's talking about?" Riku asked Nagi.

"I think so…" Nagi answered. He was about to say some more when Tot came in carrying a large red Japanese umbrella.

"That's your secret weapon?" Yuhi asked as he and everyone else in the room, with the exception of Riku and Nagi, sweat dropped.

"Super secret weapon." Tot corrected him. "It took me a while to learn how to use this right, since it's a little different from my old umbrella."

"Still…an umbrella?" Chidori asked. "What kind of weapon is that?"

(A pretty nasty one.) Nagi thought, flinching as he remembered getting accidentally clobbered by that same umbrella (AN: See the last chapter for TempestDynasty's 'Bloody Hands').

"Well, Garland-san said it was used by someone named Ryoga, and most friends of Garland-san are strong fighters." Tot answered and then handed the umbrella to Yuhi. "Here check it out."

Yuhi took it and as soon as Tot dropped it into his hands, he then felt like an anvil or something had been given to him. As such the umbrella fell out of Yuhi's hands, barely missing his feet, and crashing into the floor, leaving a large crater in the floor.

"You can take that out of our paycheck too." Riku told Suzumi, whose eyes were widened in shock along with everyone else's.

"Sorry." Tot said with an embarrassed expression on her face and then reached down and picked up the umbrella like it didn't weigh very much at all.

"I think I can see how it can be used as a weapon now." Chidori admitted. (I definitely wouldn't want to get hit by something like that.)

"It's also got a spike hidden in the top part that comes out whenever Tot presses a special switch on the handle." Riku added. "It's used for part of one of her techniques."

(Riku certainly wasn't kidding on the flight when he said that Nagi and Tot had gotten stronger since we last met.) Michael thought.

"I'll go make some important calls." Ran said as got up.

"Yeah, we know you're going to call your girlfriend and tell her everything's alright so she won't worry too much." Youji said with a grin and got a death glare from Ran.

"Guess I might as well call Yuriko and do the same." Ken got up as well.

"I guess I'll start making dinner." Yuhi said as he got up.

"Hey, Michael, you'll be in for a treat tonight." Riku spoke with a grin. "Yuhi's quite the cook, you know."

"I'll be looking forward to that, then." Michael smiled.

(It's good that they can remain calm like this before a battle.) Michael thought to himself. (I just hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow…)

Meanwhile: Mikage Intl. HQ:

One of the Mikage guards glanced from where he was sitting towards the door to the room he was confined in, and saw that the door had been slightly opened. Not sure whether to believe what he was seeing, the guard walked over to the door and carefully gave it a nudge and the door opened. As he cautiously stepped out the door the man saw many other guards and also some lab technicians were already coming out of the rooms they had been confined in. Pretty soon the hallway was completely filled with dozens of suddenly freed guards and techs.

"May I have your attention, Mikage guardsmen!" A voice called out to them.

The guards and techs all turned and saw Shade standing near the end of the hallway with his arms crossed. He was looking at them all with a predatory grin on his face.

"You all are as of now released from captivity." Shade said as he reached for his hat and drew out his chakram. "That is…if you can escape from me. WAVE CRUSH!"

Shade suddenly threw his chakram at the surprised men. Two of them were immediately disemboweled by the ring weapon, while another was completely sliced in half and then blown apart by the disc of dark energy that followed.

The other guards looked at the ruined bodies of their comrades in shock, before looking back at Shade who began walking towards them, catching the chakram as it came back to him. Some of the guards and techs immediately turned and ran away as fast as they could, while most immediately searched for items that could suffice as weapons and then charged at Shade, sure that they could kill him if they ganged up on him.

"Your friends who ran away were smarter; you should have joined them." Shade commented to the charging men and then grinned a twisted grin as he anticipated the bloodshed that was about to occur. "You would have lived just a little longer if you had!"

Meanwhile:

Brad Crawford calmly watched the events unfold on a monitor in the lower lobby with an amused smile, he then glanced at another monitor and saw Farfarello begin his own slaughter of the previously slaughtered guards.

"Mr. Crawford." One of the soldiers called out to him. Crawford looked up from the grisly displays unfolding on screen to see the soldier walk towards him.

"What is it?" Crawford asked the soldier calmly.

"We've completed all preparations and are ready to head to the Mikage base." The soldier reported. "We're awaiting your orders."

"We'll be departing shortly. For now just go and tell the men to wait." Crawford replied. "I'll contact you when the time comes."

As the soldier walked off, the screams from the guards and techs reached a higher volume over the speakers connected to the monitors causing Crawford's attention to return to the monitor.

(My, those two are certainly doing their job well.) Crawford thought as observed both slaughters on screen. (I wonder which of them will kill the most people…)

The Next Day: Outside the Building:

Riku, Nagi, and Tot were hiding behind a crate near one of the back entrance doors to the Mikage building. Riku crouched and activated his codec and selected Michael's frequency.

"Venom, we're at the sneak point, what about you?" Riku asked Michael over the codec.

"Yuhi, Chidori, and I have reached our entrance point." Michael answered as his face appeared on the codec screen.

"Abyssinian here, Balines and I are at the sneak point." Ran spoke as his face appeared on the screen.

"This is Bombay, Maya, Siberian, and I are at our point." Omi reported, his face appearing on screen too.

"Alright." Michael nodded. "Riku, you, Nagi, and Tot, begin your part of the mission. Good luck and be careful. Remember, if you get in trouble call and one of our teams will be there to help as soon as we can."

"Roger that." Riku replied and ended his transmission. He then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Alright guys, let's raise some hell!"

"Got it!" Nagi and Tot chorused and with that Riku shoved the door open and the three of them charged in, weapons drawn and ready. The three of them charged into the lobby expecting to run into some guards, but as soon as they got in all that awaited them was an empty room.

Riku held up his hand to signal to stop and he then looked around in case there were enemies lying in wait for them. After a few minutes of not seeing or sensing anyone, Riku lowered his hand.

"No one's here." Tot observed.

"Yeah tell me something we don't know." Riku commented sarcastically and looked at Nagi. "Crow, can you sense anyone nearby?"

Nagi closed his eyes and reached out with his telepathy to try and find anyone. After a minute he gave up and shook his head.

"Nothing." He replied. "It's like there's no one here except for us."

"Only one way to really find out." Riku said and pulled out his USP, pointed it up at the ceiling, and fired it. The sound of the shot echoed all through out the floor. After a few minutes Riku simply shook his head. "Well, at least this floor is empty."

Riku then crouched on one knee, counting on Nagi and Tot to be on the lookout for any enemies, and activated his codec to contact Michael.

"Venom, we're in but there's something unusual." Riku said when Michael's face appeared on the codec screen. "There's no one on this floor."

"What? Are you sure?" Michael asked.

"I'm positive." Riku answered. "Should the three of us go on ahead up some levels and see if it's the same there?"

"Okay, but contact me every five minutes." Michael replied seriously. "I'm already getting a funny feeling about this."

"I understand." Riku nodded and ended his transmission.

Meanwhile:

"Is something wrong?" Yuhi asked as he saw that Michael had ended his conversation with Riku and had a troubled expression on his face. Both Yuhi and Chidori were wearing body armor provided by Michael.

"I'm not sure." Michael answered, that answer immediately getting Yuhi and Chidori's attention. "Drakken's call reported there was no one on the first floor. He, Crow, and Usagi are going to go and check the other floors out."

"So you think something may be wrong with that?" Chidori asked.

"Possibly, my instincts are already telling me something's fishy about it." Michael answered.

"You think it's a trap?" Yuhi asked.

"No, somehow I don't think so." Michael replied. "I'll need to wait for Drakken's next report before I can start making guesses…"

(I don't know why, but something about this is starting to remind me of that incident where I first ran into Shade two years ago.) Michael thought and then shook his head. (No, it couldn't be…)

Five Minutes Later: Third Floor:

Riku and co. had explored the second floor and reached the third floor. They hadn't found any signs of anyone on either floor at all. When five minutes had passed, Riku immediately called Michael.

"We're on the third floor of the building." He reported to Michael. "Still no sign of enemy activity."

"Alright." Michael replied.

"Venom, I have a suggestion." Riku said. "It's risky, but it should tell us whether anyone's here or not."

"What do you have in mind?" Michael asked.

"Crow, Usagi, and I will take the elevator up to the fortieth floor, which is where they're probably keeping the hagoromo and maybe Aya." Riku answered. "If there are enemies here then that's where they'll be."

"No, that's way too risky and dangerous for the three of you." Michael replied firmly. "Not only that, your plan stands a good chance of getting in the way of the other groups."

"Then what about level thirty five?" Riku asked. "We'll make sure not to be seen if there are any enemies around and if not, we'll sneak up to the fortieth level and if there are enemies we'll wait for you guys to come up and stay out of site."

Michael was silent for a few minutes.

"Venom, we'll contact you if anything unusual happens and we'll also keep the five minute report thing up." Riku spoke. "Please let us do this…"

"I want you to contact me every three minutes as soon as you reach that floor." Michael said seriously, indicating these were the only conditions he'd accept. "I'll also have Abyssinian and Balines follow you up via the stairs just in case. Remember, if you're report is more than thirty seconds late, the rest of us are coming in after you, whether something's wrong or not."

"Okay, I understand." Riku replied. "I'll contact you as soon as we reach the thirty fifth level. Drakken out."

Michael immediately selected Ran's frequency.

"This is Abyssinian." Ran said calmly. "Balines and I are ready to move out."

"Head up via the stairs after Drakken; as you do that make a quick check of each floor for enemies." Michael instructed. "Also, contact me every five minutes, alright."

"Understood, we're heading in." Ran then ended his transmission.

(I just hope this doesn't turn into a repeat of that incident with Shade…) Michael thought.

Meanwhile: Elevator:

"I'm glad we're taking the elevator." Tot spoke as she, Nagi, and Riku were riding it up. "The empty building was starting to give me the creeps."

"Yeah I know, it was keeping me on edge too." Riku agreed and then looked at Nagi and Tot. "Okay guys, be ready for anything, our stop's coming up."

As soon as the elevator chimed, and the doors opened, the three of them had their weapons drawn and were prepared for battle. They were not prepared for the body of a Mikage guard to stumble in and collapse at their feet in a heap.

One look at the body could tell anyone that the man was dead and probably had been for several hours. The back of the head had been cloven open all the way down to the lower spine exposing a broken open skull, matting the hair with blood, and a sliced spinal cord.

Tot immediately closed her eyes and hid her gaze away from the grisly sight. Riku had to fight to keep from losing the breakfast he'd eaten earlier, and he could see it was the same with Nagi.

"Stay here." Riku ordered and cautiously stepped over the corpse and took a look out into the hallway. He almost immediately wished he hadn't as the sight that greeted him was a trail of the corpses of the slaughtered Mikage guards. After one quick glance Riku stepped back in.

"What…?" Nagi began, but Riku shook his head.

"Trust me, you don't want to go in there, it's not a pretty sight." Riku said and then reached for his codec. "Anyway, I'll contact Venom and see what our next course of action should be."

After a few minutes of explaining what he had found to Michael, Michael spoke.

"So these men appear to have been dead for several hours…" He said. "Are there any signs of enemy activity?"

"None. Whoever did this is long gone." Riku then looked at Michael seriously. "Venom, please let the three of us head to the fortieth floor. If Aya's there…"

Michael could see that Riku was worried for this girl Aya Mikage, as were all the others in the groups.

"Okay go, but we're coming in after you." Michael relented.

"Understood." Riku nodded and ended the transmission.

Michael then turned to Yuhi and Chidori.

"We're heading in, just give me a minute to contact Bombay's team." He said. "When we get in, you two stay close to me, is that understood?"

"Okay." Chidori nodded.

"You can count on me." Yuhi said and looked at Chidori. (And you can count on me to keep you covered, Chidori…)

Meanwhile. Riku kicked the dead guard's body out of the elevator and then selected the fortieth floor.

(One thing's for sure though.) Riku thought as the elevator doors closed. (Since that guy had that wound in the back, it means he was running away from whoever or whatever it was that killed him…)

Later: Tenth Floor

Ran and Youji stepped through the door to the tenth floor to make a quick check and were immediately greeted by a site similar to the one Riku and co. had come across on the thirty fifth floor. The dead bodies of dozens of Mikage guards littered the hallway in front of them. There were numerous stab and cut wounds all over every corpse and some had knives sticking in them. Many of these wounds were in the back part of the body, indicating that these men had made a vain effort to escape via the stairs before their demise.

Slightly sickened at the sight and smell of the gruesome sight in front of him, Ran closed the door. He looked over at Youji who was fighting to keep from throwing up.

"Damn it, what hell kind of sicko did this?" Youji asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Ran answered as he reached for his codec to contact Michael.

"Venom, this is Abyssinian. We've found another bunch of slaughtered guards." Ran reported as soon as Michael's face appeared on screen. "I wouldn't recommend coming up here if I were you."

"Did you notice anything about the bodies at all?" Michael asked. "I'm beginning to have some suspicions as to who the killer may be so…"

"The men were all either stabbed to death or were killed by throwing knives." Ran answered, and then frowned slightly. "Actually I'm beginning to have some suspicions of my own as to who the killer might be…Well, what's your idea as to who it is?"

"It's not him…" Michael replied with a relieved sigh. "The guy who I thought it was doesn't use a knife as his weapon of choice."

"We're going to head up to join Drakken." Ran said. "We'll contact you if we find anything else."

"Okay." Michael then ended his transmission.

"Hey Abyssinian, you think the guy who did this might have been Farfarello?" Youji asked, causing Ran's attention to turn to him. "Now that I think about it, this does look like something that sick freak would do."

"It's possible, and the suspicion is mutual." Ran answered in agreement. "He's the only killer we know who uses knives like this. The only other knife wielding killer who could do something like this is one I've only heard about who sounds almost as insane as Farfarello. His name is Ryuji Yamazaki."

"Heard of that guy too, but my money's still on Farfarello." Youji said and looked up. "I can tell this mission is going to be…What the…?" Youji frowned as he saw something.

"What is it?" Ran asked.

"Take a look." Youji pointed up between the staircases above him. "We've got something else to tell our new buddy Venom now."

Ran looked up and immediately saw a large pack of SEMTEX, complete with C4 attached, attached to the staircase above. The detonator however, wasn't flashing which indicated it was inactive for the time being.

"C4…and SEMTEX…" Ran immediately reactivated his codec and contacted Michael.

"We've just found something." He said as Michael's face appeared on screen. "A C4 bomb, but fortunately it's not active. Not yet anyway."

"Can you see if there are anymore?" Michael asked.

"We've only found one so far, but I'm sure there's more nearby." Ran replied. "I think your team and Omi's team should look for some of these on the lower floors you're on right now while Riku's and my team keeps up our investigation."

"That's probably the best course of action." Michael agreed. "I'll contact you if we find anything else. Just remember to keep it up with the reports."

"I'll do that." Ran then ended the transmission.

Meanwhile: Fortieth Floor:

"So there are bombs here too?" Riku asked Michael over the codec as he, Nagi, and Tot stepped out of the elevator.

"According to what Abyssinian told me, yes." Michael answered. "I want the three of you to keep your eyes out for any of them on the floor you're on."

Riku looked around, seeing the floor was the same as the thirty fifth floor as there were the bodies of slaughtered guards all over the place. He glanced over at Tot who, probably having guessed the sight that was going to be there, had closed her eyes and was holding Nagi's hand.

"We'll do our best." Riku spoke. "Anyway, we'll check out the lab area and see if Aya's there. Drakken out."

After ending the transmission, Riku turned to his two partners.

"Well, it looks like someone set some bombs in this building previously." He said to Nagi and Tot. "Fortunately none of them appear to be active, not yet anyway, but we'd still better keep an eye out for them while we search for Aya and the hagoromo." He then looked over at Tot. "You okay, Usagi?"

"I…I'm okay." Tot replied. "I…I just don't like seeing blood, or any other gory stuff…I just don't like it." Tot's head lowered slightly. "I bet I sound silly to you, huh?"

Nagi was about to say something to reassure her when Riku simply smiled.

"Tot, don't worry about that." He said. "It's no big thing. Besides, Nagi can lead you to where we're headed." Riku stopped when he realized that didn't do much to help.

"Actually, Linn has a similar problem with seeing blood and stuff like that, so it's not like it's something you should be ashamed of." Riku added quickly. "Anyway, let's just get going now."

Tot smiled as she realized her friend was trying to be nice to her.

"Well Crow, let's get going." Tot said to Nagi.

"Alright Tot, don't worry I'll do my best to lead you through." Nagi replied.

"I know you will, Crow." Tot squeezed Nagi's hand, and with that the three of them started walking towards the lab area.

As they were walking, Riku looked at the dead guards that they passed by.

(What's with all these corpses?) Riku thought as he saw that every single guard's body had been sliced apart, terribly beaten to death, or torn apart; one or the other. (Fully armed men torn apart like rag dolls…)

Riku was getting an odd feeling in the area around them, and a glance back at Nagi and Tot showed they were getting the same feeling.

(It feels like something incredibly strong just blew, or rather tore, right through them.) Riku thought. (It's almost like 'D' came through here…no, whatever it was somehow feels far more malicious than 'D'…)

Meanwhile: First Floor:

"So what's happening up there?" Yuhi asked Michael after he finished talking to Omi over the codec.

"It seems someone's been here before us." Michael answered. "Whoever it was has killed all of the guards in this building, which explains why it's deserted."

"What about Aya, have they found her?" Chidori asked.

"I'm beginning to doubt Aya is even here anymore." Michael replied shaking his head. "Drakken and Abyssinian both said that they'd contact us if they found anything else."

"So what do we do?" Yuhi asked.

"We're going to try and find some C4 bombs that have been planted here." Michael answered and noticed Yuhi and Chidori's expression at that idea. "Don't worry, they don't appear to be active and we won't be doing anything like dismantling the bombs; that's not for amateurs. We're going to locate them first. Omi's team is doing the same thing on the fifth through ninth floor."

"So we're looking for bombs now…" Chidori said. "How are we supposed to know what to look for?"

"I'll show you the places bombs are likeliest to be set in." Michael replied. "We're sure to find one that way and that way you'll know what to look for."

And with that the three of them began their search for the bombs.

Meanwhile: Seventeenth Floor:

"That's seven bombs we've found so far." Youji said after he and Ran had found another bomb, this one on the seventeenth floor, partially hidden by the knifed corpse of one of the Mikage guards. "I still don't get why someone would go to so much trouble to set all these things and then not bother to turn them on."

"There's a chance whoever set them has some kind of triggering mechanism to activate the bombs somewhere in this building." Ran spoke. "So be careful not to touch anything."

"Okay, fearless leader." Youji replied and then looked over at the women's bathroom and sweat dropped as thought came to mind. "You don't think the bomber…?"

"Get real, Balines." Ran said with an exasperated look on his face. "No real bomber would set a bomb in the women's bathroom, much less a triggering device."

"Good point." Youji replied, and the two of them then continued their investigation.

Meanwhile: Fortieth Floor:

Riku, Nagi, and Tot arrived at the entrance to the lab area of the fortieth floor. Riku and Nagi immediately saw that they wouldn't have to worry about the security system not letting them in, as both doorways had been smashed down, leaving the way in open.

As the three of them walked in, Riku looked down and saw blood coming out from under the second door and really had to keep from throwing up as he realized what was under the door they were stepping on.

(What kind of sick freak did this!) Riku thought as he quickly stepped off the door, and Nagi did the same having noticed too. (This guy broke both the doors down and used one of them to flatten one of the guards who had tried hiding in here, probably thinking the security system would protect him. Apparently it didn't…)

"Riku…there's something you should know…" Nagi said in a choked voice as he too was sickened by what had happened to the guard as well as the smell of blood.

"I know about the door behind us." Riku replied quickly. "Please don't try to remind me of that right now."

"What's wrong you guys?" Tot asked. "Did something happen?"

"I-it's nothing, Usagi." Nagi answered. "Actually it was something, but trust me, it's something you'd be better off not knowing about."

Tot's face blanched a little as she tried not to imagine whatever it was.

"Anyway Riku, it's not about that." Nagi spoke. "It's about the doors. Whoever knocked them down was tough. He did it using his bare hands…"

Riku's eyes widened as he realized this.

"That's not all." Nagi added. "When Omi and I hacked into this place to have a look at its security, we found that the doorways to this place are sealed electromagnetically…"

(This guy was able to do all of that with his bare hands!) Riku thought as he heard that last statement. (The only one I know who could possibly do something like that is Garland. If we end up fighting someone on that level…)

"Nagi, can you feel anyone on this floor besides us?" Riku asked.

"I've tried, but there's no one here." Nagi's then looked farther ahead and saw the bodies of two lab technicians not too far from them. "No one alive anyway…"

"Let's keep going anyway." Riku said. (I just hope Aya, Aki, or Alec aren't among the dead here…)

After a few minutes of walking, Riku and Nagi noticed a thin trail of blood on the floor leading to where the lab where they had rescued Chidori from previously was. It looked like someone had dragged whoever had been bleeding in that direction.

"I guess we have no choice but to follow it." Riku said.

Nagi nodded and then looked over at Tot.

"Usagi, you can open your eyes now." He said. "There aren't anymore dead guards in front of us anymore. Just don't look back or down…"

Tot cautiously opened her eyes and sighed with relief that Nagi was right. She then noticed where they were.

"Hey, isn't this where we rescued Chidori?" She asked.

"It is." Nagi answered with a nod. "Anyway, just follow us in, and try not to look down."

The three of them then walked into the laboratory only to be greeted by a startling surprise. The whole lab had been almost completely cleared of the equipment it had had before which revealed C4 bombs set on various parts of the walls and floor, fortunately none of these were active either.

Riku immediately contacted Michael over the codec.

"Venom, we've found some C4 bombs." He said as Michael's face appeared on screen. "And a bunch of them at that…"

"Where are you?" Michael asked.

"We're at the lab on the fortieth floor." Riku answered. "There's C4 set all over the place. I'm just glad none of them are active."

"Is Aya there?" Chidori asked, her face appearing on the codec screen.

"No she isn't, and I seriously doubt the hagoromo is either." Riku replied. "Don't worry, Aya's not among any of the dead here, that I can assure you."

"Then that means Venom was right about her not being here." Yuhi spoke with disappointment as his face appeared on screen. "Damn it…"

"I guess this means we should withdraw for now." Michael said. "I'll have Campbell notify the proper authorities when we get back to the Aogiri place."

"You can call Abyssinian and Balines back, but could you give the three of us some time to look around the lab for clues as to where Aya might be?" Riku asked. "I want to make sure this doesn't turn out to be a complete waste of time."

"Alright, we'll wait for you downstairs." Michael answered. "Just don't take too long. With the way those bombs are set, it's more than likely that they're supposed to be used to get rid of evidence and may become active at any time."

"Don't worry, we'll be down soon." Riku replied and then ended the transmission. He then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Alright guys, let's try and find anything that might tell us where Aya's been taken to."

"Got it." Tot replied with a nod.

"Tot and I will check over there." Nagi gestured over to the back.

"And I'll check in the front area." Riku said, and the three of them began their search.

After a couple of minutes of searching in his part of the lab, Riku noticed the hunched over body of a technician leaning against the wall a few feet away from him. Riku walked over to the body and saw that the technician was dead, his neck broken.

(That's strange, given how the other guards and technicians were killed, you'd think this guy would be all over the place.) Riku thought. (But aside from the broken neck, this guy's body is pretty much intact.) Riku then noticed one of the man's wrists had been slashed open and there were signs that blood had come out of that wound.

(So he was alive when that happened…) Riku then noticed a few drops leading away from the corpse and towards the door they had come in from. (Well, that answers where the blood outside came from, but why cut a guy and then break his neck? It just doesn't make sense…)

"Hey Drakken, did you find anything?" Nagi's voice called out to him.

Riku turned and saw Nagi and Tot heading towards where he was.

"Not much, just another dead guy, and don't worry Tot, the guy hasn't been mutilated like the others." Riku answered. "Oh yeah, did you find anything?"

"No, there's nothing here." Nagi replied. "This whole lab's been ransacked by whoever came here before we did."

Riku shook his head in frustration at this, but as he did he noticed what looked like a small piece of paper stuck to the back of the dead tech's head. Riku frowned at what he saw.

(That couldn't be…) He thought as he moved in for a closer look. As he did, the dead man's eyes suddenly snapped open and the corpse started to get up.

This shocked all three of the FOXHOUNDers causing them, especially Riku, to quickly back away in surprise.

(Why do I suddenly feel like I've landed in some survival/horror game?) Riku thought and then his eyes widened as he got a full view the slip of paper attached to the back of the man's head as it lolled to the side as the corpse got up.

The piece of paper had a series of symbols written on it, but the largest one in the center of it was the kanji for 'life'.

(So it looks like I was right…) Riku thought.

"Drakken, do you know what's happening?" Nagi asked.

"Y-yeah, wasn't this guy dead a minute ago?" Tot added nervously.

"He is dead." Riku replied, his voice and expression completely serious. "Someone's animating the corpse using a special type of jutsu. It's a combination of ninjutsu, and onmyoujutsu, and this one is used to turn a corpse into a shikigami."

"You…are quite…knowledgeable in the arts…ninja youngling…" The corpse spoke in a low and halting type of voice. The sight of its speaking causing Nagi and Tot's eyes to widen in surprise at this, while Riku simply glared at it.

"You're also using a type of jutsu to speak through the corpse." Riku commented. "That jutsu is usually reserved for animals or even people that are alive, which is why you're having so much trouble talking to me."

"Im…presive…you've managed…to impress me…twice." The corpse replied with a sickening grin. "The first…being when…you managed to…catch me off guard…and shoot me."

"So the kenin is still alive after all." Riku's tone of voice didn't change. "Tell me, were you the one who killed all these people here?"

"That…is correct…" The corpse answered. "But…I did have aid…from a second…rate assassin."

"Where's Aya at?" Tot spoke.

"She is…at the main…Mikage base." The corpse replied, turning to Tot. "As are…the higher ups…for the Mikage. These that…you see here…were not necessary."

"And so you killed them." Nagi finished. "Did you do this under Kagami's orders, or the Patriots?"

"Neither." The corpse replied. "An assassin…named Brad Crawford…gave me…the order."

"Crawford!"

"It seems…that you know…him." The corpse commented. "In any case…the one you…seek, Aya Mikage…she is at…the main Mikage base."

"And where is that supposed to be?" Riku asked.

"That is…for you…to find out." The corpse then reached into its jacket pocket and pulled out a device with a button on it. "That is…if you can…escape in time." It then pressed the button.

Suddenly there was an explosion not too far away that rocked the room for a few minutes. Then there was a chime sound, and the C4 bombs lit up, indicating that they were active.

"Ten minutes…enough time…for you to run away." The corpse then stopped and collapsed to the ground, once again lifeless.

"Let's get to the elevator, NOW!" Riku ordered and the three of them immediately ran out of the lab towards where the elevator was.

As they were running, Riku heard his codec ring and he answered it.

"Drakken, I heard an explosion upstairs, are the three of you alright?" Michael asked as his face appeared on screen.

"For now, anyway Venom, if you haven't noticed the C4 bombs have just been activated." Riku answered. "That explosion was the trigger for activating the bombs."

"I had a feeling about that." Michael replied. "Do you know how much time is left till the bombs explode?"

"A little under ten minutes." Riku said. "Don't worry about us, just head out and wait at the cars."

"I'm not going to leave you guys behind!" Michael objected.

"I wasn't suggesting that." Riku replied. "We'll be there in a couple of minutes; just wait for us."

"Alright, but you'd better show up." Michael said and then ended the transmission.

Riku grinned as he rounded the corner to where the elevator was, but that grin was soon to be wiped off as he saw that a large smoking hole was in place of where the elevator had been.

"Oh shit…" Riku said as he saw that the elevator had been completely destroyed. "Well that answers where the explosion came from. That guy must have been counting on us using the elevator and put a bomb in it so after our conversation we'd be trapped."

"Can't we take the stairs?" Tot asked.

"We only have about eight minutes left till this place blows." Nagi answered. "There's no way we'd have enough time to get away safely…"

Riku looked at where the elevator had been and suddenly got an idea. He then turned to Nagi.

"Nagi, can you float us down this way in time to escape?" He asked.

Nagi stopped and considered that possibility.

"I think so, if I move us quick enough." Nagi said. "But I'll have to slow down at the right moment if we want to get out of this in one piece."

"Well, I trust you there." Riku shrugged.

"Me too." Tot added and then rested her head on Nagi's shoulder, causing him to blush a little. "I know my Nagi will come through, right Nagi?"

"Could the two of you save the romance until we're out of this building?" Riku asked.

"Oops, sorry." Tot replied, and with that the three of them walked over to the edge of the hole that the elevator had been in.

(Man, talk about your leaps of faith.) Riku thought as he looked down.

"Let's do this on three." Tot suggested.

"Good idea, I'll start." Riku spoke. "One…"

"Two…" Nagi got prepared to focus his powers.

"THREE!"

The three of them then leaped off the edge and into the dark below.

Meanwhile: Outside:

Michael, Yuhi, Chidori, Ken, and Omi were waiting out side at the cars they had ridden to the building. They then saw Ran and Youji heading in their direction, a few minutes later Riku, Nagi, and Tot came running out.

"How much time's left?" Riku asked as Michael as he opened the door to his car.

"Four minutes and nineteen seconds." Michael answered, looking at his watch. "You can tell us what happened and what you found when we're at the Aogiri place. Now let's get out of here before the bombs go off."

Riku nodded and he, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori got into his car, while Ran, Youji, Ken, Omi, and Maya got into the van with Michael. They immediately drove off away from the Mikage building.

A few minutes later, the bombs inside the building exploded.

Meanwhile: Mikage Main Base: Main Control Room:

"I'd guess those bombs Bison set in the Mikage HQ have done their job by now." Crawford spoke, looking at his watch.

"You think Nagi and his new buddies made it out before the explosion?" Schuldich asked.

"Of course." Crawford answered. "Nagi is my student after all and I know he isn't stupid enough to be killed by such an obvious trap. His pet, maybe, but I highly doubt that ninja or Weiss would."

"Well, I suppose I should get back to interrogating Kagami soon." Schuldich spoke. "I'm going to need something to do while waiting for the party to start."

"Naturally." Crawford smirked, he then turned when he heard a door to the control room open and saw Shade walk in.

"I delivered the message like you wanted." Shade spoke. "I couldn't exactly see who it was since the corpse's eyes were already starting to decompose, but since there were three present I'd assume they were the FOXHOUNDers."

"Good work, Shade." Crawford nodded. "So how are the mercenaries we've hired for this base?"

"Good enough, I suppose." Shade replied. "It took them a while to know that I would be in charge, but I was able to make them see things my way."

"You didn't kill too many of them, did you?" Crawford asked. "We do still need them to welcome the FOXHOUNDers and their allies."

"After a couple of the more outspoken mercs left us, the rest became much more compliant." Shade answered and then turned to leave. "If that's all, I'm going to go and train."

"Don't work too hard." Crawford said as Shade left the room.

Later: Aogiri Residence:

"…and after that the bombs were activated and whoever was reanimating that dead guy canceled the jutsu." Riku finished telling Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Suzumi, Ran, Youji, Ken, Omi, and Michael what had happened on the fortieth floor of the Mikage building. They were all stunned by what they'd just heard.

"Who do you think did all this?" Yuhi asked. "There's no way the Mikage could have done this."

"Probably the Patriots." Michael answered. "If you think about it, it would make sense. From how you've described how things were going before my arrival, it's obvious that the Patriots were counting on FOXHOUND intervening, and once the Mikage had concentrated everything on fighting FOXHOUND the Patriots would take advantage of it all and take C-Project for themselves."

"But if the Patriots have Aya, then we have to rescue her, right?" Maya asked.

"First we need to know where Aya is." Riku spoke and looked around. "Anyone here know where the main base for the Mikage is?"

No one answered as no one knew.

"Uh…that bad guy with the hawk and the boomerang said something about it being an island somewhere close to Japan." Tot spoke, and then sweat dropped as she considered something. "But then again there are a lot of islands near Japan so…"

"It's better than nothing." Nagi admitted. "It shouldn't take too long if Omi and I check every island off the coast of Japan via the internet."

"But even then, there's a chance the Patriots may have already set something up to hide where the Mikage base is." Ran spoke.

"And that brings us back to square one." Yuhi said with disappointment.

Michael was silent for a moment until an idea suddenly came to him.

"What about the Mikage family main house?" Michael asked turning to Suzumi. "If C-Project was originally something developed by the Mikage…"

"Then there just might be copies of the details for C-Project in the main house." Suzumi finished. "There's a definite possibility of that, and since the Patriots weren't planning a direct confrontation with the Mikage…"

"Then there's a good chance that the documents haven't been touched." Riku finished and then grinned at Michael. "Michael, you're a genius!"

"Just doing my job." Michael replied with a sheepish smile.

"Hey, look at this!" Mrs. Q called from the living room. "The explosion at the Mikage building is on the news. In fact it's on practically every channel."

The whole group was almost immediately in the room just in time to see a female newscaster talking in front of the camera.

"Police are still investigating as to the cause of the explosion." The woman spoke. "The damage was fortunately confined to the building alone, and there appears to be no danger of it collapsing anytime soon."

"I guess whoever set the bombs knew what he was doing when he set them." Riku commented. "Officially, nothing really happened except a lot of damaged property."

"The bombs were probably intended just to destroy any evidence of C-Project." Michael spoke. "You said there were a lot of bombs set on the fortieth floor, but from what we found there were only a few on the other floors."

"So in all likelihood this whole explosion will be made to look like an accident." Ken spoke. "Big surprise…"

"So should we begin making plans to sneak into the main Mikage house?" Yuhi asked. "Or should I make dinner first?"

"I think dinner would be a good idea." Riku answered. "I really need some food after that whole ordeal."

"You can actually eat after thinking about that?" Tot asked with a disgusted look on her face.

"Actually, I'm trying to forget that." Riku replied mentally pushing out any of the grisly images of the slaughtered guards out of his mind.

(Now that he mentions it, the way those guards were killed up there…) Michael thought. (From how Riku described, it seems there were two killers involved, and the way the ones that Riku found were killed…Could you really be involved in this too, Shade?)

Later: Mikage Main Base: Holding Cell:

"..ya.." A voice called out to Aya in her head.

Aya's eyes slowly opened and she saw a shimmering outline of a girl standing over her. A moment later her vision cleared to reveal a girl her own age with short wavy dark brown hair wearing a white robe. Even though the girl was smiling at Aya, there was a sad look in her eyes. Aya's eyes widened in recognition.

"Hello, Aya." The girl said.

"Yuki!" Aya shouted, as she recognized her friend Yuki Urukawa.

"So you remember me…" Yuki smiled sadly. "Before we talk, I want to say I'm sorry for what happened when I tried to kill you, I was wrong…"

"Yuki, you were being manipulated by the Mikage, it wasn't your fault." Aya said. "There's nothing to forgive." Aya lowered her eyes in sadness. "I just wish I could have saved you…"

"Don't blame yourself for that Aya." Yuki replied and then noticed something about her friend. "You were crying again, weren't you?"

"I guess I couldn't help it." Aya smiled at her friend. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you again, Yuki, but how are you here?"

"Well, you could say I found my own hagoromo." Yuki answered with a smile. "And as the legend goes, when a tennyo puts on her hagoromo, she goes back to the sky." Yuki's expression became saddened. "I…I won't be able to come back down here though…"

Suddenly the area started to shimmer and become blurry.

"I'm afraid there's someone else I need to see." Yuki said sadly. "I'll see you again sometime, so don't cry Aya…"

"Hey, Yuki wait!" Aya called, reaching out for her friend as she started to fade away. "I need to ask you, about Toya. Have you seen him? Or…"

There was a sudden flash of light, and Aya's eyes opened as she woke up for real.

"So you're finally awake, Ceres." A woman's voice spoke. Aya turned and saw a woman with pale hair sitting across from her. Aya recognized her as one of the higher employees for the Mikage."Glad to see it, you've been sleeping for three whole days."

"I'm Gladys Smithson, I've been assigned to take care of you." The woman continued.

"So you're one of Kagami's employees?" Aya asked and the woman nodded. "So where am I?"

"The main base for Mikage International." Gladys replied. "If you can really call it that now…"

"Why do you say that? Did something happen?" Aya asked

"It's a long story, but I suppose that there's enough time for me to tell you." Gladys answered. "Shortly after you lost consciousness…"

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Riku stepped into his room to get some sleep. After dinner, plans for infiltrating the Mikage main house had begun, but it was soon decided they would all continue the planning in the morning so everyone could get some rest.

(Looks like I'm here first.) Riku thought as he saw Yuhi and Nagi weren't there yet, and got into his futon. (Well, I wonder how tomorrow's going to turn out…)

As he quickly drifted off to sleep, a final thought came to Riku's mind.

(Still…that jutsu that kenin used was an advanced forbidden jutsu, since jutsus that involve necromancy are forbidden, and not to mention difficult.) He thought. (And to combine onmyoujutsu with ninjutsu is by no means easy. This guy is definitely not someone to be taken lightly…)

Later:

Riku slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying in a rocky desert like area.

(Oh great, what do these guys want now?) Riku thought to himself as he got up. As he did he could see sand dunes stretching for miles ahead of him.

"Hey Riku." A woman's voice called from behind him. Riku turned and saw a woman who looked to be in her twenties with light blue hair set in a ponytail dressed in a ninja outfit.

"Nadare…" Riku said, recognizing the human form that had been the fire dragon spirit's real form when she had been alive. "So what do you guys want with me? Has Resshin finally decided to acknowledge me yet?"

"I'm afraid there's no such luck for you today, kid." Nadare replied with a smile at her descendant. "Actually, there's someone here to see you and it's not one of the eight of us."

"Who wants to talk to me?"

"You'll see." Nadare turned and beckoned Riku to follow her and he did. After a few minutes of walking, they finally stopped at a dune.

"So where's this person?" Riku asked as he looked around and then stopped as he realized something. "Wait a minute, how is this person even here? I mean, since this is where all eight of you guys reside in, I thought only flame masters of the Hokage clan could come here."

"You'll know soon enough." Nadare answered and looked ahead of them. "You can come out now, he's here."

Suddenly a large flame flared up in front of them. The fire blazed for a minute before it finally faded away to reveal a girl the same age as Riku with short wavy brown hair wearing a white robe.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Riku Hanabishi." The girl said politely. "My name is Yuki Urukawa, and I'm here to tell you some important information that you must know…"

AN: And that brings chapter 23 to a close. Yeah, I know this one arrived quick, but that's because I've had this chapter in my head for quite a while now so writing it down was pretty easy. I'm afraid the next chapter probably won't arrive as fast as this one because I just used up most of my writing gears energy on this chapter, but don't worry I'll have it out as soon as I can.

To GreyWolf4, I'm not sure if Shade can use onmyoujutsu or not, but since you told me he was based off Kato from Doomed Megalopolis (Kato's an onmyouji), I figured he could. Hope I'm still getting the characters right.

Oh yeah, to those of you who are wondering, onmyoujis are a type of Japanese mystic and onmyoujutsu is the type of mystic art that they use (fans of X/1999 and Tokyo Babylon should know what I'm talking about). A shikigami is something like a golem or familiar. Just felt you all should know.

Also, here are some easter eggs:

The whole scene in the areas with the slaughtered Mikage guards where Riku and co. were around were based off the scene in Berserk just before Guts fought Nosferatu Zodd (couldn't help it since Zodd's a favorite villain of mine and Shade's rep as a feared mercenary/assassin does remind me of him).

And the part in the last chapter where Schuldich tortured Kagami is based off a scene in Naruto where Itachi Uchiha uses an attack called 'Tsukiyomi' on Kakashi. Couldn't be helped either, had to have Schwartz do something nasty to the wanker man of Ceres.

Suddenly Kagami Mikage enters the room in crutches after having been shot in the legs by Crawford two chapters ago.

Kagami: What the hell is with you! First you have Crawford ruin my glorious speech and moment, and then you have Schuldich torture me mentally! How dare you keep treating me like this!

DF: Well, it's just going to get worse for you, wanker man. For starters…

I snap my fingers and Itachi Uchiha from Naruto appears and grabs Kagami.

Itachi: As per the author's request, I shall make you pay for your deeds in the Ceres series. I shall use Tsukuyomi on you for twenty four hours, prepare yourself…

DF (starts calculating with his fingers): Okay, one Tsukuyomi takes on minute, and that's equal to 72 hours inside the victim's mind. Now there are 1440 minutes in a day, and since each minute is equal to 72 hours and so…Damn that's a crap load of torture! Oh well, this guy deserves it anyway.

Itachi proceeds to use Tsukuyomi and the long torture session for Kagami begins.

Anyway, that's all for now folks. Please R and R.


	25. Chapter 24: Information

AN: Chapter 24 has arrived, folks. I hope you enjoy reading this one. To those of you expecting some major action, well I have to say it will be a while till that occurs. Don't worry, I didn't say there won't be any action at all for a while just not very much, and the story should keep you occupied until then. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

Oh yeah, I'm sure you've all noticed two changes I've made. One I've moved this story to the Ceres section and two, I've upped the rating for this fic to R. The reason for the first one is so I can see what the Ceres fans think of this crossover fic, and the reason for the second is because things are going to get pretty violent later on in this fic.

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers. Oh yeah, Maggie Thompson belongs to TempestDynasty.

Recap: (been a while since I've done this) Last time Riku and co., with the aid of the newest addition to their team, Michael 'Venom' Hansen, invaded Mikage International Headquarters in an attempt to rescue Aya and retrieve the hagoromo the Mikage had. Unfortunately, Crawford had anticipated this and the base was deserted save for the guards and technicians that had been killed by Shade and Farfarello. After Shade delivered a message telling Riku and co. that Aya was being held in the main base for the Mikage, he then proceeded to activate bombs that had been set in the building long before their arrival. Fortunately, our heroes escaped and have begun planning to find the location of the base so they can rescue Aya from the grasp of Schwartz and the Patriots. Meanwhile, Aya wakes up in the main base for the Mikage after a being contacted by the spirit of her friend Yuki Urukawa, and as she is told of the events that have taken place while she was unconscious by a Mikage employee, Yuki's spirit contacts Riku in the space that the spirits of the fire dragons reside…

Chapter 24: Information

Dragons' Space:

"Yuki Urukawa…" Riku said and then he remembered where he heard the name. "Aren't you that C-Genome with the power of flames?"

"Yes, I am." Yuki answered with a simple nod. "Or rather…I was…"

"But aren't you supposed to be…?" Riku stopped as realization hit him. "I see…so that's how you were able to come here." He then glanced over at Nadare. "Since Urukawa-san was a flame wielder in life, you guys were able to let her into your space."

"That's true, but she was the one who came looking for us." Nadare spoke. "She specifically asked for you."

"So why do you need to speak with me, Urukawa-san?" Riku asked, turning back to her.

"You can call me Yuki, if you want." Yuki replied. "Anyway, why I need to speak to you is so I can help Aya. So I can help her find happiness." Her expression then became saddened. "You know what happened between the two of us before I died, right?"

"Yeah, that bastard Kagami hired some asshole to seduce you into becoming one of the Mikage's experiments." Riku said grimly. "You and Aya met and became friends, but those bastards decided to manipulate you into killing her. Ceres was able to stop you and you realized the truth, but you…"

"Yes, I burned myself up along with that man who I thought loved me." Yuki finished sadly. "At the time, I thought that was the only way to make things right, but in the end I couldn't find any peace afterwards."

"So you're trying to find that peace by helping Aya, huh?" Riku asked and Yuki nodded. "So what exactly did you mean by helping Aya 'find her happiness'?"

"I'm sorry, but that is something I can't tell you…" Yuki lowered her head.

"I understand. Having eight spirits attached to me, I know that you guys have a different world and different rules. So what can you tell me? For starters, what's the important info you need to tell me?"

"It's how to free Aki from the progenitor's grasp."

Riku's eyes widened as he heard this, his interest immediately captured by that answer.

"You know how to do that?" He asked intently. "How?"

"You need to either send the progenitor to the very back of Aki's mind where he was before." Yuki answered. "Or somehow erase him from Aki Mikage's mind completely."

"That's easier said than done." Riku spoke. "First off, no member of my team is qualified for exorcisms or anything like that…"

"There is one…You see, the progenitor resides within Aki's mind space…"

"So in other words, my partner Nagi is supposed to dive into Aki's mind and somehow do one of the two things you suggested." Riku's eyes narrowed at the prospect. "You do realize how much danger that puts my friend in, don't you? I don't know anything about the Mikage progenitor, Shiso, but I do know that any spirit that tries to possess someone by force is anything but friendly. Nagi would be in danger of a lot more than getting physically hurt, you know."

"I know, but right now may just be the best chance you have to save Aki. Your friend won't be in as much danger as normal."

"What do you mean?"

"With his host's body being constantly dosed with tranquilizers, the progenitor himself is feeling the affects of these drugs." Yuki answered. "He won't be able to function properly as his mind will be pretty clouded; also the progenitor has no experience in dealing with psychics."

Riku was silent for a few minutes as he thought about all of this. He then turned to Yuki.

"I'll consider this, but, assuming we do decide to do this, there is still the problem of how to get Nagi to dive into Shiso's mind." He said and then realized something. "You seem to know a lot about what's going on in the Mikage base…"

"Just before I met with you and went to see Aya and that's how I know all of this." Yuki replied. "It was brief, but I wanted her to know I was sorry…"

"Then that means you can tell me where the Mikage base is." Riku smiled, but that disappeared when Yuki shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't since I don't know that." She said sadly. "We spirits have a different sense of time and space than you do."

Riku tried to conceal his disappointment and changed the subject.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do about Aki." Riku said. "Is there anything else that you need to tell me?"

"Well…yes. I actually have a request." Yuki replied hesitantly.

"What is it?" Riku asked.

"Could you please let me fight along side of you?" Yuki asked in reply. "I want to be able to use my powers of flame for something good before I go. I want to use them to help Aya and her friends."

"I'd like to grant that request, but the only problem is that you're dead and…"

"She can actually fight alongside you if you want." Nadare spoke, causing Riku to turn to her. "All you really need to do is let her enter your body and let her flame powers merge with yours."

"You mean she'll be like you guys?" Riku asked.

"Technically, yes." Nadare answered. "Like the eight of us, Yuki will be bound to you, but only as long as she desires it. She won't become a dragon though, and she also won't have any specific attack for you to use in battle. However, the merging of both your flame powers will greatly increase your strength, speed, defense, accuracy, dexterity, and overall your power of flames."

Riku turned back to Yuki and looked at her seriously.

"I have no problems with going through with this." He said. "But it's your choice in the end, Yuki. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, I am." Yuki nodded. "Please go ahead with the merging."

"Okay, Nadare what am I supposed to do?" Riku asked, turning to the dragon spirit.

"First take off your tekko." Nadare instructed and noticed Riku's expression as he heard that. "Don't worry; it won't come off back where you are now."

Riku nodded and carefully undid the clasps that kept the armguard bound to his right arm. He then took it off and then carefully laid it on the ground at his feet.

"Now hold out your arm and keep your hand outstretched." Nadare continued and Riku did so. She then turned to Yuki. "Go over to where Riku is standing and place your hands into his."

Yuki slowly walked over to where Riku was and carefully placed both her hands into Riku's outstretched palm.

Nadare nodded at Riku and then looked around and nodded again.

"It's beginning…" She said.

Suddenly seven figures appeared next to her. The first was a man with a spiky buzz haircut and two dot like birthmarks under each eye, the second was a muscular bald man, the third was a tall pale man with long white hair who wore cloth over his eyes and a necklace made entirely out of a chain of human eyeballs, the fourth was a fat middle aged man, the fifth was beautiful woman with long flowing black hair, the sixth was a short and bearded old man with one eye, and the seventh was a man who appeared to be in his thirties with spiky black hair and a scar running down his right eye.

"Saiha, Homura, Setsuna, Madoka, Rui, Koku, and Resshin." Nadare addressed them in order of their arrival with a respectful bow.

"Well look, the whole gang's here." Riku commented with a slight grin glancing at the other spirits out of the corner of his eye.

"Well it is required, since all eight of us do need to be present for the integration to be successful." Rui commented.

"I don't see why we need to do this." Setsuna spoke. "If the boy would just call upon me more in battle he would not have as much trouble."

"Well excuse me for not enjoying killing people." Riku said sarcastically. "Besides, calling on you is more of a double edged sword if used in the wrong situations since your attack, while powerful, doesn't really discriminate what it's supposed to burn."

"Are you mocking me, upstart!" Setsuna snarled.

"Setsuna, that's enough." Koku commanded, causing the blind dragon spirit to reluctantly calm down. "Regardless of whether you support this or not, this is something that has to happen."

"Now that we've settled that, I assume we can begin." Nadare spoke and then turned to Resshin and bowed her head to him respectfully. "Shall we start, Resshin?"

"Yes, I'll take it from here, Nadare." Resshin said, and Nadare nodded and stepped back to join the other six spirits behind her.

Resshin then walked over to where Riku and Yuki were standing and looked at the both of them seriously.

"Alright, now in order for this to work the both of you must remain calm so the merging occurs without harm to either of you." He said. "Try to maintain a serene state of mind…"

Riku closed his eyes, like he was meditating, as he did this he felt a tenseness in Yuki's hands.

"Is something wrong, Yuki?" Riku asked politely.

"Sorry, I just don't have much experience in things like meditation and things like that." Yuki answered.

"Just try focusing on something that makes you happy." Riku instructed. "A memory, for example."

"I'll try." Yuki closed her eyes and in a few minutes Riku could feel the girl calm down. Riku then closed his eyes and restarted his meditation.

Resshin then turned to the seven dragon spirits behind him.

"Alright, form the circle and let's begin." He said, and they nodded and formed a circle around Riku and Yuki, leaving a space for Resshin to stand.

As soon as Reshin took his spot, all eight of the spirits each began to form a variety of katas (signs) with their hands as they muttered the Chinese zodiac animal for each one. As they were doing this, a circle of fire formed around them, and then various kanji and other symbols began to appear inside of the circle.

As this was going on, Riku started to feel a strange feeling around him.

(This feeling…it feels pleasantly warm.) He thought. (Like a fire meant to warm someone who's cold…) Riku almost opened his eyes as he realized what he was feeling.

(I see…this is the feeling of the flame created by Yuki's soul.) Riku thought to himself. (Such a peaceful feeling…but, at the same time, there's a strong feeling of intensity in the depths this flame. Yuki truly does wish to do all those things she said, and I will gladly lend a hand in that.)

As soon as he thought that, Riku suddenly felt the warmth start to expand and spread throughout his whole body. As if he had suddenly sunk into a pool of warm water.

Suddenly the feeling vanished, leaving Riku feeling the same as normal.

"You can open your eyes now, Riku." Resshin's voice spoke, causing Riku to do so.

He looked and saw that Yuki had let go of his arm and the only other dragon spirits that were there were Nadare, Resshin, and Koku.

"The merging went very well, I must say." Koku spoke stroking his short beard thoughtfully. "And between two people that have just met…"

Riku picked up his tekko and proceeded to put it back on. As he did, he glanced over at Yuki, who looked like she was deep in thought about something.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, causing her to turn to him.

"Oh…I'm fine." Yuki answered. "It feels a little strange to be bonded to someone though…"

"You'll get used to it." Nadare spoke. "Take it from someone who's been like this for hundreds of years."

"I see…" Yuki said; she then turned to Riku and smiled at him kindly. "You know, you're actually a lot nicer a person than you seem at first. If I weren't dead, I wouldn't mind having you for a boyfriend."

"W-w-what's this about?" Riku asked nervously, blushing a little at Yuki's sudden statement.

"I'm sorry, but I had a little look inside your mind while we were merging." Yuki answered looking down and blushing slightly. "It was an accident, but still…"

"Hard to believe isn't it?" Nadare spoke with a sly smile. "Young Riku here is a full fledged shinobi of the Hokage clan, but on the inside he's really a big softie."

"N-nadare!" Riku shouted, blushing from embarrassment.

"Well it is the truth." Nadare replied simply.

"Hey come on guys, give me some help here." Riku pleaded to Resshin and Koku.

"You're on your own, kid." Koku replied, not wanting to be dragged into this.

"I second that." Resshin spoke and then changed his tone to a matter of fact type. "And besides, a true shinobi must always be able to deal with any problems that he encounters on his own."

"Liars! You're both just trying to make excuses aren't you?" Riku shouted pointing at the two dragon spirits.

"Pretty much."Koku admitted simply, not bothering to lie about that.

Yuki watched the interactions between the three of them and started to giggle a little, which then evolved into complete laughter.

Riku stopped and turned to look over at Yuki. Ordinarily, he would have said something like 'very funny' or something like that, but he could see that this was probably the first time this girl had laughed or felt happy in a long time. He soon found himself smiling too.

"Thank you…" Yuki said after she had finished laughing. "It's been a long time since I last laughed like this. It feels good somehow…" She then realized what she'd just said and held up her hands. "I-I don't mean that like I'm having fun at your expense, I…" Yuki was then stopped as Riku simply walked over and patted her shoulder.

"It's alright." Riku said with a friendly smile. "Besides it's worth it, to know I made you smile." Riku then blushed considerably. "You should…smile more…you know…it…it makes you look…well…cuter…"

Yuki blushed as she heard Riku say this.

Meanwhile, Resshin and Koku both had to bite the corners of their mouths to keep from grinning at this.

(Heh, your grandson's doing pretty well at this too, eh Resshin or should I say Ohka?) Koku said to Resshin/Ohka using telepathy.

(He still has a lot to learn both about women and about being a ninja.) Resshin/Ohka replied.

(You know I've noticed something.) Koku said. (Riku teases his partner Nagi about these sorts of things, but in the end he's no different when it comes to these sorts of things either. Ironic isn't it?)

(Indeed.) Resshin/Ohka nodded.

"Well, I guess I should go and wake up now." Riku said and then remembered something and looked over at Koku with a very dangerous expression on his face. "Oh yeah, you try anything funny with Yuki, old man, and you'll regret it for as long as I'm still alive."

"Oh ho, and what can you do to me, my boy?" Koku asked slyly. "I'm a spirit you know."

"I can always stop giving you all those dirty magazines I always find during my missions." Riku answered. "I suppose I'll just leave them around for the enemy to enjoy."

"You're a really cold person, Riku." Koku said dramatically. "To abuse your poor old ancestor like this…"

"Abuse would be to bring you those 'Playgirl' type magazines in place of the usual." Riku replied, and then stopped as if to consider this. "Actually…"

"YOU WOULDN'T!" Koku screamed, his one eye contorted in horror at the thought of receiving those types of magazines.

"Are they always like this?" Yuki asked Nadare, sweat dropping at the conversation between Riku and Koku.

"Pretty much." Nadare answered with a nod. "Don't worry; it's just their way of showing affection."

"That sure sounds like it's a complicated relationship." Yuki said.

Riku's merging with Yuki's spirit and their interaction has increased Riku's power of flame, physical strength, defense, accuracy, dexterity, and speed.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

"So this base is now under the control of the Patriots." Aya said after hearing what Gladys had to say. "I guess this means we're both prisoners then, huh?"

"In a way, but all of the personnel here are still performing their duties including me." Gladys replied. "Except we're doing it at gun point now."

"So that's why we're in the same cell."

"Actually mine is a different one, and I'm just here to make sure you stay in good health." Gladys then looked over at Aya. "As you can see, your personal belongings have all been returned, but your cell phone along with any other things that connect you to the outside world have been have been confiscated."

Aya then glanced down and noticed that she had been carrying Toya's necklace all along.

"Oh that, you seemed to be keeping too tight a grip on it for the soldiers to take it from you." Gladys said. "Don't worry, they didn't do anything…unspeakable to you. Apparently the Patriots do not want you harmed either."

"Where's Toya?" Aya asked. "What did you people do to him? Let me see him, even just a glance!"

"I'm afraid that's... impossible." Gladys shook her head. "It's hard to break this to you... but... I don't think you'd recognize his body if you saw it."

That last part suddenly caused a sudden painful feeling in Aya's heart as it crushed any remaining hope that Toya was still alive.

(I don't understand.) Aya thought miserably. (I've known that Toya was really gone all along, but still…why does hearing this hurt so much?)

(Aya... if you're always crying like this, you'll never get anything done.) Ceres spoke to Aya inside her head. (We came here, so we must fight. Shift into me once more, and watch from inside-.)

(Aren't you the strong one?) Aya lashed out at Ceres. (You don't care about anyone at all, do you! You don't care how many people die or are killed by you! All you care about is the hagoromo!)

(Do you really think...) Ceres replied, almost angrily as she began to take over Aya's body and transform. (...that I feel neither sorrow nor anger! I'm simply aware that tears do me no good. If I'm weak of mind, then defeat will be my reward. I must be strong!)

"I…suppose I should introduce you to the facility." Gladys said as she got up, not in the least surprised or startled by Aya's sudden transformation into Ceres. She then gestured at a plate that was on the chest area of the outfit Aya was wearing. "Oh yes, the plate that you're wearing on your chest is your ID and works as a keycard for each room level three and below, so don't lose it."

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Riku slowly opened his eyes and saw Nagi and Tot standing over him.

"I thought you'd never wake up." Nagi commented as his friend got up.

"Yeah, you sleep like a rock." Tot agreed.

'Actually Nanami, I think a rock would be easier to wake up than this guy." Nagi said turning to his girlfriend.

"Very funny." Riku said sarcastically. "Anyway, I guess I should get dressed and head downstairs so we can plan everything. Besides I've got a couple of surprises for everyone."

"A surprise?" Tot asked. "What is it?"

"I've recruited a new ally." Riku answered with a proud grin. "I'll show you what I mean when I get down."

Later:

"So what's the plan for infiltrating the Mikage main house and finding out where their main base is?" Riku asked Michael as he sat down on the couch across from him, next to Nagi and Tot. Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi were also in the room.

"After going over the layout of the main house thanks to the info we got from Omi and Nagi, I think it would be best to use a small group for this." Michael answered. "A large infiltration group will most likely attract too much attention in this situation. Therefore only some of us will be going to do this."

"So who's going with you?" Nagi asked.

"The team for this will be composed of myself, Ran, Ken, Omi, and Youji." Michael answered.

"Aww, why can't we come with you?" Tot asked in disappointment, pouting a little.

"Because given the current situation, bringing the three of you along may cause more harm than good." Michael answered. "I don't mean for it to sound like I doubt you guys or don't need you, but please consider the circumstances. First, it's more than likely that the Mikage know your faces by now and will probably be on the lookout for you since they're probably expecting FOXHOUND to make some sort of strike now that the Patriots have seriously weakened them. New faces will give us more of an advantage in terms of surprise."

"Uh…I guess that makes sense." Tot said, not fully understanding what Michael was saying.

"There is also the undeniable fact that the higher ups in the Mikage are probably desperate with all that's happened." Michael added. "Given that they've lost practically everything for their planned C-Project, there's a good chance that they might be planning to try and capture Chidori, Suzumi, and Maya in an attempt to either regain C-Genomes for them to use as test subjects or as a peace offering to the Patriots. In either case, we can't allow that to happen."

"So the three of us will guard everyone here while you guys take care of getting the info we need." Riku spoke. "Alright, you can count on us to do that."

"Glad to hear that." Michael replied.

"So what's the plan for your team?" Yuhi asked.

"Ran and his group will make a distraction, while I sneak into the mansion disguised as an employee there." Michael answered.

"The uniform wasn't all that hard to copy." Suzumi spoke. "And Nagi and Omi were able to make an ID for Michael that would get him past security easily enough."

"It took us about an hour to make." Omi spoke. "Not to mention making it so the card could give him access to any of the security doors in the mansion."

"But what will you four be doing as a distraction?" Chidori asked.

"We have a trailer back at our shop which we use from time to time as a movable shop and also to make large deliveries." Ran answered. "We'll drop Michael off close to the mansion before stopping there."

"Let me guess, you're going to use the 'wrong address' trick?" Riku asked.

"Sort of, but in this case we're not getting the wrong address to find out how to break into the house." Ken answered.

"The plan is for Michael to sneak in while the mansion's security is more focused on us." Youji spoke. "Since the Mikage are expecting something, they'll probably inspect our vehicle to make sure we're not enemies, and while they're doing that Michael will make his move."

"But what if something goes wrong?" Maya asked. "Won't you guys need back up just in case?"

"I won't deny that there's a chance of that." Michael replied. "There's always a chance that even the most thoroughly planned missions can go wrong, that's something any competent commander must be aware of. Anyway, should that happen Ran and the others will come in after me unless I judge things to be too dangerous for a rescue attempt."

"That's putting yourself at quite a bit of risk, Michael." Riku spoke some concern in his voice.

"But at the same time it reduces the chances of casualties." Michael replied. "Don't worry Riku, I'm confident enough that things should work without too much trouble."

"Well if you're in command I guess there's nothing to be worried about." Riku said. "Anyway, there's something I'd like to show you all, you got a minute?"

"Sure." Michael nodded. "What is it anyway?"

"You could say I managed to recruit a new ally." Riku answered and turned to Yuhi. "Actually she's an acquaintance of yours, or was."

"What do you mean?" Yuhi asked in reply.

Riku didn't say anything, but instead lowered his head, closed his eyes, and pressed his hands together like he was meditating. A minute later, his right arm began to glow and something shot out of his arm. There was a flash of light and then the ghostly image of Yuki Urukawa stood before everyone.

"U-Urukawa!" Yuhi exclaimed as he recognized her. "But how… I mean…you're…"

"It's good to see you again too, Aogiri-san." Yuki said.

"You know this girl, Yuhi?" Suzumi asked.

"Yeah, her name's Yuki Urukawa." Yuki answered. "She was a friend of Aya's, but…"

"It's alright for you to tell them." Yuki said. "I'm here to try to make up for it anyway."

It took a few minutes for Yuhi to tell everyone how he and Aya had met Yuki and how the Mikage had manipulated her into trying to kill Aya. When he finished everyone there was completely shocked as well as angered at how low the Mikage had stooped to in order to use her, especially Youji and Michael.

"That Kagami Mikage has certainly earned a spot on my shit list." Youji growled. "Hiring someone to seduce a poor innocent girl and then use her as a guinea pig and then a weapon. I'm definitely taking that guy down."

"Youji, we're going to need him alive." Ran said seriously. "Regardless of how much of a bastard that Kagami is, he still has information about the Patriots that we'll probably need later on."

"Damn…" Youji swore angrily.

"Well we just have to bring him in alive." Michael spoke. "There aren't any specifications as to how healthy he needs to be as long as he survives."

Youji grinned as he saw what Michael meant.

"I've got a feeling you and I are going to get along great." He said to Michael.

"Thank you." Michael replied, and then turned to Yuki. "Anyway, I was wondering, Urukawa-san why you've chosen to remain in the world of the living? A colleague of mine is a necromancer and from what I've heard from her being a ghost isn't a very pleasant experience, and most would rather have crossed over. So why…?"

"I guess I can't sleep peacefully yet." Yuki answered. "Not while I know what Aya's going through. That's why I'm going to stay so I can help her."

"I understand." Michael nodded.

(But still, that is quite brave of her.) He thought to himself. (From what Maggie told me about what a lot of spirits who remain behind go through…) Michael then glanced at Riku. (Riku was there too, so he probably thinks the same…)

Flashback: Two Years Before: FOXHOUND HQ: 2010:

Michael and a young woman with brown hair with streaks of blonde in it were sitting at a table in the commons of the base playing chess. Riku was sitting nearby, observing the game.

"Maggie, there was something I was wondering about." Michael spoke as he was deciding his next move.

"What is it?" Maggie asked in reply.

"Well, I was wondering about what spirits are actually like." Michael answered and then saw her flinch slightly. "I mean…if it's a sensitive subject to you then…"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to tell you." Maggie said. "Don't worry, I was just a little surprised by your question. Not very many people ask me about that." She then noticed Riku.

"You can listen too if you want, Riku." She said. "Besides, you yourself have eight spirits bonded to you so this might be something you should know too."

"Alright." Riku nodded and moved closer to the two of them.

"Well, there are many types of spirits." Maggie began. "Most don't really interact with the living very much. The kinds that do are the ones that you need to be careful with."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"Those types are the kind that needs guidance." Maggie answered. "Filled with grief over their own death, they refuse to face their fate. They yearn to live on, and some eventually come to resent those still alive. You see, they envy the living. And in time, that envy turns to anger, even hate. Should these souls remain they'll try to possess or prey on the living."

"And they'll usually end up like the kind you hear about in ghost stories, right?" Michael asked and Maggie nodded.

"Yes, unfortunately." She answered. "The dragons Riku has are bonded to him so they're an exception. A spirit in a symbiotic bond with someone is a lot better off than one in a parasitic one."

"It sounds like being a necromancer is a tough experience." Riku spoke as he considered what Maggie probably had to go through with the nasty kind of ghosts.

"You have no idea…" Maggie replied.

End Flashback…

(To brave all those things for the sake of a friend…) Michael thought. (Miss Urukawa has certainly won my respect.)

"Well, I guess I'll go back now." Yuki spoke. "It was nice speaking to all of you." Yuki then shimmered and then vanished.

"Hey Riku, how was Yuki able to bond with you?" Yuhi asked. "I mean…I'm not sure how this whole thing with spirits and that kind of stuff works so…"

"Bonding with spirits isn't really as farfetched as you think." Riku answered. "Possession by a ghost is actually an involuntary form of a bonding with a spirit, but there are other forms. Guardian spirits or guardian angels are one example."

"So I guess what's happened with Aya and Aki also fall into that category." Suzumi spoke and Riku nodded.

"Actually Yuki was a bit of a special case." Riku said. "Because she was a flame master in life, because she was a C-Genome yes, but she still counts as a flame master, she was able to enter the space that my dragons reside in with their permission. Actually Yuki's been able to greatly increase my power of flame through our bonding." Riku then paused for a moment and then smiled thoughtfully.

"But to tell you the truth, even if bonding with her wouldn't increase my power I'd probably have gone through with it anyway." He continued. "Not just because I wanted to grant Yuki's last request you understand, but actually…another thing I felt from her was a lonely sort of feeling…"

"So you basically did that to be nice, huh?" Nagi asked his friend with a knowing smile. "Typical you, Riku."

"You know me…"Riku replied and then looked over at Michael. "So when are you, Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi going to head over to the Mikage main house?"

"We'll be heading there in a few minutes, after we pick up that trailer Ran told us about." Michael answered. "We'll be leaving shortly."

"Well, I guess I'd better wish you guys good luck then." Riku spoke.

Meanwhile: Mikage Main Base:

As Gladys led Ceres down the hallway, showing her around the facility, Aya thought to herself.

(All these rooms, but still no sign of the lab where they're restoring the hagoromo.) She thought as she looked through the same eyes as Ceres was.

A few minutes later, they stopped at a set of automatic double doors to a large room. There were two soldiers standing guard at each door, both had a firm grip on their assault rifles and looked ready for any surprise attack by an enemy.

(Man these guys sure look a lot more nasty than those guards the Mikage had.) Aya thought. (They look like they're ready for a war or something.)

(That's not very far from the truth, Aya.) Ceres said to her telepathically. (After so many years of reincarnation, I can recognize hardened and experienced soldiers and I can tell you that these men far surpass the men of the Mikage in terms of experience.)

(No wonder these guys were able to take over both this place and the Mikage building so easily.) Aya thought.

Meanwhile, Gladys looked at one of the soldiers and nodded. The soldier reached looked over at the other, who nodded and looked into the retinal scanner behind him. The doors immediately opened.

"If you please, Ceres." Gladys said respectfully, gesturing to the open doors. "There's something I believe you should see."

Ceres said nothing and silently walked in through the doors. What immediately greeted her in a well furnished and attended room were more than a dozen girls, all with the same long silken blue hair and slender build of the tennyo.

(Whaa!) Aya exclaimed. (Are all of these girls C-Genomes!)

"Gladys!" One of the girls exclaimed, recognizing her.

(This many of them…) Aya thought. (Some of them look like they're just kids too. Are they clones or something?)

"You must be Aya Mikage... Ceres, right?" Another of the girls spoke, noticing Aya. "The Genesis Mother!"

"What did you call me?" Ceres asked.

"The Genesis Mother... we studied about it with Miss Smithson." The girl answered. "The legend started with the relations between a man and a woman being expressed as a pair of twins... a legend in which the human race was created from these twins. The C-Project is tracing the legend. I'm so glad to see you! We've been taught that Aya and Aki Mikage were the origins of this legend!"

(Wh-what the hell is that supposed to mean!) Aya exclaimed, shocked at what she was hearing.

"Because you awoke the blood of our ancestors-." Another girl spoke.

"-You're the mother of all the tennyo living today-." Another finished.

"-and of all the babies to be born." A pregnant C-Genome spoke and then placed a hand familiarly on her bulging belly.

"As you can see, girls with golden nameplates are pregnant." Gladys spoke.

Aya suddenly remembered what Kagami had told her.

(So this is what they were planning for Chidori.) She thought. (They were given that operation…)

"How can you be so indifferent?" Ceres asked, causing all of the girls' attention to turn to her. "All of you... shut away in this kind of place, bearing the child of a man you don't know..."

"Shut away?" One of the girls asked, with a confused look on her face.

"It's not like that at all..." The first girl said to Ceres. "We're protected here-this place is peaceful."

"People here respect us." The second girl added.

"The outside world is filthy." One of the girls spoke with genuine disgust in her voice. "Murders, mistreatment, sex crimes... abuse, wars-I don't even want to remember that place!"

"We're special...we're tennyo for the modern world." The third spoke. "We're strong and beautiful."

"It's absurd to keep company with the worthless men on the outside..." Another girl spoke.

"Our role is to leave descendants of carefully selected men." The first girl said. "These children will create a new world... a beautiful world."

"We're told that we'll become Genesis Mothers to be remembered throughout history!" Another girl added.

(What...what's with these girls!) Aya thought. (Do they even know what's happened here with the base being taken over by the Patriots?)

"We'll rise into the sky and abandon this dirty world..." The second said. "And when the hagoromo is completed, we'll be given it one by one..."

"You wanna go back, right?" One of the girls asked Ceres. "So why not go with us?"

Ceres didn't say anything, and then suddenly fell to her knees clutching her stomach, startling a lot of the C-Genomes in the room.

"What's wrong?" One of them asked.

"Everyone, calm down!" Gladys said and then walked over to Ceres and bent over to try to support her. "Let's get you out of the room for now, anyway... I'll call a nurse for you."

As the two of them left the room, Ceres suddenly whipped Toya's necklace around Gladys' neck, catching the woman and the soldiers guarding the room off guard.

"Where is the hagoromo lab?" Ceres asked. "Take me there now."

The soldiers pointed their assault rifles at Ceres, but they knew this was all they could do since they had been ordered by the Patriots not to harm Ceres.

Meanwhile:

Alec sat at the computer terminal as he watched Aki, who was still asleep and bound. Alec looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep in a while since he had gotten to the base.

(He still hasn't woken up since then.) Alec thought. (Well, just sitting here is pointless. Maybe I should get some rest; there's nothing I can really do to help Aki like this.)

"Doctor Howell!" One of the technicians called, causing Alec's attention to turn to him and then to Aki, who was now awake, lying in his restraints and looking very confused.

"Aki!" Alec called out to him over an intercom linked to the room.

"Where... am I?" Aki asked and then bumped his head against one of the restraints. "Ow! What's all this?"

"Aki, is that really you?" Alec asked to make sure this wasn't a trick from Shiso. "Do you recognize me?"

"Alec?" Aki said as he recognized the voice. "Alec... why am I...?"

"Hold on, I'll have you out in a minute." Alec replied, sighing with relief. He then turned to one of the soldiers. "Could you get those restraints please? I'm going to open the locks."

"Fine." The soldier said and turned the two other soldiers who were guarding the room. "You come with me and help, and you, notify Commander Shade."

Both soldiers nodded that they understood and the second one activated his radio to notify Shade of this development.

The soldier then turned to Alec and nodded and Alec immediately pressed some buttons on the monitor opening the door which immediately slid open. The two soldiers then walked in and proceeded to remove the restraints.

"Are you alright?" One of the soldiers asked as he undid the last restraint and then turned to the other soldier. "Help him up."

"Yes sir." The soldier nodded and then proceeded to help Aki get up.

"Thank you…" Aki mumbled, and suddenly the tired look was replaced with victorious smirk.

Suddenly Aki's fist punched straight through the soldier's back, killing the man instantly. He then reached over and grabbed the other soldier by the neck and then hurled him at the observation window as hard as he could, causing it to crack on impact.

"FOOLS! Did you really think I'd give this body back to that simpering brat so easily!" He asked, revealing that it had been Shiso and not Aki all along. Shiso then walked over to the door. "CERES! WHERE ARE YOU!"

The remaining soldier stepped away pointing his assault rifle at Shiso.

"Planning on shooting me?" Shiso asked with a smirk at the soldier's nervousness. He then noticed Alec. "Ah yes, you're the one trying to make me disappear. I think I should return the favor."

Shis then started towards Alec who was immediately backing away, trying to escape from Shiso's vengeance.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to do that." Shade's voice called to Shiso from behind, causing him to turn around to see Shade step into the room.

"So you're the legendary progenitor of the Mikage family." Shade said as his cold black eyes studied Shiso. "The man who stole the celestial maiden's celestial robes, made her his wife, and through her fathered the Mikage family, or so the story goes. It's quite an old story; I remember my mother always used to tell me those stories when I was young."

"Those are merely stories." Shiso scoffed. "Anyway, I've wasted enough time here. Get out of my way so I can find my woman, or die like the rest of the fools who interfered."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Shade replied simply. "But to be honest, I'm quite curious to see the power you have. I'll give you this one chance to kill me, and if you succeed you may proceed."

"Then you've officially condemned yourself to death." Shiso smirked and then got into a fighting stance.

(Still, something about this one suggests he's more powerful than the average human.) Shiso thought. (I guess I should use a bit of the power Ceres gave me on him just to avoid getting rusty. A single punch through the chest plus a blast of power should be more than enough.)

Shiso then rushed forward at Shade and then threw a punch at his chest. The moment his fist connected with Shade's chest, a blast of energy shot forward combining with the force of the punch, blasting through Shade's chest and back, decorating the wall behind him with blood and crushed organs.

"Heh, arrogant fool." Shiso said as he withdrew his hand from the smoking hole that had once been Shade's chest. His eyes then widened in surprise as Shade's right hand suddenly reached up and grabbed his arm.

"Was that really the best you could do?" Shade asked. "And after so many centuries of existence…what a disappointment you turned out to be."

"H-how are you…?" Shiso's eyes widened as he watched the wound he had inflicted on Shade start to close up and regenerate, flesh, bones' organs and all.

"I don't need to explain any of this to a weakling like you." Shade said and then suddenly let go of Shiso and then struck him with a single back kick. "Genocide Prelude!"

"Genocide Bringer!" Shade then performed a rising spin kick on Shiso before he could react sending his opponent into the air. He then finished with a double descending drop kick on Shiso's head. "Genocide Finish!"

Shiso collapsed to the ground unconscious from the blows inflicted by Shade.

"Is that all?" Shade asked the unconscious form. "I was thinking that you would last longer than that and provide me with some more entertainment." Shade then turned to the surviving soldier. "Call some men to clean all of this up and make sure the boy remains unconscious."

"O-of course, sir." The soldier replied and activated his radio. "I need some men down here to clean up a little mess we've got over here and now."

"Understood, we'll send some men over immediately." A soldier on the other end spoke.

"As for you Dr. Howell, do make sure to get back to work on the boy when the cleanup is done." Shade said. "In the meantime, I'll stay and keep an eye on him should he wake up. I still have a couple more techniques I wouldn't mind trying on him."

"If you do that you might kill him!" Alec objected, only to be stopped by the murderous look in Shade's eyes.

"Then the fault will be yours for your stupidity, not mine." Shade replied, showing he didn't give a damn if Aki lived or not. "After all, you're the one who let him loose."

Shade then stopped when his radio crackled to life.

"What is it?" Shade asked.

"Commander Shade, Ceres has taken one of the Mikage personnel hostage and is demanding to be taken to the lab where the hagoromo is being worked on." A soldier spoke on the other line.

"Then take her there." Shade replied simply. "Just take the long way in order to delay her. I'll be there in a moment with Crawford."

(These twins certainly are quite the nuisance.) Shade thought as he selected Crawford's frequency. (But at least this mission doesn't feel like a complete waste of my time…)

Meanwhile: Mikage Main House:

Michael Hanson, now clad in the typical uniform of a Mikage employee that worked at the mansion, carefully made a quick check of his outfit to make sure that everything would check out in the eyes of the real Mikage employees and guards.

(Okay everything looks right.) Michael thought and then activated his codec and selected Ran's frequency.

"How's the distraction going?" Michael asked when Ran's face appeared on the codec screen.

"Actually… it's going better than expected." Ran replied.

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, noticing Ran's expression.

"The wrong address part worked just fine, but…" Ran wasn't sure how to finish.

"But what?"

"The mansion's maids just happened to be off duty right now." Youji spoke as his face appeared on the codec screen. "To make a long story short, we're now having quite a sale. It's a good thing we brought those flowers along after all." Youji's head then turned to the side. "Well, I'd better get back to work."

"Well, I guess I'll start my part in the mission." Michael said to Ran. "I'll contact you once I find the information I need, Venom out."

Michael then ended his transmission and walked to the side gate for the Mikage mansion. He inserted the ID card into a slot and the scanner beeped that it recognized the card as genuine. The gate then slid open and Michael strolled in casually so not to raise any suspicion from the guards on duty.

As he walked to the door into the mansion, Michael looked to the side and saw a large crowd of maids gathered at where Weiss' trailer was. Feigning ignorance, he turned to one of the guards.

"Excuse me, but is something going on over there?" Michael asked.

"Oh not much, the maids are on break and they're buying some flowers from some flower sellers who got lost making a delivery." The guard answered. "Don't know what women see in those things. The only thing flowers ever did for me was give me a bunch of damned allergies."

"Okay…well, I'd better get to my job now." Michael excused himself. The guard nodded at him and with that he left.

Later:

It took Michael a few minutes to get and idea for the room he was looking for. He had had to start a couple of casual conversations with some regular employees under the pretense that he had been recently hired. A few well laid questions in the conversations finally gave him some ideas of where to look for the information he needed.

(So it's either in the office for the late head of the family or the mansion's library.) Michael thought as he walked away from the employee he had just finished talking to. (I'd better start with the office first, because I doubt very many people are watching it.)

A few minutes later, Michael was at the door to the office. Taking a few quick glances to see that no employee was watching, Michael quickly opened the door. A quick look showed that there were no security cameras in the room.

(Hopefully I can find the location of the Mikage base in this room since the library will probably be better watched.) Michael thought as he closed the door behind him. He then walked over to the heavily dusted desk and activated the computer.

(This place hasn't been very well maintained.) Michael thought as he waited for the computer to load and noticed all the dust covering most of the room. (My guess is this room hasn't been cleaned since the old family head died.)

A minute later, the computer loaded and Michael was able to get past the password using a basic hacking trick that Nagi and Omi had showed him before. He then started accessing the files that were contained in the main database.

(Okay, I suppose I'll start with the maintenance data…) Michael selected the file folder with the mouse. After a few minutes of scanning through the many files contained he finally found the one he was looking for. After selecting the file and scrolling down a few pages, he found a detailed layout of the facility along with the exact coordinates for the island the base was on, including a map.

(Bingo.) Michael then selected the pages and began to print them out.

After the pages had printed out, Michael carefully folded them and put them in his pocket. He then powered off the computer and then headed for the door. Before opening it, Michael listened at the door to make sure no one was outside; when he was satisfied he quietly opened the door and stepped out.

(Well, I'd better head out now and wait for Ran and the others at the pickup point.) Michael thought as he walked down the hall in the direction of the back exit to the mansion. He then stopped at a window and saw that the crowd of maids at Weiss' trailer had not diminished by very much. (Looks like I'll be waiting for a while since the only way those guys are leaving is whenever they sell out.)

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

"Well, is it in here?" Ceres asked Gladys. They were standing in front of the door to a lab that Gladys had directed her to along with the soldiers who were standing around the two of them with their assault rifles aimed at them. But that was all the soldiers could do since they had only been ordered to follow and nothing else.

"Ceres... don't you understand how pointless this is?" Gladys asked in reply.

"I could say the same thing to you." Ceres said with contempt and anger in her voice. "What are those 'daughters' of mine? You certainly filled their heads with lies. How can you so blithely instill such power in them knowing that? I never expected to be nor wanted to be called family by girls who've lost the ability to feel anger, sorrow, and even pride like that."

"I'm sorry, but you cannot be allowed to go any further, Miss Ceres." Crawford's voice spoke from behind one of the soldiers, who quickly stepped aside so Ceres could see him standing there along with Shade.

"I would suggest staying out of my way, human." Ceres said to Crawford. "It would be in your best interests if you wish to keep living."

"I have no intention of hindering you." Crawford replied as he fixed his glasses. "That is my associate's job. Shade!"

"Of course." Shade simply nodded and stepped forward, drawing his chakram.

"You're not equipped with that bracelet like the other soldiers here." Ceres noted. "I'll warn you just this once that you're assuring your death with that."

"I don't need one of those ridiculous things." Shade said arrogantly. "Now then…"

"Remember, do not harm her, at least not seriously." Crawford spoke.

"I remember." Shade replied and then held up his chakram which started to glow with a strange energy. He then held it so the inner circle of the ring weapon had Ceres in the very center, and suddenly a geyser of that energy shot out towards her. "BLOOD SHOWER!"

Ceres quickly threw Gladys aside and then created a shield of energy and easily deflected the energy shot.

"So it appears that you're not like the other humans here." She said to Shade and then began to charge up some energy in preparation to attack.

(It's odd, but there's this strange feeling that I'm getting from deep inside this one.) Ceres thought as she studied Shade. (I've felt it somewhere before, a long time ago, but I can't remember when or where…)

(That's quite a bit of energy she's gathering.) Shade thought to himself. (And the way she's positioned herself as well…this woman is far from helpless. This power that I'm sensing within her might actually give me some trouble. It seems the legends of the tennyo's power are true after all…)

This realization put Shade in a bit of a complicated situation since he could not harm Ceres, as per the Patriots' orders. He was about to devise a strategy to do that, when Ceres suddenly stopped and then keeled over clutching her stomach. A minute later, she reverted back to Aya.

"It seems while she possesses great power, her body still has its limits." Crawford observed and then turned to the soldiers nearby. "Take Miss Aya back to her cell immediately."

"At once, Mr. Crawford." One of the soldiers saluted and then directed his men to help Aya up and lead her back to her cell. Aya tried to struggle from their grip but was too tired from the celestial energy used by Ceres to do anything and was lead away.

"It's hard to believe that actual tennyo of the old legends are in this very building." Shade noted, and then looked in the direction of where the C-Genomes were kept. "And there's over a dozen of them there…According to the data in the computers, some of them are not impregnated like the others." Shade then grinned lecherously. "Perhaps I can provide assistance for that. I've never coupled with a tennyo before."

"You are not to do that!" Gladys shouted, getting up and starting towards Shade. "The C-Genomes are very delicate and also…!" She stopped when one of the soldiers pointed his assault rifle at her.

"Who is she?" Shade asked Crawford.

"Apparently she's Kagami's woman." Crawford answered. "Anyway, I'm afraid the C-Genomes are off limits to you. The Patriots' orders for the ones that haven't been impregnated are to be left alone until the Patriots decide what is to be done with them."

"The things I do to satisfy my clients…" Shade growled in frustration, and then looked over at Gladys and reached over and examined her face. "Hmm…but this one is a pretty nice catch. I'll take her." Shade then glanced over at Crawford. "Unless the Patriots have orders against that as well."

"Do as you like." Crawford said simply, causing Gladys' eyes to widen in horror. "The medical staff can manage the C-Genomes in Miss Smithson's place until we give them over to the Patriots for testing; just don't do anything permanent to her since we may need her later."

"Of course, I'll make sure to be gentle." Shade grinned and turned to the now terrified Gladys. "That worthless trash Kagami isn't worth your love. You can entertain me for the time being."

As Shade walked off dragging the struggling woman with him, Crawford simply shook his head since he wasn't very fond of the man's habits.

(Wretched creature…) Crawford thought to himself. (Oh well, that sort of makes things more satisfying for what I have planned for him soon.)

"What was that all about, boss?" Shuldich asked Crawford as he came down the hall.

"Not much, just a minor problem with our guest." Crawford answered. "That and Shade found himself a new toy to play with."

"You mean Kagami's woman?" Schuldich grinned like he had heard an amusing joke. "I thought Shade was already using that woman's assistant."

"Apparently he got bored with her and must have given her to the men." Crawford replied. "Anyway, we should get back to work on the mission. I'm certain the FOXHOUNDers and their allies have located the base by now and we'd better prepare for their next move."

"Of course, boss." Schuldich nodded.

"Oh yes, how is the interrogation of Kagami Mikage coming along?" Crawford asked.

"He's showing some surprising resistance." Schuldich answered. "Don't worry, I'll get the information we need out of him sooner or later. Oh yeah, Viper's managed to keep both Lee and Asamu under control for now."

"Good, so our plans are proceeding without hindrance." Crawford smiled. "Continue with the interrogation, but if he's still not willing to talk by the day after tomorrow forget about it. I need you to be at full strength when the FOXHOUNDers arrive."

"Very well, I'll make sure to alert Farfarello when the time comes." Schuldich said.

(It's all falling into place just as planned.) Crawford thought to himself. (Soon Nagi will come and begin his test and then I shall know. Whether Ceres gets that thing she calls a hagoromo or not is of no concern to me…)

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Suzumi, and Maya were standing around a table where Michael had laid out all of the details regarding the Mikage base, location and all, which he and the four members of Weiss had retrieved.

"So this is where the Mikage base is." Riku said as he looked at the map. "Where Aya and Aki are being held…"

"The Mikage sure did their work on hiding this base." Omi spoke. "This island is actually privately owned by the Mikage, but they did everything they could to hide the fact that this island even exists. You'd have to dig pretty deep to find it and even then the details on what the island is for aren't there."

"Yeah, but at least we know where it is now." Yuhi said and then looked at Michael. "So when are we going to go in and rescue Aya, Aki, and Alec?"

"We first need to come up with the right strategy in order to successfully infiltrate the base." Michael replied. "Since the base is guarded by experienced mercenaries as well as metal gears, infiltration will be very difficult to say the least."

"But we just found out where Aya is!" Chidori objected. "Can't we just…"

"Miss Kuruma, you have to understand that the soldiers at the base are not as inexperienced as the men the Mikage had under their employment." Michael said seriously. "These are hardened, and experienced men who know exactly what they're doing. To underestimate them would be the next closest thing to suicide." Michael's expression then softened. "I know that you're all worried about your friends there and I don't blame any of you for wanting to rescue them as soon as possible. I'd feel the same, believe me, but don't forget that Aya would probably want all of you to be alive to see her after all this is over. My job is to see to it that you all do."

"Hey, that's our job too." Tot spoke. "So all we need to do is help you come up with a plan ASAP."

"Uh, Tot while I admire your determination that's easier said than done." Michael replied. "To rush creating a strategy will almost always result in disaster." He then smiled when Tot's expression became a little disappointed. "But you are right that doing this as a group will help make things go faster, not to mention insight from others will probably aid in making it more fail safe. I'll gladly accept whatever help or listen to any suggestions you have."

"Thanks Michael." Tot replied happily. "I'll be glad to help."

"Is it alright if any of us help too?" Maya asked and Michael nodded.

"Uh, before we get to that, there's something important I need to tell everyone." Riku spoke, causing everyone to turn to him. "It's something Yuki suggested to me just before we merged our powers."

"What is it?" Nagi asked.

"I know of a way that might free Aki from the hold that the progenitor has on him." Riku answered. "However, the process of doing it will be extremely dangerous for both Aki and…" Riku's eyes glanced over at Nagi and then quickly went back. "Anyway, I'll explain what Yuki told me…"

(Thank you.) Yuki said to Riku telepathically, her voice full of gratitude.

(You're welcome.) Riku replied, and then proceeded to begin telling the others what Yuki had told him before.

AN: And that concludes chapter 24. I hoped you enjoyed reading this one. This makes it three updates in a month (and in February, the shortest month of the year too). But I'm sorry to say I'm going to need a break for the rest of the month to play Xenosaga Episode 2 and Phantom of Inferno (both arepretty long, but at the same time very good games). Don't worry, I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can so please be patient.

Also, here's an Easter egg , part of the conversation with Maggie was based off something Lulu from Final Fantasy 10 says early in the game (hey I had to give her at least one appearance in this fic) and I thought it would fit. To Tempest, I hope I portrayed Maggie alright.

Oh yeah, despite the interactions, no I'm not pairing Yuki up with Riku (he's already going to be paired up with someone in the COE/SX storyline (not telling you'll have to find out yourself). I do plan on Yuki having a major part in developing Riku as a character though (not telling any on that subject either).

Well, please R and R. And thanks to all who have reviewed.


	26. Chapter 25: Fact and Fiction Part 1

AN: Okay folks, chapter 25 has finally arrived and you can expect some major story development in this chapter as well as the next. Well, please enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers. The characters mentioned, Yukimura Sanada and Toshiro Sakata belong to GreyWolf4. Sorry to GreyWolf4that it's just that for now but I promise that they'll show up after the Ceres arc is over.

Chapter 25: Fact and Fiction Part 1

Aogiri Residence:

The room was silent after Riku finished telling everyone what Yuki had told him about how to free Aki. How Nagi would have to dive into Aki's mind and somehow get rid of Shiso with his psychic powers. Finally Nagi broke the silence.

"So all I need to do is dive into Aki's mind and get rid of Shiso." He said. "That shouldn't be too hard for me…"

"There's more I need to tell, especially you Nagi." Riku said seriously. "The whole process will be much more dangerous than you're putting it."

"What do you mean?" Tot asked, her eyes showing concern for Nagi. "How dangerous is it?"

"Given that Shiso is a spirit, and an ancient one at that, an injury a spirit deals is to one's soul for one, which is much worse than any bodily injuries." Riku answered. "Also…Nagi, do you know what one of the other things besides his childhood that contributed to how Psycho Mantis was before he met Snake?"

"I remember it had something to do with his experiences in diving into people's minds." Nagi answered.

"There's more than that." Riku replied. "After the Soviet Union collapsed, Mantis moved to the US and did some jobs for the FBI. There he was in charge of several cases in the agency. He dove into the minds of many serial murders and ended up uniting with such minds (after going beyond the threshold of the element of crime), becoming a serial killer himself. Everything else, you know…"

"So you're worried that Shiso's personality might merge with mine, huh?" Nagi said. "I don't blame you for being worried about that since I do admit that there's a danger to that."

"So…if that happens…that means you might not be you anymore?" Tot asked Nagi hesitantly.

"In the worst case scenario, yes." Nagi answered, not wanting to elaborate more on what could happen since he didn't want Tot to worry more.

Tot wasn't sure what to say as part of her wanted Nagi to help Aki, but the other didn't want to see Nagi get into as threatening a situation as that.

"Are you sure it could turn out that way?" Chidori asked. "I mean, it could just have been something that happened in Mantis' case."

"That's a possibility, I'm not a psychic after all." Riku admitted. "But I don't want to take chances in that area."

"Is it alright if I had some time to think about this?" Nagi asked Riku who nodded.

"Go on and take as much time as you need, I need to talk with Michael and the others about how we're going to infiltrate the base anyway." Riku said.

Nagi nodded and then got up and left the room. Tot then turned to Michael.

"Uh, Michael I know I said I wanted to help, but there's something I need to do." She said.

"It's alright." Michael replied. "I know you need to talk with your boyfriend about all of this.

"Thanks." Tot then got up and left the room.

After she left, Michael turned to Riku.

"Looks like you really do value the lives of your partners, Riku." He commented. "Otherwise you wouldn't have been very specific about the dangers that would be involved in this."

"What kind of partner and friend would I be to them if I didn't do that?" Riku asked in reply. "For that matter, what kind of shinobi would I be if I didn't take care of my teammates?"

Michael simply smiled at what Riku said.

(You certainly are a true shinobi.) He thought at Riku. (I envy Nagi and Tot, to have a partner that concerns himself that much for his comrades.)

"Well, I guess we should get to planning the operation." Riku spoke, and then rubbed his head. "But I have to admit I'm nowhere near as good at planning these things as you are, and I kinda doubt I'll be very much help."

"You never know." Michael replied.

Meanwhile:

Nagi sat in a chair in the waiting room for Suzumi's dance school deep in thought.

(So suddenly it's like the life of someone else now could depend on my decision.) He thought. (If I go ahead with this, I can save Aki and that would probably help Aya more than anything right now. But if something goes wrong, and that Shiso guy's personality merges with mine…)

"Nagi…" Tot's voice spoke, and Nagi turned and saw Tot standing near the entrance.

"Oh, Nanami…" Nagi said when he saw her. "What is it? Weren't you going to help Michael?"

"I was, but…I wanted to talk with you." Tot/Nanami replied.

"About what?" Nagi asked.

"Well…are you going to do that thing to save Aki?" Tot/Nanami asked in reply.

"I guess…" Nagi answered and then glanced away from her slightly. "It's not that I don't want to help Aki, it's that I'm worried about what could go wrong during this. If Shiso's personality merges with mine, I probably won't be myself anymore and if that happens I might end up…" He stopped when Tot/Nanami suddenly put her arms around him.

"Nagi I…I don't really know how this psychic stuff works, but I know that won't happen." Tot/Nanami spoke. "I believe in you…"

"Nanami…" Nagi reached over and took Tot/Nanami's hand. It was then that he made his decision.

Later:

"We could use this area as an entrance point." Ran suggested as he pointed at an area on the island map.

"That might be an option." Michael agreed. "Given that areas position does make it vulnerable as an infiltration point. However, there is a chance the enemy will have something put there to lessen that vulnerability."

"Like what?" Suzumi asked. "It isn't as close to the water, and the area leading there looks too steep for any of the metal gear RAY units."

"That part is what makes it an available infiltration point." Michael added in agreement. "But to focus too much attention on the RAYs as a danger would be a grave mistake. There are plenty of ways to reinforce this area, for example, increased guard patrols, automated gun turrets, infrared sensors to alert guards or possibly connected to hidden explosives, the list goes on…"

"How exactly are we supposed to beat stuff we don't even know for sure is there?" Chidori asked, trying hard to hide her frustration at hearing this.

(Why do the bad guys always have to have top of the line stuff?) She thought to herself in frustration.

"That's what Omi's handling." Ran answered for Michael.

"Are you having him hack into the database for the Mikage base in order to find out the enemy's plans?" Maya asked.

"No, that's not it." Michael answered, shaking his head. "Ordinarily, that would be a process I would recommend, but this time is different. For starters, we don't know if the plans that are in the database are the Mikage's or the Patriots', there's also a chance that the data may be false data input by the Patriots' men in order to lead us into a trap too."

"So whatever information we could obtain from hacking could be questionable." Yuhi spoke. "So what's Omi doing then?"

"I've hacked into a satellite that will be passing over the area the Mikage base shortly." Omi spoke, not looking up from his laptop. "Once it does, I'll have some pictures taken and then after I do some work on them we'll be able to see what those guys have laid out in terms of defenses."

"Don't you guys use a satellite in FOXHOUND for that?" Suzumi asked.

Riku and Michael looked at each other, both knowing the answer to that question.

"We do have one, and we'd use it if we could." Michael answered. "But unfortunately we can't."

"Why not?" Yuhi asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Youji asked in agreement. "I don't see why you guys wouldn't be allowed to use a satellite with the given circumstances."

"Only problem is that Herr Reese is in charge of the use of the satellite." Riku answered for Michael. "Let's just say he's a little 'sensitive' about us FOXHOUNDers using special equipment and never allows us to use them without his permission, which he almost never gives."

"You mean this guy won't make an exception?" Ken asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"I personally think it would take a genuine act of God for that." Riku answered sarcastically. "There was one mission I recall where Reese wouldn't let us look at satellite photos enemy positions and simply told us where to attack. If Michael and I hadn't taken the time and scouted ahead and found out that four out of every five of the positions Reese had told us about were dead wrong our unit, all friends of ours, would have been slaughtered."

"Not to mention that the good lieutenant tried to have us disciplined for doing that for not completing the mission quick enough." Michael added with some disgust in his voice.

"And this is done on a regular basis?" Suzumi asked with shock, and Michael and Riku nodded at the same time.

"That's just stupid!" Ran exclaimed.

"Take my word for it, Matthew Reese defines stupidity." Michael replied.

"I second that." Riku agreed. "He also defines bastard, asshole, wanker, idiot, moron, and plenty more nasty stuff."

(No kidding.) Yuhi thought in agreement, still feeling angry towards Reese for his treatment towards Riku and what he said about Chidori.

"Excuse me, Riku." Nagi's voice spoke, causing everyone to turn and see Nagi and Tot walking into the room.

"So have you decided what you'll do?" Riku asked. "Whatever choice you make is fine with me."

"I've decided to help Aki." Nagi answered, and looked at Riku seriously. "Don't worry, I'm fully aware of how dangerous it will be, but I'm sure I'll be able to get through it. As for the whole thing with Shiso's personality possibly merging with mine, just let Tot be there with me and I'll be fine." Nagi then looked at Tot, who blushed a little. "As long as I know Tot's there by me, waiting for me, I'm sure I'll be able to stay as myself."

Riku nodded to show he understood.

"The only problem would be to get you into a position to dive into Aki's mind." Michael spoke. "Is there any specific range limit to your telepathy?"

"I'm not sure." Nagi replied. "I do know that I need to at least see Aki for this to work."

"So if we could give you a real time, live look at Aki, like say from a security camera in the Mikage base you could do it?" Suzumi asked Nagi.

"It would have to be a little closer than that." Nagi answered. "I'd need a good full view of his face so I could focus on diving into Aki's mind."

"I see…" Riku said and then smiled as he realized something. "Then I have just the thing for that. I'll be right back."

Riku left for his room and in a few minutes he was back carrying a small box. Riku then put the box on the table, and then the words 'Roach Motel' were visible on the top.

"What's this supposed to be?" Maya asked.

"A gift from my good friend Nanvel, which just so happens to be what we need to save Aki." Riku answered and then pressed a button on the side of the box. The top of the box suddenly opened to reveal a small pink roach like object.

"This is an ultra-miniature beetle-type robot equipped for infiltration, probing, and reconnoitering of inaccessible areas." Riku said as he gestured he held out the box. "Mechanical Pink Cockroach, prototype number GB-O7R, or as Nanvel calls it Little Pinky model two."

Suzumi, Maya, Chidori, and Tot immediately pulled away as to their natural repulsion towards roaches, while Nagi, Michael, Yuhi, Ran, Youji, Ken, and Omi simply sweat dropped at what they saw.

"Well, what do you think?" Riku asked. "I think it's a pretty clever idea, since a cockroach won't arouse any suspicion at all."

"How could that not raise any suspicion!" Chidori said as she hid behind Yuhi. "That thing is pink and cockroaches are supposed to be black, right? Black!"

"Oh I don't know, I think it looks kinda cute this way." Riku replied as he looked down at the mechanical roach and then held the box it was in closer to everyone to try and prove his point, causing the girls to recoil even more.

"I don't care about that, just get that thing away now!" Suzumi shouted as she drew her fan out, fully intent on using it to try and flatten the mechanical bug.

"And there's nothing cute about it!" Tot added.

"Alright, alright." Riku said as he closed the box and put it back on the table.

(I don't see what's so scary about this thing though.) Riku thought to himself.

(It's natural for most girls to be afraid of roaches.) Yuki answered his question. (And while we're on that subject, don't put that thing too close to me either.)

(Okay, I guess I understand.) Riku replied.

"Anyway, there is one problem with your plan." Michael spoke. "And that is getting this device into the Mikage base."

"That really isn't a problem." Riku said. "Since we know the location of the Mikage base, all I need to do is have my Grandma teleport this thing over to the base using the Eikai Gyoku madogu."

"Wait a minute, if you have something for teleportation…" Ken spoke.

"It will only teleport two people at a time." Riku said. "If I used that as our way of getting to and from the Mikage base, there would be too much risk in the amount of time it would take to teleport everyone."

"That's a good point." Michael agreed. "I can see why this would be more useful to drop off a single operative for a sneaking mission, but a group would take up time."

"Anyway, I'll notify my grandmother and then we can get this started." Riku said and reached for his codec.

"Um…wait a second." Maya spoke, causing Riku to stop. "I was wondering, since we're doing all of this, shouldn't we check on Aya and see how she's doing?"

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Riku answered and turned to Michael. "What do you think, Mike?"

"I won't deny that it would be important to know about Aya's condition." Michael agreed. "However, in my opinion it would be best to use that pink roach of yours just for your plan for Aki for now. The color does make it stand out, so it would be best not to risk its discovery."

"In that case, I have an idea." Maya said. "Riku, you could have your grandmother bring me along and I could check on Aya while you send that bug over to where Aki is."

Almost immediately everyone in the room was voicing their objections to this. Riku was about to add his two cents to this when he heard Yuki's voice speak to him.

(Riku, you need to let her go there.) She said, that completely surprising Riku.

(What the…!) Riku thought as what he heard fully registered in his mind. (Yuki, do you have any idea what you're asking? If we send Maya there…)

(I know what you're thinking, and if circumstances were different I wouldn't want Maya to go.) Yuki replied. (But if you don't, something terrible will happen to Aya.)

(What do you mean? What will happen to Aya?) After, Yuki didn't answer, Riku spoke again. (What, don't tell me you can't tell me that?)

(It's not that I can't tell you, it's just that I don't know what it is exactly.) Yuki replied guiltily. (I'm sorry…)

(Then please just tell me what you do know.) Riku said. (And there's no need for you to apologize for something that you can't help, Yuki.)

(Thank you.) Yuki replied. (As for what I know...you do know that spirits are able to know bits and pieces of the future right?)

(I've heard about that. So what do you know, or actually what did you see?)

(It was brief, but I saw a black figure about to attack Aya in the cell she was being held in. I didn't see his face, but he was wearing a black trench coat and a hat.)

(I see…)

"Actually, I don't see why it's such a bad idea." Riku spoke, trying to hide the fact that he was lying. Almost immediately, everyone in the room with the exception of Maya were looking at him like he was crazy.

"Would you guys at least hear me out first?" Riku asked before anyone could say anything.

"Alright, but you'd better have a good explanation for this." Suzumi said seriously.

"My grandmother just needs to teleport Maya over to the cell Aya's in." Riku replied. "The two of them can chat for a while and then after that, she can teleport her back, no real danger there now is there?"

"Maybe, but what if one of the guards sees one of them?" Ran asked.

"I'll give my grandmother my stealth camo, and Maya something similar." Riku answered. "I'll show you once she arrives."

After a few minutes, Suzumi spoke.

"In my opinion this is a bad idea." She said. "But if you and Maya insist on this, then I guess I'll allow it."

"What about you, Michael?" Riku asked. "What do you think?"

"If you insist and can guarantee Maya's safety, then I guess I'll approve of this." Michael answered.

"Thanks, anyway I'll notify my grandmother about this." Riku then activated his codec to call Kagero.

A few minutes later, Kagero suddenly appeared in the room wearing her usual black dress. She was also carrying a strange silvery sheet.

"It's great to see you, Grandma." Riku said as he got up and hugged Kagero. Meanwhile, everyone else with the exception of Nagi and Tot had shocked expressions on their faces as they saw Kagero and Riku called her 'grandma'.

"I'm glad to see you too, Riku." Kagero smiled at her grandson and then looked at Chidori. "I'm glad to see that you're alright, Kuruma-san."

"Uh…thank you." Chidori replied. "Uh…are you really Riku's grandmother?"

"Chidori, if I called her 'grandma' for any other reason it would probably be an insult." Riku said.

"B-but, you look so…well, young." Suzumi spoke. "I mean…"

"I get that a lot." Kagero smiled. "Actually, I'm a lot older than I look."

"I really need to know your secret." Suzumi said. "How old are you anyway?"

"Somewhere over four hundred." Riku answered for Kagero.

"NANI!" Everyone in the room with the room except for Riku, Nagi, Tot, and Michael exclaimed.

"Well, that is what centuries of immortality does." Kagero admitted. "Fortunately, my son, Riku's father, and his friends were able to fix that, and I can age normally now."

(I see…so she's like Yukimura-sensei.) Michael thought and then something came to mind. (Hold on, I remember that sensei did mention a Kagero at one time. Could this be her?)

Michael thought about asking Kagero, but he decided not to.

(I can always ask her later or ask Yukimura-sensei myself.) He thought. (Right now the mission's more important.)

"Anyway, I brought the Oboro madogu like you asked." Kagero said turning to Riku and handing him the sheet.

"What's that supposed to be?" Chidori asked curiously, looking at the sheet.

"You'll soon see." Riku answered and turned to Maya. "Maya this is for you to use."

"What am I supposed to use this for?" Maya asked as she took and unfolded the madogu.

"Drape it over your head and you'll see." Riku instructed and Maya did so, feeling slightly silly at wearing a sheet which she hadn't done since she was a child.

For a minute nothing happened, and then Maya started to shimmer and then vanish. Everyone in the room, with the exception of Riku, Nagi, Tot, and Kagero, gaped at this.

"Allow me to introduce the first true stealth camo in history, which was invented by none other than the Hokage clan." Riku said proudly. "The Oboro madogu, and unlike your usual stealth camos, this thing does not run out of batteries."

"But if the madogu is stained by something like blood it doesn't work until it gets cleaned." Kagero added. "In that way it has a con compared to a regular stealth camo, but otherwise it's just as good if not better."

"So I guess I'm supposed to wear this when I go to meet Aya." Maya spoke.

"That's pretty much it." Kagero said. "The plan is for me to teleport you near where Aya's cell is and then you go and meet with her. In the meantime, I'll teleport over to where Aki is and put that mechanical bug nearby in order for your plans to free him to work. After that, I'll teleport back to the Uruha mansion and wait for you to contact me when you want me to pick up Maya."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Riku spoke and then left the room. He returned a minute later carrying a grocery bag full of something.

"I think Aya would want these, and you might want to eat some too if you're planning to stay with Aya for a while." He said. "I doubt the people at the Mikage base are giving her anything above hospital food quality food for her to eat."

Yuhi looked in and saw a bunch of Calorie Mates and Ramen Noodle packets.

"Are you sure she'll like these?" He asked, sweat dropping.

"Hey, this is quite a donation I'm making." Riku answered in an offended tone. "These things are better than most rations and are very precious commodities when doing a mission in jungle and forest areas."

"I thought you guys ate snakes and stuff like that during those types of missions." Youji spoke.

"Normally, but these are usually more filling." Riku replied. "That and they don't have any danger of rotting."

"Not to mention the filling part will help." Kagero added. "Aya is eating for two now, you know."

"Good point." Suzumi agreed. "Well, I suppose we should get this started then."

"Got it." Nagi said. "I'll have my laptop hook up with the bug first so we'll get a visual. Then everything should be in order."

"Hey Riku, can I ask you something?" Omi spoke and Riku nodded. "Does this Nanvel person really design stuff like pink roaches on a regular basis?"

"Trust me some of the stuff she invents make this look perfectly normal." Riku replied.

Meanwhile: Neo Tokyo:

"ACHOO!" Nanvel sneezed as she was going over making some plans for a new invention.

Later: Mikage Intl. HQ:

Aya Mikage lay back in her cot as she thought about everything that had happened.

(This has turned out way far from how I thought it would.) Aya thought to herself. (Now the hagoromo's being guarded, and even though I can leave this room there's no way I can get past the guards guarding the hagoromo.)

(There's also that one the Patriots have hired.) Ceres spoke in Aya's mind. (His power is unusual for a human…)

(You mean that guy in black?) Aya asked. (What do you mean his power is unusual?)

(It is not like that of the psychic who brought you out of your coma or that of the flame wielder who is with him.) Ceres answered. (Something about it…it's as if that power is not of this world…)

(Like yours?)

(Not like mine, even with the hagoromo. Its very feel is negative. Yet somehow, I feel as if I have felt that power before somewhere a long time ago.)

(Any idea what it was?)

Only silence answered her.

"Aya…Aya!" A familiar voice called out to her softly in the direction of the door.

"Maya?" Aya got up and walked to the door. "Where…?"

"I'm out here, but I'm using a type of invisibility cloak Riku gave me." Maya's voice answered. "Can you open the door?"

"Yes, I'll do that." Aya stepped near the door, and it opened automatically as it detected the plate she was wearing.

There was the sound of footsteps entering the room, and Maya suddenly seemed to appear out of thin air as she took off the Oboro madogu. She was carrying a grocery bag.

"Here." Maya said as she handed the bag to Aya, who took it and put it under her cot.

"So how did you get here, Maya?" Aya asked.

"Well, that's a pretty strange story, but I guess I can tell you." Maya answered. "Here's what happened…"

Meanwhile:

Alexander O. Howell, after getting a few hours of sleep, was back at work on trying to bring back Aki; he was working alone and there was only one guard in the room with him. After typing frantically at his monitor with no success whatsoever, Alec slumped back in his chair, as the chair turned him around he received a surprise that woke him up for sure. A woman in a black dress with short black hair, and two moles on her chin, who looked to be in her thirties, was standing behind him over the unconscious body of the guard.

"Who…who are you?" Alec asked.

"I'm an ally for FOXHOUND." The woman answered. "My name is Kagero. I assume the boy in there is Aki Mikage, right?" Alec nodded.

Kagero then handed a box labeled 'Roach Motel' to Alec who took it and looked at it with a confused expression on his face.

"Just open the box and let it into the room Aki is in." Kagero instructed. "From what I've been told, if things work out well enough your friend Aki will be freed from the grasp of the one possessing him."

"You mean that you've found a way to save Aki!" Alec asked, for the first time in a while smiling along with feeling relief.

"According to what my grandson believes, yes." Kagero answered, and then stopped as she felt a strange yet familiar presence somewhere nearby.

"Is something wrong?" Alec asked.

"Nothing…it's nothing." Kagero answered. "Well, I need to go back now. There's something I need to confirm…"

And with that Kagero vanished. Alec blinked a couple of times in surprise and then shrugged and opened the box.

(This is turning out more and more like some weirded out anime by the second.) Alec thought to himself and sweat dropped at what he saw in the box. (A pink roach…)

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"So Maya's with Aya right now, right?" Riku asked Kagero via codec.

"Yes, the last time I checked." Kagero answered, and then her expression became serious. "Riku I was wondering, did the Mikage have a ninja in their group?"

"Not that I know of, why?" Riku asked in reply.

"…It's probably nothing." Kagero half said to herself and then looked at Riku seriously. "Listen to me Riku, if you ever run into a man highly skilled in ninjutsu with a series of scars on the right side of his face I want you to tell me immediately, and whatever you do, do not try to fight him. You'll lose."

"Alright, I'll do that." Riku replied. "I'll call you when Maya's ready to be picked up, and if I run into this guy I'll tell you, but I can't promise I won't fight him if my friends are in danger."

"I pray that something like that doesn't happen." Kagero had a worried look on her face. "Be careful Riku."

"I will, Grandma." Riku nodded and Kagero smiled at her grandson before ending her transmission.

"Looks like Alec's opened the box." Nagi spoke as the window for the program now showed an enlarged version of Alec's face looking down at the screen.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me how's the part with the satellite pictures going?" Michael asked turning to Omi who was busy at his own laptop.

"I've gotten the pictures, but it will be a while until I've made the appropriate scans and all in order to get a good look at the base's defense layout." Omi answered, not looking up from his laptop. "The fact that I'm using more than one program to do all this means that this is going to take a while, not to mention the loading time for each photo."

"You certainly are doing quite a job." Michael noted.

"Well, why do you think he's our main hacker?" Youji asked with a grin, and turned to Ran. "He's managed to pull off some stuff that would probably amaze a lot of computer programmers twice his age. Right, fearless leader?"

"True enough." Ran admitted. "But still, let's get back to the main point of the mission, more specifically the plan for Aki Mikage."

"I'll contact Alec, hold on." Yuhi spoke and reached for his codec, and then selected Alec's frequency.

"Hey Alec, did you get the bug?" Yuhi asked as Alec's face appeared on screen.

"Yeah, so what am I supposed to do with it?" Alec asked in reply.

"Just put it in the room Aki's in." Yuhi instructed.

After a few minutes, Alec did so.

"Alright then, now we just need to wait and hope this works." Yuhi said.

"What exactly is it you're planning to do?" Alec asked.

"The plan is for Nagi to dive into Aki's mind and get rid of Shiso." Yuhi answered. "I'm not sure how it's supposed to work but…"

"Well given with how everything I've tried with some of the most advanced equipment in the world has failed, help from a psychic may just work." Alec admitted. "At this stage I'll try anything."

"Well, keep your fingers crossed; the rest of us certainly will." Yuhi then ended the transmission.

"Okay, let's get this started then." Riku said and looked at Nagi, who nodded that he was ready. Tot then walked over and sat next to him and held onto his arm.

"Is it alright if I stay next to you while you do this, Nagi?" Tot asked.

"Of course, Tot." Nagi nodded.

(And I know that as long as I know that you're near me, I'll be able to stay as myself when I dive into Aki's mind.) Nagi added, causing Tot to blush a little.

"Aw, why don't we do that more, Yuhi?" Chidori asked her boyfriend in mock complaint.

"Do you want to now?" Yuhi asked in reply, smiling at Chidori, who blushed and said nothing but took Yuhi's arm anyway as the two of them sat down on a couch together.

Meanwhile, Nagi, Tot, Riku, and Michael watched the screen as it showed movement from the robot bug's perspective. After a few minutes, it climbed up the leg of the chair Aki was bound to and eventually reached Aki's leg. The screen then moved up until it reached Aki's face and centered on it.

"Alright, here I go." Nagi said and then looked at Aki's face and then closed his eyes as he focused on delving into the mind of Aki Mikage.

Meanwhile: Uruha Mansion:

Kagero held out the Eikai Gyoku madogu, focusing on the image of a man she knew very well. A man she hated to the very core of her being. A man with two names as well as a series of scars on the right side of his face.

(Where are you Shingen Koga, or Shade, whatever name you call yourself now?) Kagero thought as the sphere she was holding glowed as it searched for its target. A minute later, Shade's face appeared in the center of the ball. Kagero saw that he hadn't changed at all since she had last seen him so many years ago.

"So you're still alive after all." Kagero said to Shade even though she knew he couldn't hear her, contempt in her voice. She then focused more on the madogu in order to get it to show more of the area around Shade so she could get an idea of where he was.

Shade suddenly stopped where he was and turned and looked in the direction of where the madogu was spying on him from. He then smirked up at it and then made gesture with his hands. Suddenly a wave of darkness covered him completely as well as the area around him, completely obstructing any view Kagero could get using the madogu.

Kagero gritted her teeth in frustration and then turned off the madogu's sighting.

(It looks like Shade's learned some tricks over the years.) Kagero thought to herself. (I wasn't expecting him to sense my watching him so soon…I'd better go and speak with Yukimura about this.)

Kagero then focused on the Eikai ball and then vanished as she teleported to meet with an old friend of hers. Someone who knew Shade at least as long as she did.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

Shade immediately felt the presence leave him and then turned and started walking in the direction of his quarters.

(So the old maid of Hokage is still alive after all.) He thought to himself. (Apparently she's started to show interest in me once again. Oh well, the only thing she can do is spy on me. She can't kill me anymore than I can kill her.)

As Shade continued a thought came to mind.

(I suppose since I'm stopping by my quarters, that Smithson woman can entertain me again for a while.) Shade thought lecherously. (After all she displayed quite a bit of talent last night. I hope she's as frisky as before when she struggles.)

Meanwhile: Aki/Shiso's Mind Space:

The mind space Aki was simple and at the same time a complete mess. Nagi could almost feel a variable of emotions strewn all about the place. Fortunately, the doorway that was most likely into Shiso's mind was laid out right there in front of him, and another door, the doorway to Aki's mind, was nowhere to be seen.

(This guy sure did a good job in taking over Aki, that's for sure.) Nagi observed as he started towards the only door available to him. (My guess is Shiso buried Aki somewhere deep in the back of his mind. If that's the case it's no wonder Aki can't be brought out using technology no matter how advanced it is.)

Nagi's mood darkened slightly as he thought more about the one he was going to erase from Aki's mind.

(He'd use his own descendent and his own family to get what he wants.) Nagi thought darkly. (Not only that, from how the legends described it Shiso forced Ceres to become his wife by stealing her hagoromo and not giving it back unless she became his wife and bore his children. If that's true, then that guy practically raped her. I think I'll be doing the world a service getting rid of scum like that.)

Nagi then stopped and shook his head to banish the angry feelings he was getting.

(No…I can't let my anger get to me in this situation.) He thought to himself as he forced himself to calm down. (If I do, I might mess up or worse absorb part of this guy's personality into me.)

Nagi then calmed down using some meditation techniques Garland Durev had taught him.

(Think of something you like, something you have an incredible urge to protect, and keep that picture with you. With that in mind, release your hold on your power little by little…) Garland Durev's voice echoed in Nagi's mind.

Nagi closed his eyes and then brought the image of Tot's smiling face to his mind, and after a few minutes he calmed down and the feeling of outrage had left him completely.

"Okay, let's do this." Nagi said to himself and reached for the door knob for the door into Shiso's mind. He was actually surprised when the knob turned and the door opened.

(I guess whatever barrier he's had over his mind is nonexistent from all those sedatives.) Nagi thought as he stepped through the door. (That or Alec's attempts haven't wholly failed.)

As Nagi walked in he found himself standing in what looked like the main room of an old Japanese castle, and sitting there in a large seat was a male figure in odd looking clothes from a much older Japanese era than any Nagi could remember with long black hair. He was resting his head against his right hand and his eyes were closed as if he were sleeping, but the way he was mumbling to himself proved otherwise.

"No…I will not let you erase me!" The man half shouted. "I will have Ceres! I will have my woman!"

(I guess I was right, Alec's attempts are actually having some affect after all.) Nagi thought to himself as he saw this. (Shiso's hold is weakening, but who knows how long it will take if we let things go on their own? Well, I guess I'd better get started…)

"So you're Shiso." Nagi spoke as he approached him, causing the figure to stop and then open his eyes and look up at where Nagi was. It was then that Nagi could see how much this man resembled Aya's twin brother Aki, except his hair was black, and longer, and he had some war paint on his face, but the most notable difference was the look in the man's eyes. While in the pictures that Nagi had seen of him, Aki had a content and peaceful look about him, Shiso had a look of restlessness and even madness in his eyes; like one who had a great deal of power and wanted more.

"Who are you?" Shiso demanded. "What are you doing here in my mind?"

"That is not for you to know, Shiso, progenitor of the Mikage family." Nagi replied coolly. "As for why I'm here, I'm here to release your hold on Aya's brother."

Shiso then grinned arrogantly.

"So Ceres' host sent you to make me disappear?" He asked smugly. "Hah, that's cute kid, but I will not allow that to happen. I'll give you this one chance, leave and you won't die."

"Aya didn't ask me, though I am partially doing this for her. I'm also doing this to make sure you don't bother or hurt Aya, Aki, or anymore innocent people ever again, you sick freak." Nagi answered. "And don't think I'm weak just because of my age, cretin."

"I warned you..." Shiso spoke calmly as he got up and then raised his right hand towards Nagi. Suddenly multitudes of chains made out of pure psynergy burst out of the wooden floor and coiled around Shiso, whose arrogant look vanished as he realized he had been caught off guard.

Shiso immediately struggled to break free of the chains binding him, but to no avail.

"I admit that you have a strong will, but unfortunately for you, you also have inexperience in dealing with a psychic." Nagi said calmly. "You should have seen that I wasn't kidding, but you underestimated me."

"How can this be?" Shiso asked as he struggled to summon his powers and break free of the chains. "How can I, one blessed with the power of a tennyo, be defeated twice by mere humans?"

"You can wonder about that in the afterlife." Nagi replied as he walked over to his captive. "Pretty obvious where you're going, though. Give my regards to Eszet for me."

"What are you going to do?" Shiso asked, for the first time in many centuries feeling fear, as he was helpless against Nagi's psychic powers.

"I'm going to erase every memory that you yourself have until you finally forget yourself. That should get rid of you permanently." Nagi answered and then looked at Shiso coldly. "But that's more than what scum like you deserve...No you're lower than scum. Forcing yourself on a woman...trash like you deserves to be damned." Nagi then reached for Shiso to put his hand on his head and begin.

"Forcing myself...what the hell are you talking about?" Shiso asked, causing Nagi to stop. For a moment he had a confused look on his face but he quickly shook that off.

"Don't lie to me. Anyone who's heard the old legend knows how you stole Ceres' hagoromo and forced her to marry you and bear your children." Nagi looked at Shiso with a look of anger and disgust. "Maybe back then that was accepted, but now that's no different from rape. You're no different from a common criminal and..." He was interrupted by Shiso's laughter.

"What are you laughing about?" Nagi asked.

"Heh, so that's what it is." Shiso said to himself and then looked at Nagi. "Tell me boy, does Ceres back this 'story' up too?"

"What are you getting at?" Nagi's expression was slightly irritated.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Shiso smiled. "Before you make me disappear, you should know this; Ceres has been lying to you and everyone else. She married me, became my wife, and bore my children all of her own free will."

That last statement caught Nagi completely by surprise, but he quickly shook that off.

"Spare me your lies." He growled.

"I'm not lying." Shiso replied with a smile and looked at Nagi full in the face. "Ceres became my wife because she wanted to, and I knew nothing about her robes until later. Does it look like I'm lying, now?"

(He may be telling the truth, or he believes that he's telling the truth.) Nagi thought as he could plainly see and feel that there was no deception in what Shiso was saying. (But then again, the legends of the tennyo...wait a minute; the Patriots have concealed themselves for centuries using a lie. Could the legend of the tennyo be the same?)

"So, are you still going to make me disappear, boy?" Shiso asked arrogantly.

"No, not yet at least." Nagi answered. "But in the meantime I'll keep you bound under restraint, while I find out the truth about this from Ceres herself. You'd better not be lying about this."

"So you're just going to leave me here?" Shiso grinned. "Fine, I'll be…" Shiso stopped, unable to talk as a gag suddenly appeared over his mouth muffling any of his attempts to speak.

"I'm really sick of listening to you talk." Nagi said simply. "Anyway, I'll see you later."

Nagi then turned to leave and then thought of something.

(With Shiso bound like this I might be able to retrieve Aki now from wherever he is.) He thought to himself. (But still, I have no idea where to start looking and there's still a chance of Shiso freeing himself and taking over again. If that happens…no, I should talk with Ceres about this first.)

There was a flash of light as Nagi left Aki/Shiso's mindspace.

Aogiri Residence:

"So how did it go?" Riku asked Nagi as he opened his eyes.

"Not too well, I haven't been able to free Aki yet." Nagi answered. "There's something I need to confirm first, with Ceres. Don't worry, once I've visited someone's mind space once I can locate it again and go there without too much trouble."

"What's going on, Nagi?" Chidori asked. "I mean shouldn't you have…"

"I found something out from Shiso, and if it's true then it means there's more to the old legend than we thought." Nagi answered quickly. "I'll answer your questions soon, but this is something I need to make sure of."

"But Nagi, shouldn't you rest first?" Tot spoke, concerned for Nagi.

"I'm fine Tot, really." Nagi replied. "Don't worry, after I talk to Ceres I'll rest before I handle that thing with Shiso."

"Okay, but you'd better keep your promise." Tot said firmly.

Nagi then closed his eyes and focused on finding Aya's mind telepathically.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base: Aya's Cell:

"I've got to admit, this ramen is a lot better than the food I've been getting from these soldiers who are guarding me." Aya said to Maya as the two of them ate some of the ramen Riku had given her.

"Really?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, they've just been giving me soldier rations and stuff like that." Aya answered.

"I guess what Riku said before was true." Maya half said to herself.

"Huh?"

"Well, that's…"

(Aya can you hear me?) Nagi's voice suddenly spoke in her mind, surprising her.

"What is it?" Maya asked.

"It's Nagi, he wants to talk with me about something." Aya answered.

(What's going on?) Aya asked Nagi telepathically.

(I need to speak to Ceres.) Nagi answered. (It's important, and I think you should know this too.)

(What did you wish to speak with me about?) Ceres' voice spoke suddenly.

(That was quick.) Aya commented.

(We share minds so I could hear your conversation.) Ceres replied simply and her attention returned to Nagi. (So what is this about?)

(I think it would be best if we talked inside your mind space that way it would be more like it was face to face.) Nagi replied seriously.

(Very well.) Ceres replied, and a wave of dizziness suddenly hit Aya and she blacked out.

Suddenly Aya collapsed to the ground unconscious in front of Maya.

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"It looks like Nagi's entered Aya's mind." Chidori spoke. "I wonder what he needed to talk to Ceres about."

"Whatever it is, it must be important." Suzumi spoke and turned to Riku. "What do you-?" Suzumi stopped as she saw Riku suddenly collapse to the floor, unconscious.

(What the…?) Michael thought as he got up and rushed over to where Riku was. (What just happened…it looks like what happened with Toshiro some time ago when he entered that graveyard in his mind…)

Meanwhile: Dragons' Space:

"Wha…? What am I doing here all of a sudden?" Riku asked as he suddenly found himself back in the dragons' space.

"I'm sorry for pulling you in suddenly like that." Yuki's voice spoke from behind Riku, causing him to turn around to see her standing behind him.

"Could you at least warn me the next time you do that?" Riku asked. "I mean, the others are probably freaking out by now since I probably just collapsed back there."

"I'm sorry about that." Yuki replied, though she was smiling a little since she knew Riku wasn't that annoyed at her. "I'll try to warn you if there is a next time."

"Thanks, so what's this about?"

"It's about the conversation between Ceres, Aya, and Nagi. You need to be a witness to what's going to happen."

"How am I supposed to do that if I'm not a psychic or C-Genome?"

"Just take my hand." Yuki then held out her right hand to Riku. "As a C-Genome and a spirit, I can take you there myself."

"Alright, let's go." Riku nodded and took Yuki's hand. There was a flash of light as the two of them were transported to Ceres' mindspace. Neither of them were aware of the tragic tale that they would soon learn behind the ancient legend, and it was the same with Nagi and Aya.

AN: And that ends chapter 25! Yeah, I know this one was a cliffhanger but this part was to build up things for the next chapter. Anyway expect things to be pretty dark come next chapter. Well, enjoy this omake I came up with:

Omake: MGS3 Casting Theater (got this idea from MGS2: Substance):

Cast: Naked Snake: Toya

Sigint: Yuhi Aogiri

Title: Inner Peace:

(Radio conversation)

Yuhi: Uh, Toya... What are you doing?

Toya: I'm in a box.

Yuhi: A cardboard box? Why are you...?

Toya: I dunno. I was just looking at it and I suddenly got this urge to get inside. No, not just an urge - more than that. It was my destiny to be here; in the box.

Yuhi: Destiny...?

Toya: Yeah. And then when I put it on, I suddenly got this feeling of inner peace. I can't put it into words. I feel... safe. Like this is where I was meant to be. Like I'd found the key to true happiness.

Yuhi: ...

Toya: Does any of that make sense?

Yuhi: Not even a little.

Toya: You should come inside the box... Then you'll know what I mean.

Yuhi (freaked out expression on his face): Man, I don't wanna know what you mean! Between you and Para-Medic, is everyone but me that is hooked up with the Major strange?

Toya: ...

Yuhi: Yeah, well, anyway, I suppose even that dumbass box might make a decent disguise if you wear it inside a building.

AN: Okay, that was probably silly, but this came to mind and I couldn't help but write this. Also, I felt I needed an excuse to give Toya some screen time since he won't show up for a while. Anyway, please review.


	27. Chapter 26: Fact and Fiction Part 2

AN: We've now arrived at Chapter 26, and I've got to admit this is probably the darkest chapter I've ever written for anything, but on the plus side this reveals some major stuff in the story and what's to come. Well folks, don't say I didn't warn you about the dark stuff that will occur in Ceres' mind and enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: Please see previous disclaimers.

Chapter 26: Fact and Fiction Part 2

Aya/Ceres' Mindspace:

Nagi stood in front of Ceres and Aya in what looked like a beach on an island somewhere in Japan. Aya had a somewhat confused expression on her face since she was wondering what was so urgent that Nagi had to speak with Ceres like this.

"So what is it that you wish to discuss with me?" Ceres asked Nagi calmly.

"Well, you can start by…" Nagi started and suddenly a flash of light off to the side interrupted him. He, along with Aya and Ceres, turned to see Riku and Yuki standing a few feet away from them.

"Riku, Yuki, what are you doing here?" Aya spoke as the two newcomers made their way towards them.

"According to Yuki, I'm supposed to be here to see whatever it is you need to speak with Ceres about." Riku answered and then turned to Yuki. "Is there anything else I was supposed to come here for?"

"No, this is it." Yuki replied and turned to Aya. "It's good to see you again, Aya, are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it too much Yuki." Aya smiled at her friend. "So how are you? I heard from Maya how you bound yourself to Riku…are you alright?"

"I actually feel better than I have in a while." Yuki admitted and blushed slightly as she glanced at Riku. "It's hard to put into words, but somehow this spiritual bond…it gives me a feeling of security and ease. Like I'm being protected by someone I know I can rely on…"

"Well, that's what a shinobi does for his companions." Riku spoke with a grin. "Actually it's thanks to Yuki that I was able to come here. Her being a C-Genome in life made it possible for her to take me here."

"That does make sense." Ceres spoke and then turned to Nagi. "So what is it that you wish to speak to me about?"

"It's about Shiso." Nagi replied seriously. "I had a little chat with him and he said that the two of you were married and that he never forced himself on you. I came to find out if what he said was true, so would you care to tell us?"

That statement put a shocked expression on Riku, Yuki, and Aya's faces as they heard this. Ceres simply looked at Nagi with an unreadable expression on her face, but said nothing.

"Well Ceres, is this true or not?" Nagi asked seriously.

"And let me ask you this. Would it really matter what I told you in the end?" Ceres asked calmly in reply.

"What do you mean?" Aya asked Ceres seriously. "Are you saying that you've been deceiving us all along!"

"I have never acknowledged or denied that the stories were true." Ceres answered simply.

"Yeah, but regardless we need to know what really happened." Riku spoke.

"And why is that?" Ceres asked looking at Riku and Nagi suspiciously.

"Well…" Riku glanced over at Nagi, not sure how to answer that.

"We just want to know how all of this really started." Yuki spoke up, before either Nagi or Riku could answer, causing Ceres' attention to turn to her. "I mean…well, if we're going to help you get your celestial robes back shouldn't we know the real reason behind why we're doing this?"

"She's right Ceres, we should know." Aya agreed. "Tell us, and please don't hide anything. What happened between you and Shiso?"

Ceres looked at Aya with a slightly saddened expression on her face, but said nothing.

"Ceres…" Aya began, but stopped as Ceres shimmered and then vanished.

Almost as soon as this happened, the area everyone was standing in started to change. After a few minutes the area around them changed to where they were standing at the shore near the ocean. Out in the shallows a woman with long blue hair was bathing in the water. As she stood up and came closer, the group immediately saw that the woman was Ceres, more specifically from the past.

(AN: In this chapter, both Ceres of the past and Ceres of the present say stuff so to make things less confusing I'll put a (p) next to Ceres' name to represent past Ceres and present Ceres will be just plain 'Ceres', now with that said and done, on with the story)

(Ceres…? From long ago…So this must be Ceres' past.) Aya thought. (Which means that the hagoromo is somewhere near here.)

Aya suddenly realized something and turned to Riku and Nagi, whose faces were both red from blushing and their noses were starting to bleed, as Ceres (p) was completely naked.

"Hey, this isn't a peepshow you know." Aya said with a miffed expression on her face.

"Whoah now, it's not like that!" Riku tried to defend himself, rubbing his head sheepishly. "Besides, according to Yuki, I'm 'supposed' to see this so it's not like I have much choice in the matter."

"Y-yeah, it's nothing like what you think!" Nagi added.

"Really, so why are your noses bleeding?" Yuki asked skeptically.

"Uhh…" Riku wasn't sure how to answer that, and turned to Nagi for some help.

"I knew it." Aya said, and then returned her gaze to Ceres (p) just in time to see a black dorsal fin in the water heading towards her.

"A shark!" She exclaimed, and as this was happening, despite the fact that this was just a vision, Riku suddenly caught himself reaching for one of his shuriken.

Suddenly a spear shot out from somewhere, whizzing past Riku's head startling him slightly, and embedding itself into the shark before it could get to Ceres (p).

"Are you alright?" A man's voice spoke, causing Aya and co. to turn around to see a young man with dark hair, wearing a strange outfit, which was probably according to the current era, walk towards Ceres (p). He then offered his hand out to help her up out of the water.

"I suppose this is Shiso." Riku spoke, causing Aya to realize what was about to happen and turn to Ceres (p).

"Waaah! Run away! He's gonna do you!" Aya shouted, even though Ceres (p) obviously couldn't hear her, causing Riku, Yuki, and Nagi sweat drop at that.

"And we're supposed to be the vulgar ones." Riku said to Nagi.

"Well, what's about to happen is vulgar enough." Nagi replied. "I guess this proves Shiso was lying after all…"

"I don't think I can watch…" Yuki spoke, turning away from what she knew was going to happen.

Riku was about to turn and look away himself, but what happened next genuinely surprised him, Aya, Yuki, and Nagi.

Shiso, after helping Ceres up, quickly removed his upper robe and put it around Ceres (p) to clothe her.

"Huh?" Aya said, not believing what just happened.

"Nani?" Nagi and Riku chorused, while Yuki looked back and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh yes, a bit away I found this, is it yours?" The man asked politely and held up what looked like a glowing ball of light.

"Yes, it is." Ceres (p) answered. "That is called mana."

"Is that the hagoromo? I can't see it." Aya spoke as she tried in vain to get a better look.

"That thing is my life." Ceres (p) said. "Its existence is very important to me."

"It is? Then you should take good care of it." The man replied as he handed the strange object to her. "What's your name?"

"I am Ceres. I came here from far away, but…may I stay here?"

"Of course you may. Please follow me, my village is close by."

With a nod, Ceres (p) followed the man off in the direction of where the village was.

"Mana…is that the hagoromo's real name?" Aya spoke.

"That's right...mana. You people called it a hagoromo." Ceres spoke, suddenly appearing near Aya. "If a man is able to touch it in safety, then that is proof that he is a chosen-one."

"So that was Shiso…not quite the same image." Aya said. "Appearance wise or character wise..."

"The name of that man's family was Mikagi." Ceres replied.

Suddenly there was a flash and the whole group was now standing in what looked like an old Japanese fishing village.

"Mikagi…? Mikage?" Aya spoke.

"Judging from the way this village looks, almost like an old Native American village, I'd say this is 'way' back in time." Riku noted as he looked around. "Maybe before any official Japanese eras were even established. I'm not even sure if my clan has even been formed yet; if you consider all that, it's not a surprise that pronunciation and probably some kanji is different from ours."

"I guess that makes sense." Aya agreed and then turned to Ceres. "So what happened when you got to the village?"

"I was actually welcomed by the village people." Ceres answered. "Mikagi's tribe was pleased to have a 'daughter of a god' stay with them..."

"Mikagi was different from all the other men...days and days went by and he never once tried to take advantage of me." Ceres continued. Suddenly there was a flash and suddenly the group was standing just outside the village; right in front of them it showed Shiso giving Ceres (p) a handful of flowers.

"Just like that everyday, he would bring me beautiful flowers." Ceres said. "Now that I think about it, that could have been his tribe's way of proposing marriage. And then, one night after I had been there for a month... "

The scene then changed to nightfall and Ceres (p) was talking with Shiso.

"It's strange, isn't it...the flowers I bring you never seem to die; maybe it's because they are with you." Shiso and then looked at Ceres (p) with a genuine romantic look on his face. "But, the most beautiful flower of all is Ceres, you...you'll stay in bloom forever, because I promise that I will protect you."

Shiso then took out a set of earrings and then put them in Ceres' (p) hand.

"He gave me a set of earrings that he made that looked like my mana as a marriage proposal." Ceres said, and there seemed to be a sad look in her eyes as she said this.

"If I can be one with you, I will give you everything...even my life." Shiso promised.

As the scene before them shifted to showing Ceres (p) and Shiso kissing as she accepted his proposal, both Aya and Nagi could feel an intense amount of emotions coming from both Ceres and Shiso.

"Flowing...feelings. Ceres's? Shiso's?" Aya said, almost to herself. "Content and happy…the joy of love…"

"Yeah, this feeling…it's so similar to the one I feel when Tot and I are together." Nagi spoke, with a slight smile on his face.

"Yes…I know that feeling too." Aya agreed. "Just like when I was with Toya…"

Meanwhile, Yuki turned to Riku, the both of them feeling apart from the conversation between Nagi and Aya.

"I really envy them." Yuki spoke, with a saddened look on her face. "They each know what it's like to love someone and be loved in return. As for me…there was a time when I thought it was the same with me, but as you know that was just an illusion."

Riku was silent for a minute, not sure what to say, and then spoke.

"That may be true, but there are still people who care for you." He said. "At the very least, Aya was and still is a true friend to you, and…" Riku paused, blushing a little before continuing. "I…consider you to be a friend as well."

Yuki smiled a little in gratitude as she realized Riku was trying to comfort her.

"Thank you…" She said. "And I'm sorry, for…"

"Hey, remember, I told you before there's no need for you to apologize to me." Riku replied with a carefree grin. "Since you're bound to me, technically I'm like your landlord so therefore it's my responsibility to make your stay as pleasant as possible."

Yuki blushed a little, but said nothing.

Aya then turned to Ceres, who was watching the various scenes between her and Shiso with an unreadable look on her face. Suddenly there was a flash and they were all standing on the beach they had been on earlier.

"So…" Aya began.

"That was the first time I felt those feelings..." Ceres spoke. "Up to that point, I had only thought of men as seed-planters...But I wanted to live with Mikagi forever."

There was another flash of light which then showed an image of Ceres (p), now pregnant and smiling with Shiso, immediately followed by an image of Ceres (p) and Shiso, happy with their new baby girl. That last image stayed for a moment, as Ceres seemed to find comfort in those memories, before fading away leaving the group back on the beach.

"...I understand...I mean, you both look so happy together." Aya spoke to Ceres. "But, we've got a problem here: is he really 'that' Shiso!"

"Aya's got a point." Nagi agreed. "I mean, the Shiso here and the Shiso now don't even feel the same. It's like they're two different people."

"I have to agree too." Riku said. "I've only heard about the Shiso of today, but after seeing him as he is here…"

"Even I find it hard to believe this is the same one that is causing everyone now so much trouble." Yuki spoke.

"Yeah, he's awfully kind and seems so nice...how did he turn into the Shiso I know?" Aya asked.

Suddenly Aya, Yuki, and Riku were each holding up a sign that had their theories, while Nagi sweat dropped at this.

Aya's: He hit his head.

Yuki's: He at something rotten.

Riku's: Someone brainwashed him using psychic powers.

(Idiots times three.) Nagi thought.

"So which one is it?" Aya asked, turning to Ceres.

(AN: Just to let you know, the humor for this chapter ends here. From here on it's dark and gloomy stuff galore until the tail end of this chapter)

"One day we went far from the village." Ceres began.

There was a sudden flash of light and the group was now standing in a forest far from the village from before. Both Ceres (p) and Shiso were being attacked by a group of four men; two of them had succeeded in overpowering Shiso while the other two held Ceres (p).

"While we were out, we were attacked by men from another tribe." Ceres said as the group watched the bandits finally knock out Shiso. Ceres (p) then immediately summoned her power and vaporized all four of the bandits with a single burst of power.

The scene before the group then shifted, to the house that Shiso, Ceres, and their family were living in.

"I'm sorry…" Shiso said miserably as Ceres (p) tended to his wounds. "I wasn't able to do anything to protect you…"

"It's all right." Ceres (p) replied gently. "Don't blame yourself like that…"

"I really am a sorry excuse for a man." Shiso said, ignoring her. "If I had only been stronger…if only I could have some sort of power to protect you and our children…"

Ceres (p) was silent for a moment as she stopped to consider something, and then with her mind made up, she spoke.

"Then I shall give you some." Ceres (p) said. "You who are pure of heart shall never be hurt again. It shall protect you."

Ceres (p) then reached over and placed her hands on Shiso's chest. Immediately her hands started to glow with celestial energy, and the celestial symbol appeared on Shiso's chest.

"My power can make thoughts real." Ceres (p) explained to Shiso. "If you think you can fly, you fly. If you hate someone, you can destroy him. We tennyo...in return for receiving man's seeds, we can give them some of our powers."

"Perhaps my decision was wrong in the end." Ceres spoke as the memory faded away. "I felt that what I was doing was the right thing, but...I had no idea that giving away my powers would begin such a tragedy..."

Aya looked like she was about to ask what Ceres meant, when the scene before them then shifted to the house again. Ceres (p) was standing in the main room of the house, preparing dinner, and suddenly turned as the door to the house opened.

"Mikagi, welcome h-…" Ceres stopped at the sight that greeted her. "Mikagi…"

Shiso stepped into the house covered in blood, but he didn't seem to notice it. He seemed to have an almost ecstatic expression on his face, mixed with one of deep satisfaction.

"I met those bastards…" Shiso spoke, and noticed Ceres' (p) confused expression. "The survivors of that group that attacked us, but don't worry, I killed every single one of them."

Shiso then smiled, as if the killing of those bandits had deeply satisfied him as well as pleased him.

"Your power is amazing Ceres!" Shiso exclaimed. "It's as if I have the power of a god inside me!"

Ceres (p) didn't say anything but the look on her face was both shocked and sad.

"With this power I'll become stronger and stronger for your sake!" Shiso promised, not noticing the expression on his wife's face.

There was a flash of light and the scene then changed to show shots of many battles in which Shiso was fighting at the very front of the men he was leading into battle, and in each one he seemed to mow down every enemy he fought with absolute ease, his face showing intense pleasure in it all.

"From that day on, my husband changed." Ceres said as each scene of battle unfolded. "As if just to show off his powers, he fought with other tribes...and other men would help him. Resulting in our tribe growing…"

"You obviously didn't condone this, so why didn't you try to stop him?" Yuki asked.

"I did try…" Ceres answered. "But I'm afraid my pleas fell on deaf ears…"

The scene in front of them then flashed to reveal Ceres (p) standing in front of Shiso, who was now dressed in finer looking clothes and wearing war paint.

"Please stop this, Mikagi!" Ceres (p) pleaded. "I know that you're not this kind of man. There's no need for you to use your power to show off or-."

Ceres (p) was cut off as Shiso reached out and slapped her aside.

"I'm doing all of this for you and the children!" Shiso shouted. "You came here and you gave me this power! I should use it as I see fit!"

(No…this isn't what I wanted…) Ceres (p) thought, her thoughts projected so Aya and co. could hear them.

"You are never to leave this house again!" Shiso commanded her. "I will not allow you to be seen by other men!"

The vision then faded out.

"I see…so that's how it turned out…" Riku mumbled, as he could see where this was going.

"I wonder if the reason I cooperated back then was because I was afraid of losing my power." Ceres said, almost to herself. "After all, I had been attached to it for so long…" Ceres was silent for a minute before continuing. "Not too long after that, we moved to a different house in order for me to bear our third child. After that…"

The scene in front of them then shifted to where they were now standing in the main hall of a large building. Ceres (p) was standing in front of Shiso, who was eating and drinking wine which was being served to him by one of many female servants in the room.

"Mikagi, where is my mana?" Ceres (p) asked, she looked noticeably weaker than in the previous visions as if she had been seriously ill recently. "Please return it to me; you know that it's my life."

Shiso said nothing, and barely seemed to notice what Ceres had said.

"Someday…that mana's going to steal you away from me…" Shiso spoke, with an odd and almost depraved look on his face. "I won't allow that…" He then reached over and grabbed Ceres' (p) wrists.

"Please, return it to me!" Ceres' (p) voice was now desperate. "If you don't I can't…"

Shiso ignored her, and then cut her off by forcibly kissing her, and as he forced Ceres (p) to the floor, one of the earrings that she had gotten from him years ago fell off and shattered on the floor. There was suddenly a flash of light and the group was now standing on the beach again. Aya, Nagi, Riku, and Yuki were silent with somber expressions on their faces at what they had just seen.

"I don't believe it would be…necessary…for you to see what happened then." Ceres said, sadly, and after a few minutes of silence continued. "After that I thought 'Where did he go?'. The man who loved me…no...maybe he never loved me...from the start..."

None of them, not Aya, Riku, Nagi, or Yuki knew what to say to Ceres, though all four of them both wished there was something they could say to dissuade her of that notion. Aya then looked like she was about to say something, but the scene then changed to show the outskirts of the village at night. Ceres (p) was being led up the road by her daughter while her son was carrying her baby as she was too weak to carry him while traveling. They were obviously traveling secretly.

"Mother, hurry!" Ceres' (p) daughter said as she led her mother up a path. "Let's go somewhere far away where father can't find us."

"Hey I know, let's find a ninja village and become ninjas!" The son suggested. "No one will find us there."

"I'm sure I'll be happy wherever I can take care of you three in peace." Ceres (p) smiled at her son and daughter.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Shiso's voice spoke from behind, causing them to turn and see Shiso standing behind them with an enraged look on his face. He was holding Ceres' (p) broken earring.

"How dare you desert me, even when I gave you…" Shiso stopped when his daughter stood protectively in front of Ceres (p) and her siblings.

"Father, please! Mother is getting weaker and weaker!" The daughter pleaded. "If this keeps up, mother can't-."

Shiso said nothing and then struck the girl aside, killing her.

"Sister!" The son screamed as the girl's lifeless body collapsed to the ground unmoving.

"Somewhere in my heart…" Ceres said to Aya and co. as Ceres (p) walked over to her daughter's body and examined it, her eyes widened in horror at what had just happened. "…I still believed in him. I sincerely believed that someday he would change back…"

"So the brat died, eh?" Shiso snorted, casting a small glance at the body of his daughter before looking back at Ceres. "I won't let even my children take you away from me…"

Ceres (p) then looked at Shiso and suddenly saw a silhouette of him as he was now and how he had been before she had given him her power.

"Come, Ceres." Shiso ordered.

Ceres (p) was silent for a moment and then stepped towards Shiso reaching her hand out towards him, or rather towards the image of who he had been before. Suddenly her eyes started to glow and large sparks of energy started to shoot out and emanate from her body.

"No!" Aya shouted, even though she knew she couldn't stop what was about to happen.

Ceres' (p) power then lashed out at Shiso, slashing him open in every part if his body, killing him.

(Those wounds…) Aya thought as she saw Shiso's torn up body collapse to the ground. (Just like those scars that appeared all over Aki's body when Shiso possessed him…)

"Ce…" Shiso tried to say and then his eyes clouded over as he died.

Ceres (p) looked at the body of her husband with a shocked expression on her face as she saw what she'd just done and then collapsed to the ground crying.

(This is not…what I wanted to happen…) Ceres (p) thought miserably. (Why…)

"I was stupid back then..." Ceres said as the vision vanished. "From then on, men were just seed-bearers to me..." Ceres then smiled bitterly. "I wonder now what good it is having a heart...that must have not been necessary to me...if my kind live, or exist, just produce descendants, then what good is-."

"STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!" Aya shouted, interrupting Ceres and surprising the others.

"You loved him…" Aya said. "You wanted love, didn't you?"

Ceres said nothing and only closed her eyes in sadness.

"Aya's right." Yuki agreed. "Even I could see that, before Shiso changed, I could see that the two of you were actually happy. That the two of you genuinely loved one another…unlike my case…"

"Yeah, you…" Nagi started.

"That's enough." Ceres interrupted. "All of you know what it is that you wanted, now leave me…"

Ceres then made a gesture and there was a large flash of light that engulfed Aya, Nagi, Riku, and Yuki. When the light was gone, Ceres was standing there alone.

"If one has no heart, surely one can't feel love or sorrow..." Ceres said to herself. "But still…even though I know it's better that way…back then I really thought...I wanted to love…"

Ceres then suddenly remembered what Shiso had said to her just before she had accepted his proposal.

(If I can be one with you, I'll give you everything...even my life.) Shiso's voice echoed in her mind.

As she remembered this, tears started to flow down Ceres' cheeks.

(Forever…I wanted to be loved.) Ceres thought to herself. (Back all those centuries ago, when my kind came to this planet, we thought this a glorious planet. Perfect men. We give them power...and knowledge, and they give us seeds. That is '**our'** mission; to be the opposing factor to Orochi, to promote human life. But **we** are not supposed to live for **that purpose alone…**What we really need is...what we really need is...)

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Riku opened his eyes to find himself lying on a couch in the living room. He glanced to the side to see that Nagi was coming out of his trance as well.

"You gave us a bit of a surprise there, Riku." Michael spoke as Riku got up. "It's a good thing I've seen something like that happen before with a friend of mine, otherwise the others would probably be in a panic right now."

"Oh, sorry about that." Riku said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, to make a long story short of what happened, Yuki felt I had to see what it was Nagi had to see Ceres about so she had to bring me to Ceres' mindspace suddenly."

"So what did you guys find out?" Yuhi asked.

"It looks like what Shiso told me was the truth." Nagi answered, and looked away from the others. "Do you think we could talk about this later? I need to get back to saving Aki…"

Tot could immediately that there was something wrong in how Nagi was acting.

"Are you…alright, Nagi?" Tot asked, concern on her face. "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing…well, it's something but…" Nagi wasn't sure how to answer her and turned away to avoid his girlfriend's glance. "I'll tell you later…"

"Hey, Nagi, I need to ask you something." Riku spoke, as Nagi got ready to dive into Aki's mind again. "Do you really intend to do what you were planning on doing to Shiso before, now that you know…?"

"That depends on what happens when I put him to a little test of mine." Nagi answered, and noticed Riku's confused expression. "I'll tell you when I get back."

Nagi then got into a meditative stance and focused on diving back into the mind of Aki Mikage.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

Aya sat across from her friend, Maya Hirobe, in her cell as she finished explaining a bit of what had happened earlier.

"Sheesh, you gave me a real scare there Aya." Maya spoke. "But still, who'd have thought the old legends had so much more behind them…"

"Yeah, I know…" Aya was silent, as she didn't want to talk too much about what Ceres had shown her, Nagi, Riku, and Yuki.

(But still, I wonder if Nagi can erase Shiso to free Aki if he has to.) Aya thought to herself. (I'm not sure if I could now after seeing what really happened with him and Ceres…)

Meanwhile: Aki/Shiso's Mind Space:

Nagi stood at the door to where Shiso was, hesitating to open it.

(The moment I go in I may end up having to erase this guy.) Nagi thought to himself. (If I can't turn him around…Oh well, I guess I'll have to deal with whatever happens and hope things work out for the best…but still, why am I still hesitating?)

Nagi then shook his head and pushed aside any feelings of hesitation aside, opened the door, and walked in.

As soon as he stepped into the room, Nagi could see that Shiso had seen him come in. He was still bound and gagged where he had been when Nagi had left him. Shiso looked at Nagi with a look of intense hatred, and Nagi could feel those emotions among others coming from the spirit. With a sigh, Nagi made a gesture and the gag that was around Shio's mouth vanished.

"So you're back?" Shiso said when the gag was removed. He then smirked at Nagi despite the chains that bound him. "Well, have you accepted the truth?"

Nagi looked at Shiso with a slightly saddened expression, feeling pity as well as slight disgust at the state Shiso was in compared to how he had been before he had received power from Ceres.

"You know, I feel sorry for you." Nagi spoke as if he hadn't heard Shiso. "You've been so corrupted by the power Ceres bestowed upon you that you never were able to see the pain you caused her and your own children when you became as you are now. If only you could see..."

"See? See what?" Shiso asked. "The power Ceres gave me was to protect her and my family; everything I did was for them. Ceres should have thanked me instead of going against me."

"If you were as you were before Ceres gave you your power, you wouldn't say such a thing." Nagi then looked at Shiso with a sad expression. "You were a good person then, you know. It almost sickens me to see how twisted you've become. That's why whenever Ceres sees you, all she can do is feel regret at what you are; because even though you've done all those horrible things, somewhere deep down inside, no matter how much she tries to deny it, she still loves you."

"Peh, what a bunch of rubbish." Shiso said. "Ceres, my woman, she betrayed me and..."

"The way you're talking about her, as if she were just a piece of property to you, it makes me sick." Nagi then looked at Shiso angrily. "How can you see someone who meant so much to you like that!"

There was a sudden flicker of something that looked like realization in Shiso's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

"Quit talking about things you don't know anything about, fool." He said.

"Oh I know about these things a lot better than you think. I have someone dear to me and I would never hurt her like how you did." Nagi then placed his hand on Shiso's forehead. "I'll put you to the test and make you truly see what you've done, and when I'm done we'll see which is the true you: the good man who Ceres loved, or the monster you've become."

There was a sudden surge of Nagi's will as he exercised the bit of telepathy he knew; he then began to shift through the memories in Shiso's mind. Shiso stiffened up as Nagi began to leech out the memories he was looking for.

(If I can remove the memories up to before Ceres gave him the power, maybe I can make him see the error of his ways.) Nagi thought as he watched Shiso's memories rewind quickly by until he finally reached the point he was looking for and stopped. Shiso then slumped to the ground.

(The only real question is, will this really turn this guy around and back to who he used to be?) Nagi asked himself. (Or for that matter, if it is successful what's supposed to happen then?)

After a few minutes, Shiso's head rose up. He then shook his head and got up. As he did, he noticed Nagi standing near him. Looking around briefly, he turned back to Nagi.

"Excuse me, young sir, but do you know where I am?" Shiso asked, his voice now polite and even friendly.

"We're inside your mind; your soul if you will." Nagi answered.

"My soul..." Shiso looked at Nagi curiously. "Are you a spirit?"

"No, I'm not. I'm a...friend of your wife's."

"I see. I guess that would explain how you this is happening. That would also explain why you're wearing such strange clothes and the way you're talking is a little…different from usual." Shiso observed. "What's your name?"

"Nagi Naoe. Don't worry, I know your name, fisherman Shiso of the Mikagi family." Nagi bowed slightly to show respect and Shiso did the same.

"You say you know my wife, but I never remember her mentioning you before."

"It's been a while since we've last talked." Nagi said quickly. "So how is Ceres?"

"She's doing very well actually. The two of us have been very happy since our marriage years ago." Shiso replied and then smiled. "Yesterday, she told me she was pregnant." He then rubbed the back of his head and smiled nervously. "To tell you the truth, I'm pretty nervous. I'm not really sure how to be a father, but I'm going to make sure to do the best I can do. After all, this child is practically the symbol of the love between Ceres and me, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure they both live happily."

The complete honesty in Shiso's statement immediately struck Nagi to the core.

(He...he really is being sincere about this.) Nagi thought. (He doesn't know what will happen soon and what will change him. And I have to show him his future...but why do I feel so guilty about doing this?)

"Is something wrong, Naoe-dono?" Shiso asked, noticing Nagi's troubled expression.

Nagi looked at Shiso, and then shook his head.

(I guess Crawford was right about what he told me once, that I was too soft.) Nagi thought to himself. (I can't keep this charade up any longer…)

"I'm sorry, Shiso." Nagi said regretfully. "But, I have to show you something. Something you won't like."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you and Ceres, but actually many years in the future, which has already occurred. I'm going to show you your future. The one of you and Ceres."

"Our future?" Shiso stepped back a little. "How do you know this?"

"You'll know why soon." Nagi could then see that from how his expression was, Shiso had a feeling that whatever it was Nagi had to show him was not going to be a good future and as such he wasn't very enthusiastic to see it. "I don't really want to show you this, Shiso, but I have to so please don't make this harder for either of us than it already is…"

Shiso was silent for a moment before speaking.

"Will whatever you have to show me…will it help Ceres?" He asked.

Nagi wasn't sure how to answer that, but nodded.

"Then I'll have a look at this future, then." Shiso said. "If it helps my wife, then I'll do this."

"Alright, now just sit down and I'll do the rest." Nagi instructed and Shiso nodded and did so.

Nagi then held out his right hand and extended his arm until the palm of his hand was right in front of Shiso' face. Nagi then concentrated on his telepathic skills, and as he did blue psychic energy already began to pulsate and glow in his hand, bathing Shiso's face in its blue radiance. Shiso half lifted his hand as if to push Nagi's hand aside.

"Don't touch it." Nagi warned him. "Just look."

But Shiso's eyes were already locked onto the pulsing blue light emanating from Nagi's hand as the light grew stronger and stronger. His hands gripped the edge of the floor he was sitting on so tightly that his knuckles grew white. For a long moment, he stared into that blue incandescence. Then, slowly, his fingers lost their grip, causing Shiso to lose his balance and fall over. As he got up, an expression of agony was across his face.

"I…this…isn't what I wanted…" He groaned, with tears welling out of his closed eyes. "I just wanted to have the strength to protect Ceres and our children…but somehow I…" Tears began to now stream down his contorted face as he looked down at his hands.

"These hands that I promised myself I would use to protect and support my loved ones with…" Shiso said miserably. "Instead I…I killed my own child…and what I did to Ceres…oh god, what have I become!"

Nagi looked over at the openly weeping man in front of him. He couldn't help but feel pity for Shiso now that he had made him realize everything that he had done.

"I'm sorry, Shiso." Nagi said quietly, lowering his hand. "I can't change what's already happened but you had to know the truth, or you would have only hurt Ceres more."

Shiso looked up at Nagi with a deeply sorrowful and haunted expression on his face.

"That I can thank you for." He said between sobs. "But I cannot thank you for what you have shown me."

The place was silent for a few minutes until Nagi reluctantly spoke.

"I know this isn't the best time to ask you this, but could you please release Aki now?" Nagi asked.

Shiso didn't say anything for a few minutes, but then nodded.

"Alright…" He said. "Even though this hardly begins to atone for my sins, I'll at least be able to right one of them…"

Shiso then got up and then made a gesture and suddenly Aki Mikage appeared next to him.

"You are free now, Aki." Shiso said. "I'm sorry for the hell I must have made your life, along with the lives of countless others. If either of you see Ceres again, tell her...I'm sorry." He then vanished, leaving the two of them alone.

After a few minutes of silence, Aki turned to Nagi.

"Hey, your name's Nagi, right?" He asked.

"Yes, but how do you…" Nagi began.

"Ever since Toya…" Aki stopped, not wanting to think about that. "Ever since then I've begun to get some control over my mind again, and I was able to see some of Shiso's memories, as well as dreams…"

"So you saw what I did, huh?"

"Yeah…" Aki's expression then became a little relaxed. "To be honest, I'm not really sure if I can hate or pity Shiso. I mean, he just wanted to protect the people he loved but somehow he ended up getting lost when Ceres gave him some of her power and…"

"The power somehow ended up poisoning his mind and warping him into what he was just a few minutes ago." Nagi finished, and then paused as he felt around in Aki's mind to find Shiso, but couldn't. "I can't find him anywhere…"

"That's because he's trying to do to himself what he did to me." Aki replied. "He's heading as far back into my mind as possible. I guess that's the next closest thing to dieing that he can do…"

(I guess I can't blame him for wanting that.) Nagi thought. (If I had done even a fraction of those things to Nanami and realized what I'd done...I probably would feel the same way.)

"Anyway, I guess I should thank you." Aki said and then his expression became saddened. "But I wish I could have done something to save Toya."

"We all have regrets, Aki." Nagi replied. "But we have to get through them. Just don't blame yourself for Toya's death; it wasn't your fault."

"I'm not really sure if I can face Aya after all that's happened though." Aki lowered his eyes slightly. "I wasn't able to protect her from Shiso, and I even asked for her to kill me if I failed at that…"

"Then just start over." Nagi then looked at Aki seriously. "Aki, you know Aya doesn't blame you for any of what happened, and now that you're free from Shiso you can just forget about what you asked her before. Besides, I'm sure she wants to see you again."

Aki was silent for a moment as he considered this and then spoke.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He said in agreement. "It's been a long time since either of us have seen or spoken to each other…"

"Then you should, Aki." Nagi's expression then grew slightly saddened. "The two of you are family so you should stick together to get through this. You're actually pretty lucky to have that…"

"I understand." Aki nodded. "Oh by the way, I was wondering, how exactly do you know Aya?"

"I'm an agent for FOXHOUND." Nagi answered. "My partners and I are assigned to protecting your sister and her friends."

"Hold on a minute, are you those guys from the Shadow Moses incident?" Aki's eyes widened in surprise. "I read a little bit about you guys in 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses' while I was doing a research project in school."

"Actually we're a reformation of that group." Nagi answered, and the realized something. "Actually, I think you should ask Aya more about this since it would probably be best if I left so the both of us can wake up on our respective sides."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Aki agreed.

Nagi was about to leave when he remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I should warn you, the Mikage base that you and Aya are being held in has been taken over by some soldiers from a rival group." He warned Aki. "I don't think they'll harm you, so just surrender and let them put you in one of the cells. My group and some allies will be launching a mission to rescue you, Aya, Alec, and any other C-Genomes held there shortly."

"All right, I'll do that." Aki nodded.

"Take care until then." Nagi made a gesture and there was a flash of light that enveloped Aki as, for the first time in almost a year, awoke.

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"So how did it go?" Riku asked Nagi as he came to.

"I was able to bring Aki back." Nagi answered, bringing relieved sighs from everyone in the room.

"Well that's definitely a relief to hear." Yuhi spoke. "At least now we won't have to worry about having to fight Shiso."

"True, but that's only 'one' enemy less that we need to deal with." Michael said. "While I agree that the loss of a powerful enemy is an advantage for us, we still need to deal with a small army of soldiers with special forces level training and experience; that's no laughing matter."

"Along with the fact that we still need to deal with Schwartz as well." Ran added. "Those guys will be more than enough of a problem."

"Well, that's what the importance of strategy is for." Michael said, and then pointed at his forehead. "Battles are won here, because even though even the best plans can go wrong, a well formulated strategy can be the deciding factor for whether or not the mission succeeds with your teammates coming out in one piece."

"True enough." Ran admitted, while the rest of Weiss, Riku, and Nagi nodded their agreement to that.

"Oh yeah, Omi, have you gotten those satellite photos yet?" Youji spoke, turning to Omi, who had finished typing on his laptop.

"Just finished." Omi said.

"Good, so that means the sooner we get a solid plan the sooner we can get the rescue and recovery mission underway." Ken spoke.

"Then when we rescue Aya, Aki, and Alec we can teach the bad guys a lesson, right Nagi?" Tot asked Nagi.

Nagi smiled slightly at Tot's eagerness to help, nodded, and then turned to Michael.

"Michael, is it alright if I take a little break for a while?" He asked.

"Go ahead, after all you've done today you need some rest." Michael answered with a smile, and Nagi nodded and left the room.

"Hey Michael, is it alright if I take a break too?" Riku spoke. "There's something important that I need to discuss with Nagi…"

"Go ahead." Michael replied, noticing that from the seriousness that reflected in Riku's eyes that this really was an important matter and not just an excuse to take a rest.

"Thanks…" Riku then got up and left the room.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

Aki Mikage slowly opened his eyes to find himself strapped in the same chair that had been used before on him by the Mikage when they were trying to bring Shiso's personality out of him. He then turned his head over to see Alec over in the observational part of the lab.

"Alec…Alec it's me Aki!" Aki called out to his friend, causing Alec to turn to him.

"Aki…is that really you in there?" Alec spoke, this time trying to make sure this wasn't a trick.

"Yes, this time it's really me and not Shiso." Aki replied. "I managed to get free, so…"

"Hey doc, I'm not sending anyone in there unless you can say without a doubt this kid's who you say he is." One of the two soldiers keeping watch over Alec spoke, looking at Aki nervously.

"Alright, let's see…" Alec paused for a moment to think of something.

"Hey Alec, to prove I'm me here's some stuff only I'd know." Aki spoke. "I know you're still trying to beat all of the missions for Guilty Gear X2, along with Heaven or Hell mode for Devil May Cry 3. Also your favorite game girl is Shiori from Tokimeki Memorial."

Alec nodded, satisfied and convinced now, and turned to the guards.

"That's definitely Aki Mikage in there so your men don't have to worry." He said confidently, causing the soldiers to sweat drop.

(Are all people in this country gamers or something?) One soldier wondered.

"Alright, but just to be safe I'll notify Commander Shade." Another soldier spoke and turned to the other soldier with him. "You, go in and keep an eye on the kid; I'll join you when Commander Shade arrives."

The soldier, who had been the only survivor of the three soldiers who had been assigned to the lab when Shiso had broken free, could only groan and pray that this time this was the real Aki.

(This job sucks.) He thought as he cautiously entered the area Aki was in. The other soldier then turned to Alec.

"Well doctor, if this kid is actually the Mikage kid then you can finally have a good long break in your cell, and I can finally get assigned to a better duty than this." The soldier spoke.

"What about Aki?" Alec asked.

"We'll probably move him to where we're keeping the other Mikage twin and keep him there until the higher ups tell us what to do next." The soldier answered and then reached for his radio. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

(Oh well, at least Aki's finally back and should be safe for now. I just hope our cells aren't too uncomfortable.) Alec thought to himself, and then almost smiled when he remembered something. (Good thing I still have my PSP in my pocket, now I can finally beat Darkstalkers!)

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence: Garden:

Nagi sat on the porch area for the garden for the house deep in thought. For some reason, he couldn't shake the images from before out of his mind, of how Shiso had looked when he realized the truth and the emotions Nagi had felt coming from him.

(I completely destroyed him…didn't I?) Nagi thought to himself. (I know that Shiso was my enemy, and in the end I had no choice…but why do I still feel guilt?)

Even while asking himself this, Nagi already knew the answer to that question.

(It's because in the end, I could see some of myself in Shiso…) He thought.

"Care to tell me what's bothering you, Nagi?" Riku's voice called out from behind him, causing Nagi to turn around to see Riku leaning against the wall behind him. Nagi smiled a little, he had at first been startled by how his friend just seemed to appear out of nowhere at times, but after going through this for about a week he had gotten used to Riku's entrances and exits (or appearing and disappearing into thin air).

"It's not really all that big a thing, Riku." Nagi answered. "I was just thinking a little on everything with Shiso…"

"Let me guess, you're feeling guilty at whatever it was you did to him." Riku assumed. "Look, I won't say anything like 'you did what you had to do' or something like that. You've probably been telling yourself that ever since you got back."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because that was what I kept telling myself the first time I killed someone." Riku then smiled, despite the seriousness of what he had just said. "But let's not get to that, this isn't about me…"

"Riku, you saw how Shiso was before he received Ceres' power." Nagi's eyes lowered in sadness. "He was a good man then…someone who truly cared for those dearest to him and wanted to protect them. Yet somehow, the power he received poisoned his mind, and warped that desire to protect Ceres into some kind of twisted obsession…"

"As the saying goes 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'." Riku quoted.

"Exactly…And when I used my powers to make Shiso realize what he'd done…I destroyed him…completely." Nagi lowered his head. "I made him see for himself that, by his own hands, he had lost and destroyed everything he loved. In fact, after Shiso released Aki, he retreated as far back into Aki's mind as he possibly could, he's probably trying everything he can to make himself disappear from existence."

"Tragic, huh?"

"Tragic only begins to describe it. In that guy's eyes he probably thinks Ceres hates him now. If I look at that, I think anything would be preferable to that, even death."

"What do you mean?"

"Looking at it from my perspective, if I somehow did something that hurt Nanami, and she ended up hating me…" Nagi was silent for a moment before continuing. "To be hated by the one who means the most to you…it would completely destroy me."

"What are you talking about?" Tot's voice spoke from behind the two of them. "I could never hate you, Nagi."

Riku and Nagi turned to see Tot come out from behind a door. She had an almost guilty look on her face as she did.

"Nanami…how long have you been there?" Nagi asked her.

"Long enough…" Tot/Nanami answered. "So Shiso used to be a good person and that's why Ceres married him, but something happened later and Shiso became a bad person, is that right?"

"Yeah, and in the end Ceres killed him." Riku spoke, causing Tot/Nanami to gasp at that. "And for centuries, possibly even millennia, those two have been caught in time that way. Both being endlessly reincarnated…"

"With Shiso stuck in that twisted obsession and Ceres' love for him practically turning to hate, even though a part of her probably still loves him, the Shiso of before." Nagi added.

"Well, since it sounds like you turned Shiso back into a good person why don't you just go and tell him to tell Ceres that he's sorry?" Tot/Nanami suggested. "I'm sure they can work things out if they really love each other."

"It's not that simple, Nanami." Riku said. "Not with all that's happened between them…"

"What he means is that neither of them can just go back to how things were for them before, and even though Shiso now realizes what he's done, he probably feels that he doesn't deserve a second chance to start over so he's gone into the back of Aki's mind to try and disappear." Nagi explained. "And Ceres…I don't even know what she really wants in the end. But there are probably too many wrongs for her to forgive…"

"But that's so sad…" Tot/Nanami objected, with a saddened expression on her face. "Can't we do something about it?"

"I'm afraid the only ones who can really resolve this are Ceres and Shiso." Riku spoke. "There's nothing we can do…"

The three of them were silent for a moment, when Riku suddenly turned to Nagi.

"Nagi, I know what you're probably thinking." He said to his partner and friend seriously. "Since you probably saw a bit of yourself in Shiso with how he wanted to protect Ceres, you're probably afraid that your own power may corrupt you and…" One look at Nagi, told Riku he didn't need to finish.

Riku didn't say anything for a moment and then continued.

"Look Nagi, don't let that get to you. Despite some similarities, you and Shiso are still two completely different people. Also, you've been born with your power and it wasn't just given to you so you're used to it." Riku said. "But if this helps, there's something Greg told me one time that reminds me of this. He said that it was important to 'Treasure your weakness. Because strength without anyone to protect, is but a foolish one that will only lead to self destruction.'."

(Treasure your weakness, huh?) Nagi glanced over at Tot/Nanami, and fought the urge to smile. (Well, I guess my major weakness would be Nanami…and I'm sure that's one weakness I treasure the most.)

Riku paused before continuing.

"From how it looks, Shiso ran away from his weakness and hid behind power." He continued. "And that's how it corrupted him, because that power wasn't used to protect anyone in the end…"

"That does make sense…" Nagi spoke, and then smiled. "You know this Greg sounds like he's a pretty wise person. I really look forward to meeting him someday."

"Heh, I'm sure Greg would like to have heard that." Riku said with a laugh. (Though if you ask me he'd probably fall into the area of 'wise guy' better than 'wise man'.)

"By the way Riku, do you use that same idea to keep yourself in check?" Nagi asked him.

"I follow the way of the ninja, or more specifically my way of the ninja." Riku answered. "But in all honesty, what Greg said pretty much falls in line with my ninja way. I became a ninja to protect my loved ones, so without anyone to protect, I'm pretty much just a ninja wannabe."

"I see…" Nagi said.

"Anyway, I'd better go back and tell Michael and everyone else the truth behind the whole 'Celestial Legend'." Riku said as he got up. "I'll leave the two of you alone for now…"

Nagi was about to get up and follow Riku and say that wasn't necessary, but Tot/Nanami stopped him.

"Hey, you promised me that you'd take a rest after you saved Aki." Tot/Nanami said, with a slightly miffed look on her face.

"Nanami it's alright, I'm fine re-." Nagi started, but she cut him off.

"But Garland said that it was important that you don't push yourself too much." Tot/Nanami said firmly. "So I'm going to make sure that happens."

"But…" Nagi began.

"No buts." Tot/Nanami interrupted.

Nagi was about to say something, but then decided not to since he knew Tot/Nanami was just worried about him and was trying to be helpful.

"Okay Nanami, I will." Nagi said, and then smiled at her. "Actually, would it be alright if you stayed here with me? I think it would be easier for me to relax if you're with me."

That last statement caught Tot/Nanami by surprise, causing her to blush, but she quickly nodded and sat next to Nagi.

"And Riku, shouldn't you be going now?" Nagi spoke, glancing over at his grinning friend who hadn't moved very far from where he had gotten up.

"Okay, okay, I'm going." Riku said and then left the garden to leave his two friends alone to themselves.

(You really do care for those two, don't you?) Yuki spoke to Riku in his mind as he left, causing him to stop where he was in the hallway.

(They're my partners and friends, so of course I do care for them.) Riku replied.

(Still I wonder, what exactly is a friend?) Yuki asked. (I'm afraid I didn't have very many friends when I was alive, aside from Aya…"

Due to their bond, Riku could feel an intense sadness as well as the loneliness he had felt from Yuki before behind that statement. He then remembered something and smiled a little.

(Actually Yuki, this reminds me of something I talked with my friend and sensei, Garland Durev, about.) Riku spoke.

Flashback: 1 Year Ago (2011): FOXHOUND HQ:

Riku and Garland sat down in the lobby area for FOXHOUND HQ. They had just finished training and were taking a break.

"Hey Riku, can you define friendship?" Garland spoke, surprising Riku.

"Well…I guess." Riku answered. "Why are you asking?"

"You obviously look upon your fellow recruits like Greg, Linn, Michael, James, and me as friends so I was wondering what your definition of friendship is." Garland replied.

Riku could sense that this question was more of a question to test him about something, so he stopped to consider this. After a few minutes, he spoke.

"Well…I guess someone who cares and also supports." Riku answered.

"Not a bad answer. But this is how I see it." Garland said. "Anyone who's only around in happy times is not a friend. When you're really suffering, or struggling, just giving you a pep talk isn't enough either. A friend is someone who can tell you honestly all that's not good about you...don't you agree?"

"What's not good about you…a friend?" Riku asked in reply, a little confused.

"Between true friends, there is no need to watch how you act; see how they respond." Garland answered. "A person who can't criticize you honestly doesn't deserve to be called a friend. That's just an acquaintance. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I can see what you mean." Riku smiled a little. "Especially since you and Michael help give me more than enough criticism of my skills during training, but in the end it helps me learn enough so I don't get myself killed on a mission."

"That's a good example there." Garland agreed.

End Flashback…

Present:

(I see…) Yuki said. (So I guess that really does make Aya my first real friend. I just wished I had listened to her before…)

Riku was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. A thought then occurred to him.

(Hey Yuki, I just thought of something.) He said. (Since you're a spirit bound to me, maybe after this mission I can give you a day where you can be you again for a while.)

(What do you mean?)

(My dragons can, if they want, assume a substantial version of their human form outside of me if I either let them out or they decide to come out on their own. It uses up quite a bit of my chakra though and the limit is only one spirit for twenty four hours.) Riku smiled. (If you want, I can do that for you and you can have a day to yourself where, well…you can do whatever you want.)

(But…won't that inconvenience you?) Yuki asked, almost objecting. (I mean, well…won't losing all that chakra…)

(Yuki, I've done this before with every dragon spirit with the exception of Setsuna, and that was to train with them. This meant fighting while my chakra was draining away, and remember, this was done for twenty four hours.) Riku answered. (If I can do all that, then I'll be just fine doing it on a day I'm resting at ease.)

Yuki was silent for a moment and then spoke.

(Alright I accept then.) She said.

(Good, so that would be reason enough for us to hurry and get this mission done then.) Riku replied. (Well, I'd better go and tell everyone about what we learned from Ceres…)

(Of course…) Yuki then lapsed into her own thought. (Why couldn't I have met you earlier? Before all this started…If I had…)

(Huh, did you say something?) Riku asked, apparently he'd heard a bit of the thought.

(Uh…no, nothing, just thinking to myself.) Yuki answered, quickly. If she had been visible to Riku, he would have seen her blushing.

Riku nodded and then headed for the living room so he could tell Michael and the others what he, Yuki, Aya, and Nagi had seen from Ceres.

AN: And that concludes chapter 26! Boy was this hard to write too. Going through writer's block was one thing, but writing a dark chapter was tough especially since I've been in a pretty cheery mood lately (I just got the new PSP with my birthday money and have finally began Metal Gear Acid!), and it's tough to write dark stuff when you're in a happy mood (I had to listen to some pretty sad music to get that done)oh well, at least things weren't so dark at the end of the chapter). Anyway, enough about that though.

As you can probably guess, I'm not going to have Aki die at the end of Ceres so expect him to have a pretty major part later in this story. Also, Shiso is going to show up later on as well (you'll see soon enough). Anyway until the next chapter…

Oh yeah here are some Easter Eggs:

One, Nagi's using his telepathy on Shiso was based on a scene in chapter 2 of the book The Demon Lord of Karanda, by David Eddings. I couldn't help that since The Belgariad/Mallorean series is one of my all time favorite novels and I highly recommend it.

Two, the flashback scene with Riku and Garland is based off a scene between Cage Midwell and Yukito of the game Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars for the GBA. Now that's a game I recommend to any ZOE fan because it offers a nice side story to the ZOE storyline (besides the ZOE anime).

Well, that's all for now folks, so please R and R.


	28. Chapter 27: Preparing for Battle

AN: Here we are at Chapter 27 folks, hope you enjoy this one. Sorry for taking a while to update, but college has certainly been keeping me busy. Anyway, this chapter's going to be more of a filler chapter for what's to come but it should have enough to keep you all satisfied until I can begin the mission part for this story arc. To Shardclaw, I'm sure you'll like this chapter since I'm going to show a few of the moves for Weiss that you provided (big thanks for making those moves so well and so quickly) and that should provide a small taste of the action to come, and to GreyWolf4, I'm sure you'll like the tail end for this chapter (and get ready, cause Riku and co.'s fight with Shade is only a couple of chapters away). Also I think you'll like a scene in this chapter with Michael and one of the members of Weiss.

Disclaimer: See past disclaimers.

Chapter 27: Preparing for Battle

Aogiri Residence:

It took Riku a little over an hour to tell Michael, Yuhi, Chidori, Suzumi, Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi about what he, Nagi, and Aya had learned inside of Ceres' mind space. When he had finished, everyone in the room was in stunned silence at what they had heard.

"Gosh…I've read quite a bit about the tennyo legends, but I never thought that was how it actually was." Michael spoke, breaking the silence. He then turned to Riku. "I've got to admit that I'm a bit envious that you got to see an actual vision of ancient Japan." Michael's expression then grew a bit sorrowful. "But I must say…what happened between Ceres and Shiso…that's the definition of a tragic story."

"Yeah no kidding." Chidori said in agreement. "I feel sorry for the both of them…"

The room was silent again for a moment until Ran spoke.

"I do agree that everything that happened before is by far the definition of unfortunate, for that matter so does everyone else in this room." He said seriously. "However, the fact of the matter is that there isn't anything we can do about it. As cold as it sounds, we should focus on the mission now instead of this."

"Much as I hate to agree with our fearless leader, I'm afraid he's right." Youji admitted, and turned to Michael. "Well, what's the plan, Mr. Strategist?"

"First let's wait for Nagi and Tot to arrive." Michael replied. "It's important that everyone involved in this mission be here for the briefing."

"I'll go get them." Riku volunteered and got up.

"Oh one more thing, Riku." Michael called after him, causing Riku to stop. "Shouldn't you have your grandmother bring Maya back now?"

"Actually Michael, I was thinking it might actually be a good idea if Maya stayed where Aya was." Riku spoke. "I mean since Maya has a codec we'll be able to stay in contact with her, also when we're in the base we can track her via the codec's signal so we can get to where Aya is being held quicker."

Michael stopped to consider this and then spoke.

"That's not a bad idea, and since Maya will be in the cell with Aya, she should be safe from harm." He said in agreement. "But still, call Maya and make sure she's fine with this, alright?"

"No problem." Riku replied and left the room. As he walked down the hall, he stopped and reached for his codec.

(I'd better call Grandma and tell her to be ready to go and get Maya just in case.) He thought. He then entered Kagero's frequency and began the call. Riku waited for a minute until he got a 'No Response' on his codec screen.

(I guess she must have turned hers off.) Riku thought. (Well, I hope Maya's planning on staying with Aya; better call her now and tell her then.)

As Riku selected Maya's frequency, a thought came to mind.

(But still, I wonder what's going on that would make Grandma have her codec off.) He thought to himself.

Meanwhile: Somewhere in Japan:

Kagero was walking through a forested area stealthily and cautiously as she made her way to where the person she was supposed to meet was at. She didn't make a single sound as she moved.

After a few minutes, Kagero's eyes came towards an obstacle that would have been invisible to the untrained eye, however her many years of experience as a kunoichi (female ninja) had trained her to spot these sorts of traps. What was before her were several lines of trip wire, each one set to trigger its own sort of trap.

(Wires, huh?) Kagero thought to herself with a smile. (This shouldn't be too hard, I could probably get through these half asleep.)

As Kagero took a step forward to have a little exercise with these traps, she stopped, suddenly noticing something else. Hidden among the trees and brushes were several infrared sensors that were obviously there to act as either a backup in case the wires failed, or the wires were a diversion and the sensors were the real traps. Kagero bit back a chuckle at this.

(It looks that this new addition is proof that you're here, old friend.) She thought with a fond smile. (I guess I was right to have a look at this training area first, after all this was a favorite of ours back then…)

Kagero then reached into a pocket that was in her typical black dress and took out a pouch. She opened it, took out a fistful of a white powder, and then hurled it in the direction of the sensors. The scattered powder temporarily made the sensors' beams visible for a few seconds, but that was more than enough time for Kagero to commit all of that to memory. After taking a moment to make sure there were no other hidden traps, Kagero then began to make her way through.

(With all this extra work you're giving me, you'd better be there Yukimura.) Kagero thought as she avoided a wire and then a beam with hardly any effort.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base: Aya's Cell:

"Yes, of course I'll stay here with Aya." Maya spoke to Riku over the codec. "Besides, she'll need someone to keep her safe while she's being held here, right?"

"If you want, I could send Youji or Ken over to where you are to help you with that." Riku offered.

"No it's alright, you guys shouldn't divide up anymore than you should." Maya replied. "I can protect Aya fine by myself."

"You sure?" Riku asked and then realized something. "Hey wait a second, you're not even…"

"Armed?" Maya finished. "Don't worry about that, Riku. If something happens, I've got something that will help better than any weapon you could give me, also…" Maya hesitated before continuing. "I don't think I could use a gun in battle like you guys can. Shooting at a target in VR is one thing, but to actually aim and fire at another human being…I'm sorry, but…"

"I understand. There's no need to be ashamed about not wanting to kill someone." Riku said. "But still, what are you planning to do to protect Aya?"

"I can release the white dog now, at will." Maya answered, almost reluctantly.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, from Riku, because he knew what had happened with Maya when her powers had awakened, and from Maya because of the unpleasant memories from before.

"Are you sure?" Riku spoke.

"Yes I am." Maya replied with a nod, trying not to face Riku. "I didn't want to tell you guys this because I didn't want to worry you, but ever since I joined with all of you I could feel my powers. They want to emerge…"

"I see…" Riku wasn't sure what to say regarding this, so he decided to change the subject. "Well, it's probably unlikely anything will happen, unless they decide to move Aya to a different cell. If that happens, please tell us."

"Alright." Maya nodded

"Oh yeah, do you have enough food for the time being?"

"Those Calorie Mates and ramen noodles you gave me are more than enough for the both of us."

"Alright then, I'll talk to you later." Riku nodded and ended the transmission.

Meanwhile, Aya, who had been lying down on the cell cot to rest, suddenly heard a door in the outer hallway open and then went over to her cell door to look out through the door's window. A minute later, she suddenly saw her brother Aki being led down the hall by a pair of heavily armed soldiers; the man in black known as Shade was right behind them. Aya would have called out to Aki, but didn't because she wasn't sure if it was him or not. The soldiers then stopped in front of the cell next to hers.

"Put him in that cell for now and keep it locked, we can't afford to have this one running loose." Shade ordered, and the soldiers nodded, opened the cell door, and roughly shoved Aki into the cell before quickly closing it.

"Alright, you may return to your posts now." Shade said and the soldiers left. As they were Shade glanced over to Aya's cell, and she quickly ducked away from the window to avoid being seen by him. After a moment Shade turned and left the hallway

Aya waited until she was sure no one else was in the hallway before going back to the door window.

"Aki…Aki!" Aya called out to her twin. A minute later she heard him speak.

"Aya, where are you?" He asked.

"In the cell next to yours." Aya answered, and sighed with relief. "I'm glad that you're finally yourself again, Aki."

"Yeah…" Aki said in agreement, and was silent for a minute before sighing. "Aya…I'm sorry…it's my fault that Toya died. I…"

"Aki, don't…" Aya spoke. "What happened wasn't your fault; there wasn't anything you could have done."

"I know but still…Toya was my friend and I also know that the two of you loved each other…" Aki said miserably. "Knowing that, I can't help but feel responsible in some way."

"Aki…" Aya decided to change the subject to try and cheer her brother up. "Hey, I've got some good news for you that I'm sure you'll like to hear."

"What's that?"

"In about six months, you're going to be an uncle." Aya smiled as she pictured what her brother's reaction would be. "How's that for good news?"

"NANI! You mean that you're…you're pregnant!" Aki was almost too surprised to say anything else.

"Heh, from your reaction I really wish I could see the look on your face right now." Aya grinned.

"Very funny." Aki said sarcastically. "Anyway, could you tell me what's going on right now? The soldiers here don't look like any of the people from the Mikage, and that guy in black doesn't look like any of Kagami's people. Also, this kid named Nagi said that he was from a group called FOXHOUND, which according to him is a reformation of the one from Shadow Moses."

"Then get comfortable Aki, there's a lot that I'm going to be telling you." Aya said. "Alright, I'll start by telling you what happened while we were separated…"

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Ran and Tot were standing a few feet away from each other, their swords drawn and ready. Nagi was sitting on the sidelines to watch the two as they sparred. After a moment where neither blade user did anything, it was Ran who made the first move.

"Sakura Mankai Slash!" Ran shouted as he threw an energy wave from his sword composed of sakura blossoms at Tot, who immediately countered it.

"Water Snake!" Tot swung her sword in a slashing motion, sending a snake like apparition made of water directly at Ran's incoming attack.

The two projectiles collided sending a shower of water and cherry blossoms around the two fighters. The moment the cherry blossoms touched the ground, Tot dashed towards Ran with her Muramasa drawn out in front of her to defend herself from any attack Ran made.

Ran immediately recognized Tot's 'Blossom Shelter' defensive technique, and immediately picked a move to try and break through her defense. He quickly leaped towards his incoming opponent, slightly surprising Tot since she wasn't expecting a completely direct attack like this.

"Penance Strike!" Ran then swung his sword in a haymaker slash, which Tot quickly blocked with her sword. She was about to make a counter attack when Ran suddenly leaped a short distance back away from her by pushing the blade of his katana against hers, causing Tot's defensive position to falter, which was enough to give Ran the opening he needed.

"Wild Dash!" Ran charged at Tot to ram his shoulder into her in order to knock her down. Tot quickly leaped out of the way, at the same time using her free hand to grab the Kuchibashio madogu.

"Rabbit's Feet!" Tot threw the madogu at Ran, who barely dodged the incoming madogu.

Ran quickly grabbed the chain part for the madogu and yanked it as hard as he could, causing Tot to lose her balance. He then dashed forward, and a second later he was standing in front of Tot with the blade of his katana pressed against her neck.

"The duel is mine." Ran spoke.

"Nope, it's actually a tie, Ran." Tot corrected him and made a gesture downwards.

Ran looked and saw that the blade for Tot's Muramasa was pressed against his lower chest area.

(I see, she must have realized what I was going to do the moment I made her lose her balance.) Ran thought to himself. (If this had been a real fight to the death, she probably would have slashed me open as I cut her throat.)

"Well, you're right." Ran conceded and then withdrew his sword and put it back in its sheath. Tot got up and sheathed her sword as well.

"That was pretty good fight." Ran commented. "Your sword skills really are very well tuned, though there is some room for more improvement."

"Thank you, actually my sensei Tokiya Mikagami still has more to teach me." Tot replied. "He says my moves are still too reckless to be considered true Hyoumon-ken, whatever he means by that."

"True, but our fight has helped me in modifying some of my techniques in order to strengthen them." Ran then smiled. "And the next time we spar, I'll be the winner."

"Don't be so sure, I'll definitely improve by then." Tot said confidently. "There's no way I'm going to lose a match in front of my Nagi."

"Tot…" Nagi blushed a little.

Suddenly Riku appeared, ninja style, next to where Nagi was, and started clapping.

"Nice display of swordsmanship." He said to Ran and Tot. "I've got to admit, I'm impressed with how the two of you were able to practice with your actual blades without injuring each other."

"Actually Riku, we were having Nagi use his psychic powers to block any damage that could be inflicted by the blades' edge." Ran spoke. "I suggested the idea to him that if he could use his psychic abilities to create barriers, then maybe he could do something like this."

"I thought it was a good idea since it gives all three of us an opportunity to train." Nagi said. "It helps me in focusing and improving my powers defensive wise, while Tot and Ran sharpen their sword skills."

"Sounds like a fair exchange to me." Riku said. "Anyway, where's Ken, Youji, and Omi?"

"Youji's taking a bit of a rest before doing some more training." Ran answered. "Omi's using an empty storage room as a target range to improve his accuracy, and Ken's over there training." Ran then gestured over to the farther off corner of the garden.

Riku turned to see Ken standing in front of some wooden training dummies that already had a number of slash marks all over them. He was wearing a typical martial arts training outfit, and the gloves that held his retractable claws. Suddenly, the claws came out of the gloves and Ken made a sudden and quick dash towards one of the dummies.

"Dash Cut!" Ken shouted as he made powerful knockdown slash on the dummy, the force causing the pole it was on to snap and at the same time the claws left a series of long and deep gashes in the upper and lower chest part of the dummy.

Riku's eyes widened slightly as he saw both the power as well as the accuracy of Ken's attack.

"Man, I do not want to be on the receiving end of those claws." He spoke.

"I don't blame you for saying that." Ran said in agreement. "Trust me, I've seen how much damage those claws can do."

"Which is one reason why I'm glad we're now on the same side." Nagi spoke, and then turned to Riku. "Hey, where's Yuhi at, shouldn't he be doing a little last minute training for tomorrow's mission?"

"He is, Michael's giving him a bit of a run through of training." Riku answered and smiled. "Trust me, a little training with some martial arts styles like the one used by General Heidern, and the other members of the Ikari team, should help for tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, what about Chidori?" Tot spoke. "Since she's coming with us…"

"Tot, does Chidori look like someone who's an expert with martial arts?" Riku asked.

"Well…" Tot stopped to think for a minute. "I guess not."

"Don't worry too much though, it's not like she's not going to be armed." Ran spoke. "She's also going to be wearing some body armor for protection as well. Not to mention Yuhi's probably going to guarding her as best he can."

"Oh yeah, and if you're wondering where Chidori is, she and Suzumi are off doing something they said was important." Riku said. "Well, I'd better get to training too."

Meanwhile: Room:

"Not bad at all, Aogiri-san." Michael commented to Yuhi as they finished the first part of their training session. "Your martial arts style is pretty good, but it needs some improvement." Michael then smiled as he and Yuhi sat down to rest. "But still, you use a very unique fighting style. You're the first fighter I've met who uses chopsticks as a weapon."

"Thanks, I think." Yuhi replied. "Anyway, thanks for accepting my request to give me some training, I really appreciate it. Also, you can call me Yuhi if you want."

"Alright, Yuhi." Michael nodded, and the two of them shook hands.

Suddenly the door to the room they were using for training opened and Youji walked in, he then turned to where Michael and Yuhi were.

"So this is where the two of you went to train." Youji spoke. "Not a bad idea, this room does kind of look like part of an old dojo." Youji then turned to Michael. "Anyway, I'm curious; Riku told me you were trained by General Heidern and the rest of the Ikari team, right?"

"Yes, I have." Michael answered. "I've also trained with some others too."

"Yeah, Riku told me you were also acquainted with the famous Terry Bogard as well." Youji then grinned. "I guess that means you've also trained with him too right?"

"More like sparred with him, but yes we have occasionally trained together." Michael replied.

"That's great to hear." Youji said. "Anyway, I was wondering if we could do a bit of sparring. What do you say?"

"I'd be honored." Michael replied with a smile, since he could tell just from appearance that Youji wasn't an amateur when it came to martial arts. "Just give me a few minutes to rest since I just finished training with Yuhi."

"No problem, man, take your time." Youji then took out his pack of cigarettes and lighter and then lit up.

"You do realize those things are practically lung cancer waiting to happen." Yuhi commented to Youji, causing him to grunt a little in irritation.

"It's my heaven, kid, or at least one of them." Youji replied. "Don't disturb it."

Michael had to restrain a chuckle since this smoking debate reminded him a little of how Naomi and Otacon were towards Snake when it came to smoking.

"Hey, it's not funny." Youji said as he blew out a puff of smoke, having noticed Michael's trying not to laugh.

"Sorry, this just reminds me of a colleague of mine." Michael replied. "Anyway I was wondering, what type of fighting style do you use?"

"Besides my wires, my style is Shotokan karate." Youji answered. "Black belt level."

"Well, that's impressive, I look forward to our match." Michael smiled politely.

Michael sat where he was for a few minutes to regain his strength while Youji continued smoking, and then got up.

"Alright I'm ready, let's begin." Michael spoke as he got up. Youji grinned and tossed his cigarette to the floor then crushing it with his shoe to put it out.

The two of them then walked till they were a few feet from each other.

"Tanoshiku yarou ze (Let's have fun with this)." Youji said with a grin as he got into a fighting stance.

"Ii shiai ni shimashou (Let's make this a good fight)." Michael said with a bow as he too got into a fighting stance.

The two of them just stood there for a minute, studying one another and deciding what their next move would be. Then Michael made the first move, making a dash towards Youji, who instinctively got into a defensive stance, expecting a rush attack. Youji's eyes widened in surprise as Michael suddenly slid under him instead of attacking. The blonde assassin, barely had any time to react as Michael executed his attack.

"Sliding Blade!" Michael shouted as he executed a slashing roundhouse kick on Youji's unprotected back. The blow knocked him over, but Youji quickly used his hands to flip over and get back on his feet, he then saw Michael come at him and quickly brought his arms up in a guard stance to guard against the next attack.

"Gunner Blow!" Michael then made two punches at Youji, who blocked the blows with his arms, and then finished with an uppercut, knocking Youji back a little.

"Not bad, your defensive stances are quite solid." Michael commented to Youji with a friendly smile. "Now let's see some of your own skills."

"Don't worry, Mr. Strategist, you'll see soon enough." Youji replied, smiling too since he was enjoying this. "And I admit you're pretty good yourself."

"Thank you, but don't think a compliment will get me to go easy. You won't be able to defend against this next one." Michael then leaped into the air, and suddenly began to spin in mid air and descend towards Youji. "Venom Kick!"

Youji immediately saw that Michael was correct about him not being able to defend against this move and quickly threw a wire off to the side and used it to glide away from Michael's attack.

As he was using his 'Smooth Sailing' move to evade Michael, Youji kept an eye on him, waiting for Michael's feet to touch the floor ending the attack. As soon Michael did, Youji saw his chance.

"Triangle Jump Kick!" Youji shouted as he kicked off the nearest wall and then executed a successful knockdown kick on Michael, and then leaped away as he knew Michael would quickly recover from the attack.

Michael quickly leaped to his feet and prepared for Youji's next attack.

Youji waited until the moment Michael got up since he assumed Michael would have a defense vulnerability then and then made a leap towards him to perform a charging flying kick on Michael.

"Chivalrous Kick!" Youji shouted, but Michael had been expecting an attack and quickly rolled aside from the kick. He then used his legs to securely grab Youji's head in mid air.

"Steel Trap!" Michael shouted as he used his legs to spin Youji around and then slammed him onto the floor. After a moment when Youji didn't try to get up, Michael then lifted up his legs and released his hold on Youji. Suddenly Youji's hands shot up and grabbed a firm hold on Michael's legs.

"I won't go down that easy." Youji smirked as he quickly got up, spinning Michael over, and then hurled him into the air. Youji then leaped into the air after his opponent.

"Aerial Reverb Kick!" Youji then executed a quick one legged somersault kick on Michael, knocking him down to the floor below him.

Almost as soon as Youji landed back onto the floor, Michael immediately got up. The two of them then just stood where they were, both breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"Well, I admit that you definitely earned that black belt." Michael spoke.

"And I can see that you're definitely as good as I figured you were." Youji replied. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting to last this long against someone whose fought with guys like Terry Bogard and General Heidern."

"To be perfectly honest, both Terry and Heidern still give me a tough fight." Michael admitted with a slight laugh.

Youji was about to reply when suddenly Yuhi's watch beeped causing the two of them to turn to him.

"Sorry about that." Yuhi, who had been watching the match with great interest, said sheepishly, and got up. "Anyway, it looks like I'd better start preparing dinner." He then turned to Michael and then bowed gratefully to him. "Thank you for the training, Michael, I'll be sure to put it to good use tomorrow."

"I'm sure you will." Michael replied, and as Yuhi headed for the door to leave Michael called out to him. "I'm certain that you'll do an excellent job with protecting Chidori during the mission. Just don't let that desire to protect override your judgment."

Yuhi blushed a little, but nodded and left the room. When he was gone, Youji snickered a little.

"So you read that kid's reason for coming to you for training like a book, huh?" He said to Michael.

"It was sort of obvious." Michael admitted with a shrug. "Besides, if there's one thing I know from experience during missions, it's that if a loved one is part of the team, the first thing one usually would want is to ensure the safety of that one during the mission."

"Yeah, true enough." Youji agreed, and his expression then became serious. "You know from what I heard from Riku, Chidori got seriously injured during the rescue mission that he, Nagi, and Tot were in before we arrived and Yuhi probably blamed himself for what happened. That guy probably is going to do everything he can to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"I don't blame him for that. When the person you love gets hurt because of you, you feel like the most pathetic and worthless person on Earth." Michael's expression then became saddened. "And if the one you love ends up getting killed because of you…"

"You somehow feel even lower than that." Youji finished, taking out a cig to smoke. The two men were silent for a minute until Youji broke the silence. "Let me guess, you're speaking from experience, huh?"

"Yeah, and I can tell it's the same with you." Michael replied. The two of them didn't say anymore on the subject, since even though for both of them these events happened years ago the wounds from then were still fresh and close to their hearts, and just sat there in understanding silence.

Finally, after a few minutes, Youji got up and walked to the door. He then stopped when Michael called out to him.

"Hey, I was telling the truth when I said you had good skills." Michael spoke. "You and your friends really should consider fighting in the King of Fighters tournament sometime. I think with your skills in Shotokan karate, you might make an interesting opponent for Takuma, Ryo, or Yuri Sakazaki. They use Kyokugan karate."

"Thanks, I'll consider that." Youji nodded, his friendly grin returning. "Anyway, it was a great match."

"The feeling's mutual." Michael replied. "I hope we get a chance to have another good match like this again."

"I'll look forward to it." Youji smiled and then left the room.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base: Aya's Cell:

Aki was completely stunned after Aya finished telling him everything that had happened after his body had been taken over by Shiso and also the most recent events.

"Man, it's hard to believe all of that has happened since then." Aki spoke. "You really have gone through a lot, Aya."

"Yeah, I know…" Aya replied. "Still the same can be said about you too. I'm just glad the both of us ended up alright for now."

"I'm glad too, Aya. To be honest I wasn't expecting to come out of this alive, but now…" Aki paused and then decided to change the subject. "Still, it's hard to believe that all this stuff with the FOXHOUNDers and the Patriots is happening."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to find out about what really happened during the Big Shell incident, much less that the United States government was a front for a group that controls most of the world from the shadows. It's like something out of some crazy anime or movie." Aya then chuckled a little. "Who knows, maybe the next thing we'll find out is that Second Impact wasn't caused by a meteor at all, but something the Patriots covered up."

"Yeah, like that would happen." Aki laughed a little too. "Anyway, Aya, when this is over, and if we make it out alright…is there anything you want to do?"

"Well, I guess I wouldn't mind going to a karaoke place. Then I can introduce you to Suzumi, Chidori, Shota, and the others. I'm sure you guys will get along great."

"That sounds great." Aki smiled a little.

"Oh yeah, I can't believe I forgot." Aya said as she remembered. "Actually Aki, a friend of mine I told you about, Maya Hirobe, is here with me. I'll introduce…" Aya stopped when she suddenly heard the sound of a door at the end of the corridor open.

A few minutes later the man in black known as Shade could be seen walking down the corridor towards the cell. Aya quickly turned back to Maya, signaling for her to put the Oboro madogu on to hide, and Maya quickly did so.

A minute later Shade's footsteps could be heard, and then they finally stopped and Aya could see Shade out through the cell door's window, standing outside the door. The door suddenly opened, as Shade had a card key for the cell doors.

"What do you want?" Aya asked, glancing to the side to make sure Maya was safely hidden.

"So you're Aya Mikage." Shade spoke, as if he hadn't heard her. "The one who is the host for the tennyo Ceres."

"Yeah, what about it?" Aya asked in reply, not liking the vibes she was getting from this strange man.

"Let's just say I've developed a certain 'interest' you C-Genomes." Shade smirked lecherously as he looked at Aya up and down. "Now then…"

Shade suddenly vanished from Aya's sight, and she suddenly felt something slam into her knocking her against the cell's wall. She could immediately see that the one who had done it was Shade, who now had her pressed against the wall with his left arm.

"Now which one, which one should I have first?" Shade asked with a lecherous grin as he used his free hand to take a hold of the front of the gown Aya was wearing. "The host or the tennyo…Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as I get the chance to enjoy the tennyo Ceres in the end, you'll make a nice little bonus."

"Let go of me you sicko!" Aya shouted as she tried unsuccessfully to kick him off of her.

"Go ahead and struggle if you want it makes it all the more enjoyable for me." Shade said as he started to pull down the front of the gown. "But I'm sure it would be more pleasant for you if you didn't, and it's not like this is your first time or anything, after all that child you carry is proof enough of that. Also, according to the legends it's the same with Ceres so why don't you and her just…"

Shade never finished as something white and shiny suddenly slammed into him, knocking him off of Aya and onto the floor. Aya quickly turned to see a shining white dog like creature wrestling on the ground with Shade, its jaws clamped onto the man's throat and tearing it out. Aya tried to get a better look at the creature but the light emanating from it made it too hard for her to get a better look.

(Is that…coming from Maya?) Aya thought as she turned to where her friend was standing, concealed by the Oboro madogu, and immediately sensed a surge of celestial energy there. (I think it is, but the white dog…it feels different from before…)

(Your friend has completely emerged as a celestial maiden now.) Ceres spoke to her. (And at an interesting timing as well, a second later and I would have taken over and reduced that fowl creature over there to dust.) Aya was about to reply when Ceres spoke again. (Don't be fooled though, he isn't dead…)

Aya turned back to where Shade was just in time to see Shade's arm reach out and grab the shining creature, tearing it away from his neck which caused flesh and muscle to rip away. Shade then hurled the creature at the wall as hard as he could. The dog like creature gave a yelp as it struck the wall and then shimmered and vanished.

Shade then grunted and stood up, thinking to himself as the flesh in his neck regenerated itself.

(Was that a shikigami?) He thought. (But if it was, where did it come from? It couldn't have come from the Mikage girl…)

"Alright girl, where's the one who cast that shikigami?" Shade asked as he turned to Aya. "I can sense another with power is here, where is this one?"

"I, uh…what are you talking about?" Aya asked innocently in reply.

"Oh so it's like that, is it?" Shade observed, he suddenly reached out and roughly grabbed Aya by the hair dragging her across the floor to him. He then looked around the cell.

"Alright, whoever you are, if you truly consider yourself a friend of this girl then reveal yourself to me now." Shade called out. "Otherwise, you can play audience to the fun I'll have with her and the tennyo within her, complete with a front row seat."

(Aya, let me emerge now.) Ceres said, her voice completely serious. (If Maya reveals herself to this man, you know what he'll most likely do to her. If I step in, I might be able to stop him.)

(Alright then.) Aya replied. (Just hurry before…) Aya was suddenly interrupted by a loud explosion that blew open the opposite wall.

Both Shade and Aya (as well as an invisible Maya) turned to see Aki standing on the other side of the hole in the wall, a shadow hiding the upper part of his face making his expression unreadable.

"Aki…" Aya spoke, but stopped as she felt a large amount of power emanating behind Aki.

Aki didn't reply or say anything.

"Heh, so you wish to fight me again do you?" Shade said to Aki. "Very well, I'll give you what you want, you seem to want it so. Though I don't see why you won't just let me borrow Ceres for a bit. After all from what the old legends say about the two of you, you're no different from me. Just happened to get a lucky find and then used you brains to get a little-."

Shade was cut off as Aki suddenly dashed towards him, quicker than Shade could react, and hit him in the stomach with a hard thrust punch, knocking the air out of Shade's lungs. Before Shade could make a counterattack, Aki grabbed him by the shoulder and then slammed him face first into the floor, causing a sickening sound of crunching bone from the impact.

Shade grunted and then leaped to his feet, but before he could make another move, Aki held out his right hand and a large burst of energy shot out of the palm of his hand, slamming hard into the assassin's chest and sending him straight through the cell wall, narrowly missing the hole Aki had previously made, and then slamming into the wall for Aki's cell. Shade crumpled to the ground for a moment and lay still, but then slowly got back onto his feet.

Aki just stood where he was and watched as Shade slowly got up, his injuries regenerating almost immediately. He then advanced towards Aki, his chakram drawn and ready.

"Alright, I was going to go easy on you, but you're really getting on my nerves now with getting in the way of my fun." Shade growled angrily and then got into a fighting stance. "Let me show you a sample of true power, and at the same time teach you the meaning of true pain."

Shade then closed his eyes and began concentrating, gathering a large amount of power to begin his attack.

"Shade, what the hell is going on here!" Brad Crawford's voice shouted from behind, causing everyone to turn to see him enter through the cell door accompanied by some soldiers. Crawford then turned to Aya and noticed her torn gown and then turned to Shade with a glare.

"Shade, you were ordered not to touch the Mikage girl or any of the C-Genomes in this base." He said calmly. "Fortunately I foresaw what you were going to do and it looks like I arrived in time. Now get out of this cell and if I find you anywhere near this part of the base again the Patriots will be informed of this little incident. I don't think you'll get many jobs after that."

"Are you actually threatening me Crawford?" Shade asked menacingly, stepping towards Crawford, who didn't so much as flinch as the man approached him.

"Not at all." Crawford answered calmly in a businesslike tone. "I'm merely stating the facts."

"Heh, you treat this like a business, don't you?" Shade asked in reply. "But since you wish to state facts, let me tell you that this is your fault. All of this waiting around for an enemy attack and doing nothing… I'm bored!"

"You have that Smithson woman; I'm sure you can have her entertain you for a while longer." Crawford replied.

"That woman's practically a doll now when it comes to that area." Shade growled. "The only thing she does now is let me do whatever I want with her with no resistance at all and when I'm done with her, she'll just curl up into a ball and whimper about it. There's no fun in that at all."

"The enemy will be arriving soon enough, be patient until then." Crawford fought to hide his disgust towards Shade.

"I've been patient, Crawford! I've been patient for days, cooped up in this damn base with nothing to do at all!" Shade snarled. "Now either give me a fresh woman or give me some people to kill and then I'll be more compliant!"

Crawford knew that there was no reasoning with Shade, and finally decided on a solution.

"Fine then, the Mikage rent a small part of this island out to some fishermen to use." He said as he fixed his glasses. "Go and satisfy your thirst for blood there, just don't spend too much time killing those fishermen, we need you back here in time for the enemy attack."

"Thank you. Now get out of my way so we can both save some time." Shade replied simply and then walked past Crawford and out the door.

When he was sure Shade was gone, Crawford turned to Aya.

"I look forward to when your friends from FOXHOUND and the Aogiri family arrive." Crawford said with a smile. "In the meantime just rest and have a little sibling reunion, it may be the only opportunity you'll have." He then turned to leave, but stopped when Aya called out to him.

"Don't act like you're doing me a favor or anything! I would never accept anything from someone like you!" Aya shouted with an outraged expression on her face from what she had just heard. "Giving Gladys to that…that thing for him to use like a plaything…and then just giving a bunch of innocent people to him to kill…I can't believe a good person like Nagi could have ever accepted someone like you as a mentor!"

"Miss Mikage, it would do well for you if you did not assume anything further of the relationship between my student and myself." Crawford replied to her without turning back to face her, his voice calm but suddenly low and dangerous. "Also, Nagi isn't as kind or innocent as you may think. He's used his powers numerous times to kill his own share of people, and this was before he became a member or FOXHOUND."

"Maybe he has, but at least he's not like you." Aya was waiting for Crawford to say something, but he didn't and instead turned to the soldiers who he was accompanying.

"Make sure this place is secure and do not let Shade into this area." Crawford instructed.

"Yes sir." The soldiers replied in unison, and Crawford nodded at them and they left the room to attend to their duties. Crawford cast one last look at Aya and then left the room.

Aya then turned to Aki, who throughout the whole thing hadn't said anything.

"Aki…" She spoke to him, but her brother didn't reply. Suddenly a thought came to mind as she knew there was only one other person who it could be."Or are you…"

Aki suddenly groaned and then reached up to his forehead, like he was having a headache. He then shook his head a little and then turned to Aya.

"Aya, are you alright?" He asked, concerned for his sister. "That guy didn't…"

"No he didn't and I'm fine, Aki." Aya answered, and then remembered Maya and then ran over to where she remembered her friend was. Aya then felt around until she felt her hands touch some cloth and then pulled the Oboro madogu away. Maya had collapsed against the cell's wall and was unconscious.

"Maya…hey!" Aya gently shook her friend's shoulder until she woke up. Maya blinked a couple of times and readjusted her glasses before she remembered what had happened and quickly turned to Aya.

"Aya, are you alright? You aren't…" Maya stopped when she noticed Aya's torn gown. "Oh God, don't tell me that…that guy…"

"It's alright, I'm fine." Aya replied. "You were able to distract that guy, I think his name was Shade, enough to stop him until Aki showed up to help."

"I'm glad to hear that, Aya." Maya sighed with relief. She then paused for a moment before speaking again. "So…I actually released it again…did you see it?"

"The white dog? Yeah, I did…" Aya then paused as she considered something. "Actually Maya, there's something that was, well, different about it."

"Different?"

"It's hard to put into words. It just felt different from before, back when you unconsciously released the white dog, but couldn't control it." Aya then paused since she knew the memories of that incident weren't very pleasant for Maya. "Well…didn't anything feel different this time for you?"

"I don't really know…" Maya replied hesitantly. "I mean…everything happened so fast. I remember unleashing my power and it all sort of burst out. I could barely even control it then…after that I just commanded the dog to attack Shade and it did, but I ended up losing consciousness when he broke free and threw the dog at the wall."

"Yeah that does seem to happen when you fully emerge." Aya nodded. "But still…that Shade guy was able to repel even the white dog and recover from both its and Aki's attack…And here I thought that the progenitor was the strongest enemy we'd ever have to deal with, but now…"

"Yeah, I'd better inform Riku about this soon." Maya agreed. "Anyway, since I've transformed…do I, well, look any different?"

"Sorry, but you look the same right now." Aya replied. "I guess you returned to your normal form after you lost consciousness."

"Now that's a let down, I at least wanted to know what I looked like as a C-Genome." Maya said with a disappointed look on her face. She then glanced to the side and noticed Aki. "So this is your brother, huh?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, let me introduce you." Aya spoke. "Maya, this is my brother Aki. Aki, this is a friend of mine, Maya Hirobe. As you can tell, she's a C-Genome too."

"It's nice to meet you." Aki said with a friendly smile as he shook Maya's hand.

"The same here." Maya replied, returning the smile. "You know Aya never mentioned she had such a handsome twin brother."

"Well, I'd be surprised if she did." Aki replied with a grin. "But you know my sister…"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Aya spoke, with a slightly miffed look on her face.

But as the three of them started to talk some more, Aya was thinking to herself.

(But still…when Aki fought with Shade…was that really Aki, or was it Shiso?) She wondered and then shifted her thoughts towards Ceres. (Ceres, do you know if…)

(I'm not sure…) Ceres answered. (It could have been…I don't think your brother could use the power, but…the feeling from then was different from before.)

(Well thanks for that bit of useless information, Ceres.) Aya replied irritably.

(There's no such thing as useless information, Aya.) Ceres spoke.

Meanwhile: Another Cell:

Alec quickly moved into the cell that the soldiers led him to, glad to finally be free of being put under guard. His relief was short lived when he saw that the other occupants for the cell were none other than Wei Fei Lee, Asamu Bagte, and Black Arts Viper.

"Uh, hi…" Alec spoke nervously.

"I assume since you're here, you managed to bring Master Aki back to his normal self, correct?" Lee spoke.

"Uh, yeah…sort of." Alec answered.

"Good." Lee then lay back onto his cell cot and said nothing else.

Alec then moved over to his cot and sat down. He then took out his PSP and inserted the game disc for Darkstalkers Chronicles. He then looked at his cell mates as the game loaded.

"So, do any of you guys have your own? We could play vs mode." Alec said in an attempt to be friendly.

"No." Lee replied simply.

"What that supposed be?" Asamu asked in reply.

"I'm not interested in such things." Viper replied.

(These people have no taste…) Alec thought to himself. (Well, at least I have something to keep me occupied until those guys from FOXHOUND show up.)

Meanwhile: Crawford's Room:

Crawford was sitting at the side of the bed in what used to be Kagami's quarters, which were luxurious enough to be considered a suite. He was talking over a cell phone with his employers, the Patriots.

"Wiseman's Committee, so what is it that you are contacting me for?" Crawford spoke over the cell phone.

"We would like to know the status of the project." One of the members answered. "Is everything going according to plan?"

"Yes, perfectly." Crawford answered. "The FOXHOUNDers will be arriving to rescue Aya Mikage within a matter of hours. Also we have both the C-Genomes and the Genome embryos ready to be delivered, along with all the necessary data concerning C-Project."

"Excellent, and the hagoromo?"

"That is secure as well."

"Good then all we need to do is see how this all plays out." Another member spoke, and then there was a pause. "What about the data on the Mikage's metal gear project?"

"It's very well protected, but that shouldn't be an issue." Crawford replied. "I'm confident that my apprentice, when he and his new friends arrive, will take care of the extraction of the data, though it will most likely be encrypted when he does."

"Our people will handle that, just make sure you get the data."

"Of course." Crawford nodded.

"And if Kagami does break under your interrogation, report it and we'll have our people from Ragnalek speak with him about the matter."

"Should that happen, I will do so." Crawford replied. "Is there anything else that I must do?"

"That will be all for now. We hope to hear good results in the near future from you, Crawford." Then there was a click as the transmission ended.

(Now all that we need to do is wait.) Crawford thought to himself as he put the cell phone away.

(Crawford, I've got some very interesting news for you.) Schuldich's voice spoke via telepathy. (My hard work and Kagami's suffering finally paid off; he's willing to start talking.)

(Good, I'll be there shortly.) Crawford replied, and smiled as he lapsed into his own thought. (How very convenient. It looks like this assignment should pull of without a single problem.)

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Suzumi, Mrs. Q, Ran, Youji, Ken, and Omi sat in the living room as Michael briefed them on how the rescue/retrieval mission was to go.

"The plan is for us to go in by boat, more specifically a fishing boat." Michael explained as he stood in front of a map of the island that the Mikage base was on. "The Mikage have a small part of the island that they rent out to certain registered fisherman that doubles as a dock and a fishing cove. Using a registered fishing boat we were able to borrow from one of the fisherman registered there, we'll dock and then split up into two groups. The groups will head to their designated sneak points and infiltrate the base." Michael then gestured at two marked points on the map.

"Both groups will then commence the search for Aya and Aki Mikage, Maya Hirobe, Alexander O. Howell, the hagoromo that the Mikage made, and also any C-Genomes being held in the base." Michael continued. "The moment any of these are located, you are to contact the other team."

"One question." Yuhi spoke. "Since we're going in by water, and the water around the island is patrolled by a bunch of Metal Gear RAY units, what do we do if they don't let us go on in?"

"Nagi and I will handle that." Riku spoke. "One shot from using the dragon, Koku, will be more than enough to sink one of those things."

"And I'll handle guiding Riku's attacks using my powers." Nagi added.

"But that will mean having to fight our way into the base once we land." Ran spoke. "Even if we do make it past the RAYs, we'll have to deal with any soldiers waiting for us at the docks along with the fact that we'll have to avoid getting blown out of the water."

"In that case we'll have to abandon the boat and swim to shore." Michael replied.

"And I'll do what I can to provide a necessary distraction so you guys can get ashore safely." Riku added. "I have the necessary ninjutsu to handle it."

"I have a question." Chidori spoke. "How are we going to get out once we get Aya and everyone else?"

"We'll have two choppers that will pick us up." Michael replied. "One will be from FOXHOUND, flown of course, by FOXHOUND pilot Nagu Masaki. The other one will be from the Aogiris, flown…"

"By none other than me, of course." Mrs. Q stated proudly. "After all, a mission just isn't a mission without the beautiful heroine."

(What beautiful heroine?) Riku thought, sweat dropping at that statement.

"You can fly a chopper, can't you?" Yuhi asked Mrs. Q worriedly.

Mrs. Q was silent for a moment as if she were thinking about that.

"Of course I can." She finally answered.

(Why did she have to stop and think before answering that?) Everyone else in the room wondered at the same time, the one's going on the mission feeling extremely worried about that.

"Oh you don't have to worry, my skills with a chopper are just like my driving skills." Mrs. Q spoke. "Comparable to Initial D."

"But isn't Initial D about racing cars?" Omi asked nervously.

"Yes, and?" Mrs. Q asked in reply.

The moment everyone heard that statement, a sense of doom seemed to creep up on the ones who would be going on the mission.

"Um, excuse me, maam." A servant spoke to Suzumi as he entered the room. "But there's a woman here to see you."

"Show her in." Suzumi replied, and the servant nodded and left the room. A few minutes later Shuro walked into the room.

"Shuro, what are you doing here?" Yuhi spoke.

"I came to help." Shuro answered. "I was able to convince my manager to give me some more vacation time."

"I don't know if…" Michael began.

"Actually Michael, Shuro would actually be a good addition to the team." Chidori spoke. "Her C-Genome ability to control sound is pretty powerful."

"Alright, I guess another addition to the team will help." Michael said. "There is always a tactical advantage in terms of numbers." He then turned to back to everyone else. "Anyway, I'll continue with the plans for the mission, after that let's all get some rest. The mission tomorrow will require everyone to be in the best condition possible."

Meanwhile: Somewhere in Japan:

Kagero carefully stepped out of the forest and into a clearing. In front of her was a large and old dojo, that despite its age still looked very well kept. Kagero smiled at what she saw.

"Well, it looks like this place hasn't changed after all these years." She said to no one in particular. "It's hard to believe this dojo is hundreds of years old."

Kagero then walked towards the dojo, and when she got to it, she walked to the room that she knew her old friend, Yukimura was. After a minute she came to the door of the room she was looking for and opened it.

Sitting in the room, cross legged as if he were meditating, was a man dressed in a typical martial arts training outfit. He had long grayish blue hair and grayish black eyes, and looked like he was in his early twenties. A katana was lying at his side along with a jar of sake.

"Well, this is certainly an unexpected visit." The man spoke, turning around to see Kagero. "It's been a while, Kagero."

"Yeah, it's been years, Yukimura." Kagero smiled warmly at him, she then went over and embraced her old friend, and Yukimura Sanada returned it. After a few minutes, the two of them separated.

"So what did you come here for?" Yukimura asked. "If this had been for a casual visit, you probably would have just teleported here."

"You're as insightful as ever, Yukimura." Kagero replied. "Actually, I wish that I could have visited you under better circumstances, however…" Kagero's expression grew serious. "It appears our old friend Shade, or Shingen Koga, is on the move again."

At the mention of that name, Yukimura's expression became equally serious.

"Tell me everything…" He said seriously.

"Alright, and when I'm done I think you'd better pack up your belongings." Kagero replied. "If Shade is as close as I think, then a visit with the rest of my family is in order."

"No problem. Besides, it's been a long time since I've seen your son, Recca, and the rest of the new Hokage clan. Besides, I'd like to meet that grandson of yours. The last time I saw him, he was still an infant."

"I'm sure he'll be honored to meet you, the famous Yukimura Sanada." Kagero smiled at that before her expression became serious again. "Anyway, here's what happened…"

AN: And that finishes chapter 27. Anyway folks, come next chapter the mission begins! I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can, but first I need to get my finals for this semester of college finished and then I'll get to work on the next chapter. So it may be a little while till you see the next update.

Oh yeah, here's a couple of Easter Eggs, what Youji said just before his fight with Michael is one of the things Axl Low from GGX2 says before a battle, and what Michael said was from GGX2's Ky Kiske.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please R and R.


	29. Chapter 28: Into the Lion's Den Part 1

AN: Alright folks, here we are at chapter 28. Only about 4 or more chapters and this story arc will reach its conclusion. Also this means Riku and co.'s battle with Shade is just around the corner. Sorry for the long wait, but job hunting as well as other things have been on the rise for me and those not only take up time but also induce writer's block, but don't worry I'll do my best to update quicker.

Well, a couple of things to my reviewers:

To ShardclawKusanagi: Thanks so very much for the kind words and all for this fic, they've really helped me get going further in this story. Glad you liked last chapter's sparring matches, as well as the character interactions. Anyway, hope the stuff I've sent you has helped with providing good entertainment as well as given you some ideas. Well, sit back and enjoy this chapter and the ones to follow. I guarantee you'll enjoy them.

To GreyWolf4: Glad you enjoyed Youji and Michael's interaction. To tell you the truth, I got the idea for the scene sort of last minute as I rewatched WK and suddenly got the thought 'Hey, Youji and Michael sort of have a similarity in this aspect'. Anyway, I'm also glad that you enjoyed Kagero and Yukimura's interaction (and I can guarantee that you'll see plenty more soon enough (when this part of the story finishes of course) and I also like hearing how you said how I portrayed the character's emotions in the previous chapters (I was kinda worried I didn't do so well in that field when I wrote them). Anyway, enjoy the upcoming chapters.

To Jyde: I'm very glad that you're enjoying my fic, and also that my fic has made it to your favorites list. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and the ones to come (also hope you update 'Bring me to Life' soon, cause I'm really enjoying it). Oh yeah, one more thing, be sure to check out Shardclaw's fics 'Children of Evangelion' and its companion fic 'Soldier X' to see further adventures and all for Riku and co. as well as other characters (read COE then SX otherwise SX's story will confuse you). Also, the Ceres cast has shown up in SX and will show up in COE sometime, so that's another reason to have a look at the fic. Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy!

To dunno: I think Wei would want to come after the people of Viz who released the manga, if his surname really is 'Li' (like Syaoran from CCS and Tsubasa) and not Lee. Anyway, hope you enjoy the rest of this fic, and you can bet wanker man Kagami will get some more of his before his soon to come demise.

To windwingxs: Glad you're liking this story and I'm sure you're going to enjoy this chapter. Well, sit back and enjoy.

Anyway, everyone sit back and enjoy!

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers.

Chapter 28: Into the Lion's Den Part 1: Infiltration

Aogiri Residence:

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Michael, Ran, Youji, Ken, and Omi were doing a last minute inspection of their gear and weaponry before heading out. The FOXHOUNDers were wearing their sneaking suits while the four members of Weiss were wearing their typical outfits for missions.

Riku was carefully inspecting the ninja gear he was going to equip, checking to make sure the various shuriken he had (, kunai, throwing star, and Fuuma (the big throwing stars) were sharpened and in good and wieldable condition. When he was satisfied, he then proceeded to equip a set of caltrops, vampires, senbon needles, his USP (silencer already attached), ammo, some C4, grenades (regular, stun, and chaff) a couple of rations, IR goggles, and then put on a vest that doubled as one for protection and also storage of his more 'special' equipment. For in various pockets (some visible some not) throughout that vest, Riku had in each one a type of herb, powder, or small vial of liquid, one or the other. These could either work as medicines and/or antidotes, or be deadly poisons or drugs to be used on the enemy. Riku had marked each one so that only he could recognize them and tell them apart.

Nagi checked his USP to make sure it was in good condition before equipping that and the ammo that went with it. He did the same with his sniper rifle and then proceeded to equip some rations, and IR goggles.

Tot and Ran checked to make sure their katana blades were sharpened and usable before equipping the other equipment they'd be taking with them, while Ken made sure his claws were in good condition and Youji did the same with his wires. Omi carefully equipped both his darts (poisonous, stamina draining, and explosive) and arrows so that they would be ready to for use to be either thrown, or loaded and shot from the crossbow or his PSG1-T.

As they finished checking their equipment, Yuhi, Chidori, and Shuro came in. They were wearing typical clothing, but had on protective vests that would protect them from bullets, burns, and/or shrapnel. Chidori was also carrying something in a sack.

"It looks like you guys brought enough weaponry to start a war." Yuhi noted as he saw the equipment everyone was bringing along.

"For a normal sneaking mission yes, this would probably be overkill, but not in this case." Michael spoke as he checked a case that held a Stinger missile launcher. "We'll be facing up against expert mercenaries and probably even metal gears, so we can't afford to do things lightly like usual. Since the enemy is expecting us, we may end up having to fight our way through the whole thing."

"Oh yeah, about that." Chidori spoke. "Suzumi, Shuro, and I made some stuff for you guys to help you." She then reached into the sack and brought out several sets of what looked like wristbands and one headband. All of them had the celestial symbol in the center of them.

"What are these things for?" Tot asked. "Are these sweatbands or something?"

"No actually, these are types of bands endowed with celestial energy." Shuro explained. "They're talismans of a sort, featuring the crests of the tennyo."

"They also happen to work as good luck charms, or so I've been told." Chidori added. "Anyway, they should improve your defense pretty well and maybe even block attacks, small ones anyway." She then sighed a bit. "Though I admit, these things are harder to make than you'd think. Suzumi, Shuro, and I were up most of last night making these. In fact Suzumi's resting from that right now."

"Are you sure that the two of you will be alright?" Michael asked. "If you're worn out from all of that then maybe…"

"Don't worry about it." Shuro replied. "Chidori and I rested up as soon as we finished making these so we're fine."

"Alright, if you say so." Michael nodded.

"Hey, there's one set that's missing." Yuhi spoke, after counting the bands.

"That's because I already have yours, Yuhi." Chidori said and then reached into her pocket and took out a set of wristbands and a headband. She then blushed a little as she handed them to Yuhi. "I…well, asked Suzumi to teach me how to make these a while back. I was going to give these to you sooner, but…" Chidori paused for moment and then continued. "Anyway, I reinforced these so they'll probably protect you a lot better than that protective vest you're wearing."

"Thanks, Chidori." Yuhi smiled as he took the bands.

"You're wel-." Chidori was suddenly cut off when Yuhi surprised her by suddenly kissing her. The two of them were blushing furiously when they broke apart.

"I…err, figured I should thank you at least a little more." Yuhi said.

Normally Riku would have made a joking remark or something, but decided not to as he figured it wasn't appropriate with the situation.

"Well, I guess we'd better get ours on too." Riku spoke and then noticed something. "Hey there's only one headband."

"Sorry, but we only had the time to make one of those." Shuro said. "Don't worry, its absence won't make much difference in terms of defense."

"I guess I'll call first dibs then." Riku replied as he picked up the headband. "Besides I think I've got a use for this thing." Riku then reached into his vest pocket and took out a rectangular metal plate with the FOXHOUND symbol in the middle of it. He then threaded then band through some attachments in the back.

"What's that supposed to be?" Yuhi asked.

"A forehead protector." Riku answered as he put it on and adjusted it. "Standard ninja defensive head gear."

"Well, enough talking let's get these things on and then finish checking the rest of our equipment and then prepare to move out." Michael said seriously.

"Right." Everyone chorused.

The equipped bands have given Riku, Nagi, Tot, Michael, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, and Yuhi a boost in defense.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

Crawford stood in front of Kagami as he listened to the final details of the secrets that the former leader had kept hidden for so long. Kagami was still handcuffed to the chair inside his cell, and Schuldich was standing behind him; the three men were alone in the room as this conversation was for both Crawford's and Schuldich's ears only. While Kagami's body showed no signs of abuse, however the wearied and pained look on his face showed that the affects of Schuldich's mental torture had done their job.

"My, you have been doing quite a lot of planning, haven't you Kagami." Crawford spoke with a smile, fixing his glasses after hearing what Kagami had to say. "Or rather you, your father, and all those other higher ups in the Mikage family…that metal gear project of yours is quite fascinating. A metal gear designed to enter space and act as a colony to support and cultivate living things…an effective Noah's Ark for your C-Genomes. Do tell me, what are you planning such a thing in preparation for?"

"I already told you, the plan is for our people to take the C-Genomes away from this dying and pathetic world and…" Kagami began.

"And build an ideal and perfect civilization, a utopia, someplace else; on another planet." Crawford finished and smirked. "Sorry Kagami, but that little half truth won't get by me, Schuldich, or the Patriots. Do tell us the other half…"

"I don't know what you're talking a-AAARRGH!" Kagami's calm yet weary expression suddenly twisted into one of pure agony as he felt sudden multiple feelings of pain lance into his stomach and chest area. If his hands weren't bound, Kagami would have grabbed that area in a vain attempt to lessen the pain, but all he could do now was writhe there in the seat he was bound to.

"Having a sudden flashback, Mr. Mikage?" Schuldich spoke as he looked down at his suffering former employer with a friendly grin. "You're remembering our little 'chats' from not too long ago. Well, sort of. Actually your brain is specifically remembering the pain from those experiences, which is why you're not completely re-experiencing things. You see, the human mind is a very interesting thing in how it can…"

"That will be enough for now, Schuldich." Crawford said firmly. "We need Mr. Mikage alive after all."

Schuldich shrugged and glanced at Kagami, canceling the torture. Kagami jerked as the pain suddenly vanished before collapsing into the seat, breathing heavily.

"I would suppose apologies would sort of be necessary since that may have been unnecessary." Crawford said to Kagami. "I have a bit of a guess as to what the purpose of your metal gear project is. Tell me, Mr. Mikage, was this done because you have knowledge of the occurrence of something on the level of Second Impact on the horizon? And by that, I'm not referring to that ridiculous meteor cover story, I'm referring to that incident in Antarctica so many years ago…"

Kagami, despite the after affects of Schuldich's sudden mental torturing, took a sharp intake of breath in surprise at what Crawford had just said.

"If you know the true nature of Second Impact, then you should realize the importance of what I am trying to do!" Kagami half shouted.

"Importance is in the eye of the beholder, Kagami. Though I admit that I am curious as to how you discovered this information. Could it have been from a leak in the Patriots' information or SEELE's, or something else?" Crawford asked, and then stopped as if he remembered something and then shrugged. "In any event, I'm afraid our time is up. The FOXHOUNDers and their allies will be arriving here shortly, and before that I'm afraid we need you and your men to appear before Ragnalek."

"Not the Wiseman's Committee?" Kagami asked in reply.

"I guess the Patriots have better things to attend to instead of you, my friend." Schuldich said. "Though I don't blame them, you're pretty much useless now." He then paused and turned to Crawford. "Still boss, you sure we shouldn't find out what exactly he knows about…"

"If another Second Impact does occur we have what it takes to evade the destruction it will cause." Crawford told his partner. "With my ability to see into the future, I should know when it will occur beforehand to ensure we're not of the half the population of the planet that will perish."

Kagami fought to hide an expression of surprise at what he had just heard.

(So they don't know about Third Impact, at least not its true nature…) Kagmi then fought an urge to smile. (It appears I still have an advantage. If I play my cards right, then perhaps…)

"Oh yes, Mr. Mikage, before I have the guards outside escort you to the room along with your men, I have something I should inform you about." Crawford spoke to Kagami. "That Russian man you had working for you, Ryurik Lediev, won't be joining you."

"What!"

"I'm afraid the Patriots required his services so they had him taken to a different location, after all he was the one who you were depending on for your metal gear project. The Patriots figured Mr. Lediev, with his vast knowledge of biotechnology would be of more use in the completion one of their projects that they've codenamed 'Ultimatum'."

(So 'that' project is already underway…) Kagami thought to himself. (Well, the loss of Ryurik is unfortunate, but not enough to stop C-Project if I can escape from here.)

Meanwhile: Outside the Mikage Base:

Inside a fishing boat docked in a cove far from the main base for the Mikage, Shade stood in front of a cornered middle aged fisherman. Lying close to the two men were the broken bodies of three other men who had been the fisherman's crewmates, their bodies beaten and torn almost beyond recognition.

"Well, you're the last to die." Shade commented as he took a step towards the frightened man. "I must admit your friends did happen to provide some help in killing time and relieving some stress…so any last words?"

"P-please don't kill me!" The man screamed, begging for his life.

"It's pointless for you to beg for mercy that you won't be receiving." Shade replied with a grin and reached for him to deal the killing blow. Suddenly Shade stopped as an idea came to mind.

The fisherman was surprised at this sudden thing that to him looked like hesitation. He quickly looked to try to find a way to escape.

"It's pointless, you won't escape." Shade said. "However, I just realized I may have a use for you. But to be fair I'll let you decide, will you do me a favor and leave this boat alive or will you refuse and die now? Choose."

"I…I'll do whatever you want just spare me!" The man replied quickly, relief showing on his face.

"Good, I like agreeable people." Shade smiled, suddenly his hand shot out and grabbed the man firmly by the neck and lifted him up. "However, I'm afraid this favor will require you to die once…"

Meanwhile: Aogiri Residence:

"Sis, you promise you'll be careful, right?" Shota asked Chidori as everyone else was getting ready before heading off to start the mission.

"Of course Shota, I'll be fine." Chidori answered confidently and then her expression softened as she saw her younger brother's worried expression. "Don't worry, that bit of VR training Riku and the others ran me through should help and I'll also make sure to follow the directions Riku and Michael give me, so…"

"Okay, I understand." Shota nodded. "I'll try not to worry…" Shota's expression then became a little saddened. "Just make sure that you come back alright, Chidori…I don't think I can go through losing anymore people I love…"

"Hey what are you talking about? No one's going to die, I promise." Chidori then smiled to reassure her brother. "And besides after this, we'll all go karaoke and celebrate."

"Alright." Shota nodded and smiled a little.

"Hey Chidori, we'll be leaving in a few minutes." Riku called.

"Alright, I'll be right there." Chidori called back to him and then turned back to Shota. "I'll see you later, alright, Shota."

"Okay, sis." Shota replied and then watched his sister go to join the others.

"No matter how much she reassures you, you still worry about her, huh?" Yuhi's voice spoke from behind Shota causing him to turn.

"Sis has always been the one who's gone through most of the hard stuff." Shota replied. "She was the one who bore the guilt of our parent's death, and also she did her best to care for me and encourage me to try to walk again, and…I just want her to be happy."

"I know exactly what you mean, Shota." Yuhi said. "Though there are differences between how things are between you and Chidori and me and Suzumi. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I promise I'll make sure Chidori is safe."

"I know you will." Shota smiled. "Just promise to be careful too. I don't think Chidori could take it if she lost you."

"I'll do that." Yuhi promised. "After all, I want Chidori to be happy too."

Meanwhile: Mikage Base: Control Room:

Kagami, Lee, Asamu, and Viper stood in front of a set of monitors, each one of them with a person in them, their faces hidden and their voices altered by computers. Crawford, Schuldich, Farfarello, and a whole squad of soldiers were also in the room to prevent any possible escape attempts. The people in the monitors were the members of Ragnalek, a council of many key leaders of several countries formed to promote C-Project. These people reported and worked directly for the Patriots.

"Well, Mikage Jr., it seems from these 'unedited' reports we've received from the Patriots' agents, you've lost quite a number of the C-Genomes you have here." One of the council members spoke. "It makes me, as well as the rest of us wonder if C-Project ever was running smoothly in your hands."

"Our purpose is to make a better future by creating a superior human race." Another spoke. "Perhaps we should have asked for more aid from the Patriots in this affair instead of relying on your family for this, as your C-Project has failed to be more than just a 'project'."

"And considering all of that vast funding we, and even the Patriots, have given you in order to make this project a success…" Another councilman spoke. "Kagami, your revealed treachery has become quite a nuisance to our plans."

"Yes, by all rights we should have you executed as befitting a traitor such as yourself." Another councilman said.

"However, we have decided, that due to your contributions, along with the fact that you still have some value to us, we will be lenient." The first councilman spoke. "We will have the Patriots' agents keep an eye on you and ensure that you complete 'our' version of C-Project. The one the Patriots and we desire. Should you do this we will see that you will be spared any 'unpleasant' consequences for your previous actions and be allowed to retire."

"One thing though." The fourth councilman added. "If you do anything to spurn our merciful judgment, the consequences for you will be far more terrible than the ones you have just avoided."

"We hope to see some real success soon." The third said. "We especially look forward to the completion of the hagoromo."

The monitors then went blank as the members of Ragnalek ended their transmissions.

"Well, today's your lucky day after all, Mr. Mikage." Crawford spoke with a light smile.

"They don't know about the FOXHOUNDers coming attack do they?" Kagami asked.

"Attack!" Lee exclaimed and turned to Crawford. "What is all this anyway, Crawford? If you're working for the Patriots, then aren't you working for Ragnalek as well? Why are you…"

"Ragnalek and the Patriots are hardly the same." Crawford replied simply. "Ragnalek does have quite a bit of power politically, but that power is merely what the Patriots are letting them have in exchange for being their lapdogs."

"And in that perspective it's better to work for the master and not the servant." Schuldich added. "You'll find that in the case of old man Takatori as well as those old coots from Eszet…"

"Servants, no matter how high up they are, are always expendable." Farfarello spoke as he licked the edge of one of his knives.

"That what you people call 'load of crap'!" Asamu shouted. "You work for Patriots then you nothing but their slaves too. You the same as Ragnalek."

"Dear boy, we are far from the Patriots slaves." Crawford replied to Asamu coolly. "That is simply a role we play out for them of our own choice. A role that we can cast aside should we choose."

"What exactly are you getting at, Crawford?" Viper asked suddenly, his eyes showing suspicion at what he had just heard.

"Nothing that you, or the rest pf the guardinals, need be concerned about, Viper." Crawford answered and turned to the soldiers. "In any case, we're running low on time. Do take Mr. Mikage and his associates to their cell."

The soldiers nodded and then proceeded to escort Kagami, Lee, Asamu, and Viper to the cell they were to be confined in. As they left the room Viper glanced back at Crawford.

(Is what he said back there true, or was that just talk to baffle Kagami?) Viper thought to himself. (Crawford…ever since I've run into him and his two cronies I haven't been able to figure one of them out. All three of them are like walls. But still, I can't help but feel there was some truth in Crawford's words. If that is the case then I should report this to the Patriots at once.) Almost as soon as he thought this, Viper then realized he couldn't do it. (No…at this stage, contacting the Patriots now over a mere suspicion would cause too many unnecessary complications in the mission. I'll report this later when I submit my report on the situation…)

As the door closed, Schuldich then turned to Crawford.

"Boss, you sure it was a good idea to let Viper hear all that?" Schuldich asked. "That guy is pretty tight with the Patriots in terms with how they are with their minions."

"It doesn't matter." Crawford answered simply. "Viper won't risk causing any disruption in this operation at the state it's currently in so he'll delay any mention of this for now. Besides, his part in all of this will soon be coming to an end."

"I can see to that myself." Farfarello volunteered.

"No, someone else will be taking care of Viper for us." Crawford replied. "Besides, I have a more important task for you. I want you to follow those guards who were in the room with us and after they return Mr. Mikage and his men to the cell, make sure that they don't ever breathe a word of this to anyone."

"In other words, make sure they don't by making sure they never breathe again." Farfarello smirked as spun his knife before smoothly sheathing it and then drew out a short sword that had a long rapier like blade. Aside from his knives, this was another weapon Farfarello used for both throwing and close combat. "I'll get started then."

"Just don't get carried away." Crawford warned. "These men are supposed to be our allies after all. Make sure that the bodies are well hidden."

"Of course." Farfarello nodded and then left the room.

A minute later the door opened and Shade walked into the room.

"I assume you enjoyed that time you wasted on those fishermen." Crawford spoke to Shade casually.

"It was better than anything else you had to offer me, which was nothing. Besides I made sure that it was far from a waste of time." Shade replied with sarcasm. "Anyway, how much longer will we have to wait until those FOXHOUNDers arrive?"

"They'll be arriving within the hour actually." Crawford answered.

"Good finally I can have some real fun." Shade grinned. "If you ask me, I had much more kicks from the WOTAN mission."

"Just save your 'fun' until they take care of a few things for us." Crawford reminded him. "Other than that…"

"Whatever you want, Crawford, just as long as I get the pleasure of fighting whoever it is FOXHOUND has sent here. That and having a little extra fun with any women that are hopefully part of the group sent in."

"Very well then, as long as we're clear on that." Crawford nodded as he fixed his glasses.

"Actually Crawford, I have a request." Shade added.

"What is it?"

"I have a little 'test' ready for this group of FOXHOUNDers. Would it be alright if they took it not too long after their arrival?"

"As long as this test doesn't kill them before they do what we need them to do." Crawford said.

"You need not worry about that." Shade replied confidently. "This is merely my way of gathering information on my soon to be opponents."

"In that case do whatever you want."

"Good, I'm glad to see we finally reached an agreement on something." Shade smiled, and then he stopped as he remembered something. "What about that hidden one inside the Mikage girl's cell? If you didn't sense whoever…"

"Oh, I can assure you that I knew of the girl's presence." Crawford then smirked. "You mean you couldn't tell that it was a woman? I'm surprised; after all, someone with your…history…"

"Don't make the mistake of ruining my good mood, Crawford." Shade warned him. "So why didn't you do anything about it, and how did she get in there?"

"That girl, Maya Hirobe, who ironically happens to be the descendant of a celestial maiden as well, apparently was somehow put in there by the FOXHOUNDers I'm sure of it." Crawford answered. "As to why I did nothing, that girl will be the beacon that our guests shall follow to the ones they intend to rescue. She will also be the beacon that they will follow to their death."

"Like moths to a flame, eh?" Shade grinned. "But the problem is if this Hirobe girl has a communication device on her, then…"

"Miss Hirobe is equipped with one, a codec to be exact." Crawford interrupted. "That part has also been handled. Earlier I had a new type of security measure that the Mikage recently had installed in this base activated around the area for the cells. It basically causes interference to block any transmissions from communication devices, in the codec's case, it will be enough to block any messages but not enough to block the signal which our guests will undoubtedly follow."

"So all I need to do is get in my position and wait." Shade turned to leave.

"Oh yes, about that." Crawford spoke, causing Shade to stop and glance back at him. "I happen to have a good idea of where you should meet my student and his companions."

"Just as long as it guarantees I get my fight with them." Shade replied.

"Of course, after all I'm looking forward to seeing how your battle with my student goes."

"If you happen to see it." Shade smiled in anticipation. "I do hope your expectations aren't too high for your dear pupil, though."

"I'm fully prepared for any outcome." Crawford shrugged. "Oh yes, I have one more important task for you, Shade. Now here is what you must do…"

Meanwhile: Fishing Boat:

As the fishing boat that Riku, Nagi, Tot, Michael, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, Shuro, Yuhi, and Chidori were on chugged forward towards the island that the Mikage base was located on, Riku sat on a bench on the deck watching Michael steer the boat to make sure it stayed on its present course.

"So how much longer till we get to the island?" Riku asked.

"Not too long, we'll be there in about forty to forty five minutes." Michael answered as he glanced at the ship's map. "Anyway, in a few minutes you and Nagi should be ready just in case. If those RAYs are sent after us, we'd better destroy them quickly before they get a chance to sink this boat."

"Of course, Michael." Riku nodded and got up. "In the meantime I'll go below deck and help unload everyone."

"Good idea." Michael agreed, and then his expression grew slightly troubled. "Riku there's something you should know. I've been trying to contact Maya ever since we left, but I haven't gotten any response."

"That doesn't sound good." Riku said. "Are you sure your codec's working right?"

"I've looked at it and it seems to be fine." Michael replied. "Why not try yours just to be sure?"

"Got it." Riku nodded, and reached to his ear for his codec. He then selected Maya's frequency. After a few beeps, a 'No Response' showed on the screen.

"Definitely not a good sign." He said.

"Unfortunately, the only thing we can do right now is hope that the signal's just being jammed." Michael spoke. "For now, don't tell the others about this. There's no reason to cause unnecessary worry."

"I understand, I just hope nothing's happened to Maya." Riku then turned and headed towards the ship's cabin. "Anyway, I'll go down and get everyone else."

Riku then walked into the cabin and then down some steps to the storage bin. The strong smell of dried fish immediately greeted him as he went inside. There, Riku saw that all four of the members of Weiss were out of the crates they had hidden in before. The crate Yuhi and Chidori were in had just been opened by Nagi and Tot and Yuhi climbed out and then turned and helped Chidori out of the crate.

"Did we have to do this?" Chidori asked Riku, making a face at the strong smell of fish in the room.

"The only way to get all of you guys aboard without raising any suspicion was this." Riku answered. "Face it, eleven people getting on a boat that's intended for three or four people would look suspicious, while four people loading a bunch of 'fishing equipment' onto a boat isn't."

"Couldn't you have at least picked someplace else on the ship that didn't smell this bad?" Chidori asked in reply.

"Yeah, this fishy smell smells awful." Tot complained, covering her mouth so she wouldn't smell it.

"This is a fishing boat, you two, of course it would smell like fish." Riku replied with some sarcasm. "Besides the smell isn't that bad."

"Hey I noticed something, how come Tot and I are the only ones who don't like the smell?" Chidori noted looking at everyone else in the room. "Even you Shuro…"

"Well, if you just breathe through your mouth, you don't really smell it." Shuro said, smiling a little.

"As for the rest of us, we've smelled worse stuff before." Ran spoke for the Weiss members, Riku and Nagi nodded that it was the same in their case too.

"Same here, when you're a cook not all of the ingredients you use smell very good at all." Yuhi spoke.

"Actually, dried fish, or any non-poisonous fish for that matter, makes for a pretty good ration." Riku said. "You know in another time and place, like a mission in a jungle area or something like that, this place would smell like a banquet."

"You mean…under certain circumstances, this would make you hungry?" Chidori asked, sweat dropping, along with Yuhi and Shuro.

"Well, yes…what?" Riku asked in reply as he saw his friends' expressions.

"You really do destroy the typical image of a ninja…" Chidori shook her head.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Riku asked with a miffed look on his face, and then shook his head. "On second thought, tell me later, we need to get up on deck. We'll be at the base pretty soon, and Michael thinks we should be on the deck to be ready in case the enemy uses those Metal Gear RAYs."

"Good idea." Ran nodded in agreement, and with that the whole group went up to the deck.

45 Minutes Later:

As it turned out the boat made it into the bay without so much as a sign of any of the metal gears. The boat then found its way to the small dock that the fishermen used. As it pulled in, Riku and the others could see that another fishing boat was docked there as well. After a few minutes, their boat had stopped and Michael quickly tied it to the dock.

"So what do we do, I mean…" Riku spoke to Michael, indicating the boat.

"We'll speak with the owners and see what happens, but be on your guard just in case." Michael replied.

Riku nodded and checked to see that the safety of his USP was off. He then turned to Nagi and the others.

"You guys get the stuff unloaded, Michael and I will handle this." Riku instructed.

"What if these are just ordinary civilians?" Yuhi asked.

"Then we'll probably have to knock them out and leave them here on their boat so they don't get caught up in any of this." Riku answered.

"Can't we just tell them to leave?" Shuro spoke.

"Under normal circumstances, yes, but unfortunately we can't do that now." Michael replied. "First, there's a good chance their leaving may alert the enemy that we've arrived and we need to conserve our element of surprise. Second, letting them leave may put them in danger of being targeted by the RAY units that are in the water either with them mistaking them for us or to eliminate potential witnesses."

"I see…" Shuro nodded that she understood.

"Alright Riku, let's go." Michael turned to Riku, who nodded and got off the boat. The two of them then walked over to the other boat. Seeing that no one was on deck, Riku decided to call out to whoever was on board.

"Excuse me…" He said. "Could any of you guys give us some directions? We got a little lost…"

There was no reply. After a few minutes of waiting, Riku turned to Michael, who shrugged. The two men then got onto the boat and walked over to the door to the cabin below deck. Riku then knocked on the door, only to not get any reply. Suddenly a bit of the door inched open with a slight creak. Riku then reached to push open the door, but Michael's hand quickly grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"I'll go in, you cover me just in case." Michael said. Riku was about to object, but he decided against it and reluctantly nodded and put a hand to his USP, while his other hand drew out a kunai shuriken.

The two then looked at each other, nodded, and Michael shoved the door open. He then rushed in with Riku close behind. But the site that greeted them definitely made the two men regret it.

Right before them, in the cabin they rushed into were the corpses of three men who, from the clothes they were wearing, were probably the owners of this fishing boat. The fishermen had all been mutilated beyond belief, one of them looked as if he had been horribly beaten to death, another one had multiple deep gashes all over his body, and the last one was lying face down, which was probably a good thing because a closer look showed that much of the man's head had been crushed by some intense force.

Riku had to fight back the urge to throw up as he felt bile rise up in his throat at the gruesome sight before him. It was true that he was no stranger to the sight of carnage, for he had seen more than his share of it in battle, but there was something about this that was different. He could feel some strange aura around this place similar to the one he felt in the Mikage building.

(This…this is…) Yuki's voice said in Riku's mind as she also took in the sight before him and Michael. Riku could almost immediately feel an intense feeling of both fright as well as revulsion coming from Yuki, and suddenly a strange feeling started to affect him, causing Riku's body to tremble. Riku immediately realized what was happening and shut his eyes and then turned away towards the door, stumbling a little as he did.

(Yuki, please…) Riku spoke to the frightened spirit within him. (I know this is a lot for you, but you must control your fear…and your other emotions…they're affecting me too!)

For a moment it seemed as if Yuki hadn't heard what Riku had told her, but suddenly the uncomfortable feeling Riku had gotten vanished entirely.

(I…I'm sorry…) Yuki spoke, her voice sounding miserable. (I'm supposed to be helping you…but instead all I'm doing is hindering you…)

(Hey now, it's natural to panic when you see something like that for the first time.) Riku tried to reassure her. (Look, all…)

(You don't have to lie to try to make me feel better.) Yuki interrupted him. (I've never been a strong person…that's why it always seems that no matter what I do I always just cause problems.)

(And what I was telling you was genuine truth, Yuki.) Riku replied firmly. (I experienced similar feelings the first time I was in a battle. To be honest, back then, when I saw a nearby soldier, I can't remember now if it was friend or foe, get literally blown apart by enemy fire and then others nearby get shredded by the shrapnel, I froze and nearly panicked completely.)

(But you didn't run away?) Yuki asked.

(I might have.) Riku admitted. (But I knew that right then a lot of my comrades and friends were there with me, and knowing that, I couldn't just abandon them and leave them to die, nor could I just abandon the mission either. A true shinobi doesn't do either of those things.)

(But you're a ninja, I'm not…)

(My being a ninja was only part of the reason I didn't run.) Riku corrected her. (While it's true that part had a great deal to do with it, there was also another part; my friends who were there with me. I knew that they were counting on me to be giving them support, so I knew I couldn't let them down in that area.)

(So you mean I should just remember the people counting on me.) Yuki said. (Aya, her brother, Hirobe-san…)

(Not to mention I'm counting on you too.) Riku added. (Since we are merged, I'll be counting on you to help me in case any of the fights we get into turn nasty. So in a way, I'm going to stake my life on you.)

(Are you really sure you want to do that?) Yuki asked. (Like I said, I'm not a very dependable…)

(Maybe you are, maybe you're not.) Riku replied. (But you're my friend, and I trust you. That is what friends do, right?)

Yuki was silent for a moment and then finally spoke.

(Okay, I promise that I'll do my best.) She said, with some confidence now in her voice.

(That's the spirit.) Riku smiled. (Er…no pun intended.)

(I understand.) Yuki's voice then became serious. (Riku there's one thing that I think I should tell you, though. It's about this cabin, I'm sure you feel it too.)

(Yeah, the aura around this room.) Riku agreed. (Any idea what caused that? I don't think a C-Genome…)

(No it's something else. I'm not sure what, but…whatever it is, it's strong.)

(No kidding. Anyway, I'd better cut this short now. I need to tell this to Michael.)

(Alright.)

"Are you alright, Riku?" Michael spoke with concern in his voice as his friend slowly stood up. "I thought for minute you were going to pass out."

"It's nothing." Riku answered. "Yuki just had a small…reaction to this and that made me a little dizzy. It's nothing to worry about though, I'll be fine."

Michael then put a hand to Riku's head briefly and then withdrew it.

"Well, you don't seem feverish or anything, so I'll take your word for it." Michael said.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you've felt it by now, but do you have any clue who or what could have done this and created this weird aura?" Riku asked. "Yuki felt it too…"

"Maybe…" Michael looked deep in thought as his gaze shifted to the dead bodies of the fisherman as he inspected how each one had died.

(One of them was beaten to death…the other was sliced up by a fine edged weapon, and this last guy here had his skull crushed.) Michael thought as he surveyed the scene. (The way these men were killed are way too similar to 'his' methods of killing to be a coincidence…)

"Riku, there's something I need to inform you about as well as an order that you must follow." Michael said seriously as he turned to Riku. "If, during this mission, you and your team encounter a tall man dressed all in black that uses a chakram and advanced forms of martial arts, especially ninjutsu, I need you to promise that you'll run away. That one…"

"You're the second person to give me that warning." Riku spoke, surprised at what he had just heard.

"What do you mean?" Michael asked in reply.

"My grandmother gave me a similar warning when I was talking to her over the codec when we sent Maya into Aya's cell." Riku answered, and then stopped as he remembered something. "Hold on, did you say this man uses a chakram as his main weapon as well as advanced ninjutsu?" And Michael nodded.

"Well, I doubt this is a coincidence but, earlier before when I went to get Maya away from the Mikage agents sent to capture her, I ended up running into a kenin who used a chakram." Riku continued. "I didn't see his face, but the guy was obviously skilled, as he was able to sneak up behind me before I could even sense him. He held me up, but I shot him and got away so I could continue the mission. Then in the Mikage building, that kenin used some type of jutsu to reanimate the body of one the many people he killed there and spoke to me through it."

That was all Michael needed to hear as he felt his heart sink as his suspicions were confirmed beyond doubt.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Michael asked, half shouting, surprising Riku.

"I kind of forgot, alright." Riku answered. "I mean, the first time I thought I had either killed the guy or badly wounded him, and after the Mikage building, things started to move so fast…"

"Okay, I understand that." Michael calmed down. "I'd explain more about this man, but in light of this we need to hurry and get inside the base and find Aya and the others first."

"What can you tell me?" Riku asked. "I'll need to tell at least something to Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori just before we go in."

"This man you were warned about it a mercenary and assassin named Shade." Michael answered. "He's highly skilled when it comes to martial arts, and cruelty and mercilessness are the closest things he has to good qualities."

"How skilled is he?"

"Riku, you know how skilled Garland is?" Michael asked in reply.

"He's that powerful?" Riku's eyes widened as he heard this.

"More than that, I'd say Shade is, at the very least, as strong as Garland when he goes into his 'Berserker' mode."

(This is REALLY not my day…) Riku thought to himself.

"I'd tell you more, Riku, but there isn't enough time. For now, let's divide into our teams and begin infiltration. Just remember to run away the moment you see Shade, and contact me."

"I understand, consider it done." Riku nodded.

Later:

It hadn't taken long for the gear to be unloaded. After that, the large group had split into two teams to carry out the infiltration. Michael's team consisted of Ran, Youji, Ken, Omi, and Shuro, while Riku's team consisted of Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori. Each team had a C-Genome with them in order to help locate the hagoromo.

The plan was simple, the moment one team located where Aya, Aki, and Maya were, the other team would quickly move to where that team was. After that, there would be another division into two teams based on the current situation. One team would escort Aya, Aki, and Maya, along with anyone too injured to continue, out of the base and then use the codec to give an okay to either the Aogiri's or FOXHOUND to send a retrieval chopper for them. The other team would concentrate on finding Alexander O. Howell, any other C-Genomes held within the base, and finally the hagoromo. Afterwards that team would then retreat and then also signal for a chopper.

Riku's team made it to their infiltration point without any problems. Now all they needed to do was enter it without alerting the small number of guards patrolling the area around it.

"How many of them are there?" Yuhi asked as Riku surveyed the area. The group was hiding in a large patch of bushes that didn't have any security devices hidden in it.

"Eight of them, but the only ones that we really need to worry about the most are the three closest to our entrance point." Riku answered. "I should be able to take care of those guys quickly, but there's still a good risk one of the other five might spot me while I'm doing this."

"No problem, I'll just use some telekinesis to create a distraction so you'll have time to." Nagi spoke.

"Good idea." Riku agreed.

"What about us?" Yuhi spoke, indicating him and Chidori.

"Provide some cover, just in case I either miss a guard or another one comes back early. Here." Riku said and tossed Yuhi his M9, and he quickly caught it.

"Since I'll probably be using my beretta, you can use mine." Nagi said as he handed Chidori his M9.

"Are you really…going to kill those men?" Yuhi asked.

"I'm not sure I want to answer that." Riku replied, seeing Yuhi's expression. "And before you say something about this, bear in mind these men are professional mercs. Their skills are on par with many special forces type soldiers, unlike those goons the Mikage use."

"I understand what you're trying to say." Yuhi said. "I know once we're inside the base, when a fight breaks out you might not be able to avoid killing, but…"

"I understand what you mean; I don't enjoy killing people either." Riku replied. "But for your sake, I'll spare the ones out here."

"Thank you."

"Oh, one last thing." Riku said, now turning to everyone else. "From what I've learned recently, the enemy has an expert mercenary and assassin by the name of Shade in their ranks. Should we encounter him, we run away from him no questions asked."

"But…" Chidori said to object.

"According to what Michael told me about him, this Shade is not someone to be underestimated." Riku replied. "Because I'm in charge of this team, my primary duties include not just the mission objectives but to make sure everyone stays alive."

"Is this Shade person supposed to be strong?" Tot asked.

"Actually, I've heard rumors on the net about an assassin by that name as well as heard Crawford mention that name before." Nagi spoke. "If even a fraction of what I've heard is true then the idea of running would probably be a good idea." He then turned to Riku. "What do you know about him?"

"Nothing except, Michael obviously knows the guy." Riku answered. "That and according to Michael, this Shade is at least as strong as Garland is."

Both Nagi and Tot's eyes widened as they heard that.

"On second thought, scratch 'probably'." Nagi mumbled.

"What exactly is this about?" Chidori asked. "Who's Garland?"

"One of our senior members of FOXHOUND as well as a mentor to all three of us." Riku answered. "Before he joined FOXHOUND, he was a famous mercenary known as 'Bloody Hands'."

"Since he's your mentor, that means he's stronger than you, right?" Yuhi said. "If that's the case I can see why you…"

"Just to let you know, Garland is many times stronger than me." Riku interrupted, his voice serious.

"For that matter against the three of us combined, he's still way stronger." Nagi added. "Not to mention that he probably has enough strength to annihilate a whole army."

"And…this Shade might be stronger than that?" Yuhi said, neither he nor Chidori could believe what they had just heard.

"Yeah…" Riku then shook his head. "Anyway, let's not worry about that for now. Right now, let's just focus on getting past these guards."

Riku then used his right hand to draw out three pairs of senbon needles, one pair for each guard, each pair held between a pair of fingers. He then turned to Nagi and nodded. The young psychic nodded at his friend and then closed his eyes as he concentrated on his power. A moment later a crash was heard off in the distance, immediately catching the guard's attention. The first five immediately went in the direction of the sound while the remaining three remained behind to keep guard.

That was the moment Riku was waiting for, he quickly used his free hands to use the necessary hand signs.

"Cloak of Shadows." He muttered, and immediately a thin layer of chakra covered his entire body and blended in with the surroundings, making Riku almost completely invisible.

Riku, knowing he only had thirty seconds until the jutsu was cancelled, quickly dashed out from the hiding place, concentrating chakra into his feet to increase his speed as well as stop any sounds his feet would make will running. He then quickly threw the first two sets of needles, each set aimed for a specific pressure point in their respective target's necks.

The two guards didn't even know what hit them and the moment the needles struck, the guards collapsed to the ground in a heap. The last guard, who Riku was really making the dash towards, immediately saw his comrades suddenly fall over. The man quickly brought up his assault rifle, his eyes searching in vain for the mysterious attacker. The guard's eyes only managed to catch a glimpse of a hand suddenly materializing out of thin air, which held a pair of long thin needles.

"Wyvern's Sting!" Riku then jabbed the two needles into the guard's neck, successfully hitting the required pressure points and knocking the man out. With a small sigh, the guard slumped over onto the ground.

Riku breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that the plan had worked, but that sense of relief was short lived as he heard the sound of a gun being cocked and raised behind him. Riku turned just in time to see that one of the soldiers had come back and had his rifle aimed at him.

(Damn it, I was careless!) Riku thought to himself, as he knew that even if he dodged the shot, the sound of the gun going off would alert the other guards in the area and that would blow any chance of his team going in undetected.

As Riku prepared to dodge the shot and then throw a shuriken at the soldier, his would be attacker suddenly stiffened up and then fell over, two tranquilizer darts sticking in his back. Riku looked over where Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori were hiding and saw that one shot had come from Yuhi and the other from Chidori. He then smiled and nodded in the direction of his friends as a show of thanks.

Riku then walked over to the unconscious body of one of the soldiers, searched it and found a ration and some USP ammo, and then proceeded to hide the body. As he lifted the guard, Riku saw that Nagi, who lifted the other unconscious guards up and placed them in the bushes using telekinesis, was handling the rest. After tossing his guard into the underbrush as well, Riku stopped and looked around to make sure none of the other soldiers were returning and then nodded in his friends' direction to say it was all clear.

Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori quickly ran out from the bushes they were hiding in to where Riku was.

"Alright, let's get inside before the others come back." Riku spoke. "Also, remember to keep your guard up once we're inside." Riku then paused and turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "Also, thanks a lot for helping me back there. I really appreciate it."

"Like we were just going to stand around and let you guys do everything." Chidori said with a smile.

"You can definitely count on us for support." Yuhi added.

"Alright, let's go then." Riku smiled in reply.

"Right." Everyone else chorused.

Later:

Riku was leaning against the wall of one of the base's corridors, looking past the corner for any enemy troops. Yuhi and Chidori were behind him while Nagi and Tot acted as rear guards in case any enemy troops suddenly showed up from behind.

Presently they had gotten through various hallways and sections of the base without any discovery by enemy troops, though there had been some very close calls. After a while, Riku decided to stop so that they could contact Michael's team, which Riku, after he was satisfied that there were no enemies headed their way, did, selecting Michael's frequency on the codec.

"My team's managed to get in without any incident, though until we find a node I can log into we're pretty much lost." Riku reported to Michael as soon as his face appeared on the codec screen. "How are things on your end?"

"About the same. We're using the signal from Maya's codec to try to locate her and that should lead us to where Aya and her brother are being held. The signal we got at first was weak but it's showing signs of getting stronger, meaning we're getting close." Michael replied. "A few soldiers did spot us, but your friends from Weiss got them before they could do anything. Don't worry though, we're all fine."

"That's a relief to hear." Nagi spoke as his face appeared on the codec screen.

"Oh yeah, so far there's no sign of this Shade you told me about." Riku said. "What about you?"

"Thankfully we haven't run into him either." Michael replied, and then he stopped as if he noticed something. "Well, it looks like there's some more guards on the way. I'll have to contact you later when we get past them."

"Alright, good luck." Riku said before the transmission ended. He then turned back to the others. "So far every thing looks good on their end, now let's…"

Riku was interrupted by the sound of a woman's scream coming not too far down the corridor they were going down. Riku, not sure what to make of this, turned back to Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori.

"Crow, Usagi, guard Yuhi and Chidori. You guys follow me, but don't get too close in case this is a trap." Riku ordered, and everyone nodded that they understood. With that, Riku dashed in the direction of where the noise had come from until he finally reached what looked like a storage room. He glanced back to see that the others were catching up behind him before quickly readying a shuriken just in case and then opening the door.

What he saw inside of the room shocked and reviled him to the core.

Two of the enemy soldiers had a struggling woman with pale hair forced onto the floor. The woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, was only wearing the tattered remains of a shirt and there multiple bruises all over her body, which were obvious signs of abuse. Despite this she was obviously doing all she could to fight the two men off of her, even though it obviously appeared to be a futile struggle. One of the men was holding her down while the other was forcing her legs apart.

"Hey, this is a pretty frisky one, huh?" The first soldier spoke with a lecherous grin, keeping a firm hold on the woman despite her efforts to throw him off, and her screams of protest. "Hard to believe the commander got bored with her. Oh well, good for us, huh?"

"Just don't overuse her." The other soldier, who was holding the woman down, growled. "I want to have a chance to enjoy my turn at least as much as you."

"You're the one who lost the coin toss over which one gets her first, so sucks to be you." The other replied, suddenly he noticed that the door had been opened and turned to where Riku was, expecting it to be another soldier. "Hey if you want a go at her, wait till we're through. The commander said that we-."

The man never finished as Riku, his lips curled back into a snarl of outrage at what these two men were doing, threw his kunai shuriken right into that soldier's face with as much force as possible.

The soldier gave out a loud shriek, dropping the woman, as the blade plunged straight into his eye, piercing through his skull and into his brain before he tumbled to the ground giving a few twitches before he finally died.

The other soldier, quickly realizing this was an enemy, immediately let go of the woman and made a grab either for either his weapon or his radio to summon back up. Riku quickly drew out his USP, fully intent on shooting the soldier before he could use either of those, but stopped as he saw that wasn't necessary.

The soldier's face suddenly twisted up in a grimace as he suddenly started to choke. The man quickly brought his hands up to his neck to try in vain to stop whatever it was that was choking him. Suddenly, with a sickening snapping sound, the man's head was sharply twisted to the side, breaking his neck and killing him instantly.

Riku, knowing where that had come from, looked back to see that Nagi was standing behind him. Riku was about to call out to his friend to thank him when he noticed something, Nagi's eyes weren't their usual blue, but were now red. Riku then blinked a few times to make sure that he wasn't just seeing things, and then saw that Nagi's eyes had returned to their normal color.

(I must have been seeing things. It was probably just a trick of light.) Riku thought to himself. (But then again, if Nagi's eyes were red, could that mean he's a type similar to…No, it couldn't be…)

"Nice job." Riku commented to Nagi.

"I just felt like helping with taking out the trash, that's all." Nagi muttered in reply, and looked over at the woman. "Is she alright?"

Riku didn't reply and then turned to the woman, who was looking at the two of them nervously and at the same time trying to cover herself.

"Hey it's alright." Riku spoke to her reassuringly and then offered his hand to help her up. "We're here to hel-."

"DON"T!" The woman screamed swatting his hand away, and then backed into a corner of the room. She then curled up and began to whimper. "Please…don't…please don't hurt me…"

"We're not going to hurt you." Riku said taking a step towards her. "Like I was trying to tell you, we're here to…" Riku stopped, when Nagi put a hand on his shoulder.

(Her emotions are in a lot of turmoil right now, Riku. If you try anything right now you might make things worse.) Nagi said to his friend telepathically. (It's obvious what happened to her long before we got here…)

(So what are we supposed to do?) Riku asked in reply. (We can't just leave her like this.)

(First let's go out and then we'll think of something.) Nagi answered.

(Can't you…well, do something with your…) Riku began.

(If I used telepathy on her right now, I might cause damage to her mind.) Nagi replied. (In a way she's in a worse state right now than Aya was in when I helped her.)

Riku glanced back at the woman and then reluctantly followed Nagi out, where Tot, Yuhi and Chidori were waiting for them.

"What happened in there, you guys?" Tot spoke.

Riku and Nagi looked at one another not sure how to explain this to Tot. Finally Nagi spoke.

"Just trust me, Usagi, it's probably something you're better off not knowing." He said, but then glanced over to Yuhi and Chidori.

(Can you two hear me?) Nagi spoke to them telepathically.

(Huh, how are…?) Chidori exclaimed in surprise. (Oh that's right, since you're a psychic I guess you can do something like this.)

(Is this about what you guys went into that room for?) Yuhi asked.

(Yeah, that's pretty much it.) Nagi answered. (Well, there's a woman inside there, who I think may be Mikage personnel. She's been…hurt, and…)

(What do you mean by 'hurt'?) Yuhi asked in reply and then suddenly realized the answer. (You mean…)

(Yeah, apparently some enemy troops decided to use her for their 'entertainment'.) Riku spoke, disgust obvious in his voice. (Anyway, I'm going to head back a little and check some of the lockers to see if we can get her something to wear. After that…well, I'll tell you when I get back.)

Riku then ran back in the direction they had come from until he reached some lockers in the hallway. He opened each of them, but the only article of clothing he could find was a large lab coat obviously for a lab tech. With a shrug, he took the coat and then ran back to where the others were.

"I'm afraid this is all that I could find." Riku said as he laid the coat on the floor and then sat down. "But before that…"

Riku then opened one of the vest pockets and then took out a small pouch of something that had a few small markings on it. The young ninja then inspected the pouch to make sure it was the right one. After he was sure, Riku reached into another pocket and took out a small measuring cup, he then reached over to a water bottle he had brought with him and then put in a set amount of water. Afterwards he took out a small pinch of some green-brown powder, put it in the water, and waited a few seconds for it to mix. He then turned to Chidori.

"Could you give this to her along with the coat?" He asked Chidori.

"Sure." Chidori answered as she picked up the lab coat. "But why me?"

"Considering what just happened to her, I think you're probably the only person in this group she might not get startled by." Nagi spoke for Riku.

"Okay, I guess that's understandable." Chidori said and then reached over and took the cup with the strange mixture. She then stopped and looked at it. "What's this supposed to be anyway?"

"It's something that should calm her a bit." Riku answered, and then noticed Chidori was about to say something. "And before you jump to conclusions, no, this isn't some kind of drug. It's an herbal mixture used to help calm people in order to prevent them from going into shock, and larger doses are used to help soothe someone who's having something like surgery in the middle of a battle. I should know since I gathered the necessary herbs for this and made the mixture myself."

"Alright, I understand." Chidori nodded and took both the coat and the herbal mixture into the room.

While she was gone, Tot turned to Nagi.

"Crow, was what happened to whoever it is in there really so bad that you're keeping it a secret from me?" She spoke, surprising Nagi. "I can tell when you speak to people using your power since I've seen you do it so many times."

"It's not like that, Usagi." Nagi replied. "It's just that…what happened to the woman in there…I just don't fell comfortable telling you about something as horrible as that. I'm sorry…"

Tot looked at Nagi and could see from his expression that he was telling the truth.

"It's okay, Crow, but…" Tot paused for a second. "Could you please promise that you won't keep me out of when you talk to people like that when it's important? I don't want to feel left out…"

"Alright." Nagi nodded, and then smiled warmly at Tot.

(I promise, Nanami.) He finished using telepathy.

Tot/Nanami giggled and then threw her arms around Nagi, causing him to blush furiously.

As this was going on, Yuhi turned to Riku, who was smiling a little at his friends' interaction.

"You never told me you were a medic, Riku." He said, causing the ninja's attention to turn to him.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to call myself that." Riku smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "If I were a real medic, I probably wouldn't have had to have gotten Chidori to a hospital back when she got injured and been able to treat her wounds myself. But to tell you the truth in the last few months I've been trying to train myself so I can act as a medic for an emergency when my team is in the middle of a mission."

"Wouldn't that be tough for you, though?" Yuhi asked. "I mean…"

"Learning anything is tough, but in my case it's not as tough as you would think since my being a ninja would actually help me in that area." Riku answered. "A ninja is supposed to know at least some types of poisons as well as the antidotes for them which does cover the medicine area. Also, using shuriken effectively requires one to know the vital points of the body so you'd know where to aim. Knowing the vital points helps you know which patient is more seriously injured, and it also insures that you don't accidentally injure him more during treatment. Also, if you know which blood vessels circulate poison the fastest, then you also know where to tie them off to stop bleeding."

"So in other words, knowing how to kill someone can actually be used as the first step in order to save them, right?" Yuhi said.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Riku smiled.

A few minutes later, Chidori came out with the woman, now wearing the lab coat, following her close behind. The woman still had the same frightened look in her eyes as before, and stepped back when she saw everyone else.

"It's alright, they're my friends and they won't hurt you." Chidori said to her. The woman looked at Chidori, nodded, and reluctantly followed her out of the room. As they came out, Chidori handed Riku the now empty cup.

"Excuse me, but could you tell us your name, miss?" Riku asked the woman, who just turned and looked at him but said nothing. After a moment Riku decided to say more. "My name is Riku. What's yours?"

The woman was silent for a moment and it at first looked like she wasn't going to say anything, but she finally spoke.

"My name is Gladys. Gladys Smithson." She replied hesitantly, and then paused and looked at Riku, her expression like a frightened child. "You…you won't hurt me, will you?"

"I won't hurt you." Riku promised her. "You have my word as a ninja."

Gladys then noticed Nagi and then turned to him.

"You…you won't hurt me either, right?" She asked nervously.

"I won't, I promise." Nagi answered.

"And this guy over here is my boyfriend so I can vouch for him." Chidori spoke, gesturing at Yuhi.

"A-alright." Gladys nodded.

Chidori then looked over at Riku and then gestured at her ear where her codec was. Riku nodded that he understood and made the same gesture towards the others to do the same.

"I kind of know who she is." Chidori said when her face appeared on the codec screen. "That woman, Gladys, was one of the personnel with Kagami when I was captured by the Mikage."

"If she's that high up in rank, then maybe she knows where Aya, Aki, and Maya are at." Yuhi spoke.

"I don't think she's in the best of conditions to either be interrogated or for that matter lead us anywhere." Riku disagreed.

"He's right about that." Nagi said in agreement. "If we do anything drastic, that poor woman's mind may end up breaking and the worse case scenario would be she might go insane."

"So I guess we have no choice but to bring her with us, huh?" Yuhi said. "Just to let you know, I don't have any problems with that."

"Me neither." Chidori agreed. "Gladys may have worked for Kagami, but…what happened to her…she didn't deserve that."

"I feel sorry for her." Tot spoke. "What exactly happened to her anyway?"

"Some bad people hurt her, and very badly. That's all you need to know." Riku answered quickly, not wanting to go into details about what had obviously happened to Gladys, especially not with Tot.

"Oh…" Tot nodded a little, not completely understanding. "So I guess in case we run into any bad guys, we protect Gladys too right?"

"Right." Nagi nodded.

"And since she seems to trust me, so I'll help lead her along." Chidori volunteered.

"Are you sure that you're alright with that?" Yuhi asked her. "I mean…"

"I'm not going to blame her for my grandparents' deaths." Chidori replied firmly. "That blame rests solely on the hands of one person. Kagami Mikage, and sooner or later he's going to answer for it."

"Amen to that." Riku said with agreement. "Anyway, let's get going. I haven't been able to contact Maya but we should be able to find her using the signal from her codec as a tracer."

Meanwhile:

The soldier that had been unfortunate enough to be on guard duty in front of the cell door gave one final gurgle before dieing as Youji's strangling wire did its work. The blond assassin then loosened his wire and then retracted it back into its reel at his wrist. Youji then glanced over at Michael, who had taken out another guard nearby simply by breaking his neck.

"So Venom, you think this is the cell Aya's in?" Youji said, turning to Michael.

"No, according to the signal from Maya's codec it's still a little farther ahead." Michael replied, and then turned to see Ran, Omi, Ken, and Shuro walking towards them. They had gone behind to make sure there weren't any enemies following them.

"So who do you think is in here since those soldiers were guarding this cell?" Ran asked, having heard what Michael had said before.

"Well, we'll just have to find out." Michael answered and turned to the others. "Have your weapons ready just in case there are some soldiers on the inside."

Ran, Omi, Ken, and Youji nodded and drew their respective weapons and Shuro took out an M9 Michael had given her earlier.

Michael then searched the bodies of the two guards and found a card key for the cell. He quickly used it and the door opened. Inside were five men. Aside from one tall dark haired man in a black outfit similar to a sneaking suit, the other four everyone recognized mostly from photos and descriptions from Riku, Aya, Yuhi, and Chidori. Wei Fei Lee, Asamu Bagte, Alexander O. Howel (who they were also supposed to rescue), and finally Kagami Mikage.

Before any of the men could react Michael quickly drew out his USP and pointed it at Kagami, while Ran dashed forward towards Lee before he could react and pressed the edge of his katana against the Chinese bodyguard's neck. Asamu looked like he was about to try something but stopped when he saw Omi's crossbow was aimed right at him.

The strange man looked like he was about to make a move, but Youji, not trusting that this was an ordinary prisoner, quickly threw his wire, which swiftly wrapped around and firmly bound the man's right hand. Ken quickly caused the claws in his gloves to come out and then dashed forward until the claws were only a few inches from the man's chest.

"Don't move." Ken instructed.

"So you're Kagami Mikage, the man behind all of this." Michael spoke, as he kept the gun pointed at Kagami's head. "The one responsible for making the lives of innocent people like Aya Mikage, Chidori Kuruma, Shuro Tsukasa, and Yuki Urukawa a living hell…"

"From that ridiculous statement, I take it that you're one of the agents from FOXHOUND." Kagami replied. "So have you come to kill me?"

"As tempting an idea as that is, we're here to take you into our custody." Michael answered him. "Since according to what we've heard, you are, or were, a candidate for the Patriots' Wiseman's Committee."

"So you're taking me prisoner in order to get information." Kagami smirked slightly at this. "Why is it that people like you are so predictable?"

"Hey, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you." Youji spoke glaring at Kagami. "You just so happen to be on the shit list of everyone in this group, especially me."

"Youji, not now." Ran spoke. "As much as I hate to say this, this isn't the time or place for this."

"Is it alright if I say something to this man?" Shuro spoke as she stepped forward from behind Omi.

Michael made a quick glance back at Shuro and could see from the look on her face that whatever it was she had to say was important.

"Alright." Michael made a light nod as he still kept the gun he was holding trained on Kagami.

Shuro then walked up to where Kagami was standing, her expression seemed emotionless, but one look into her eyes showed that she bore a great deal of hatred for the man in front of her.

"So you're Aya's cousin, the one who was in charge of C-Project…" She spoke.

"You're probably going to tell me how much I've made the lives of your friends miserable as well." Kagami said. "You can say all that you want but…"

"That barely scratches the surface of what I'd have to say to you!" Shuro cut him off. "I could go on forever about how much you've made life miserable for Aya and just recently Chidori, not to mention me too…But there isn't enough time for that, and since Aya and Chidori will probably get their chance soon enough…"

Shuro then punched Kagami in the face, hard, with her right fist. The crystal that had been part of the ring Kei had given her, digging into the flesh of Kagami's right cheek and leaving a long and nasty cut.

"That was for what you did to Kei…and to me." Shuro finished with a bitter tone as she turned away and wiped the blood off of her ring. She then walked past Omi and out the door.

Not one member of Michael's team moved to help Kagami, none of them feeling any pity for the man at all.

Youji then reached into his pocket and drew out a beretta and aimed it at Asamu, and glanced towards Ran.

"Hey, Abyssinian, I think it would probably be a good idea that we have Bombay go and make sure Shuro's alright." He said.

"Good idea, Balines." Ran nodded, and then smiled slightly. "Though, knowing you, I'm a bit surprised you didn't volunteer for that."

"I'm a bit tied up here, or rather he is." Youji pointed at the man whose hand he had secured with his wire.

"I suppose that's understandable." Ran said still holding his katana firmly at Lee's neck, he then glanced towards Omi. "Bombay…"

"Of course." Omi nodded and then left the room.

When Omi was out side of the room, he turned and saw Shuro was standing some distance away from the door and she was leaning against the wall. At first, Omi assumed that she was just resting and walked towards her, but as he came closer he could hear some light sobs coming from her. He then realized that she was crying as what had just happened had probably brought back a lot of the pain of the loss she had felt at losing Kei.

"Shuro-san…" Omi spoke, not sure what to do.

Shuro gave a start and then quickly wiped at her face before turning to Omi, her eyes closed to try and hide what had just happened.

"Oh, O- I mean, Bombay." She said. "Why are you…?"

"With where we are now, it's not a good idea that you leave the group by yourself." Omi replied.

"Oh…I understand." Shuro nodded and then turned away. "I…I'll keep watch from this direction and you can from the other…alright?"

Omi didn't reply, and for a moment there was silence between the two of them. Finally he spoke.

"Shuro-san, it's alright if you feel that you really need to cry." He said. "I know it doesn't really solve anything, but it's also not a good idea to keep something like the grief over the death of someone you loved bottled up like that so soon after their death. I know from experience…"

For a moment, Shuro didn't say anything, but without turning to Omi she replied.

"…thank you…" She said through a choked sob, and Omi simply nodded in reply.

Meanwhile:

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and their recent addition to their group, Gladys, after managing to sneak by some more enemy patrols, finally came upon a connecting hallway that bridged between two different buildings for the Mikage base.

Riku checked his codec and saw that the signal was getting stronger in the direction down that hallway.

"Well, I guess that's where we'll find Aya, Maya, and Aki." He said, turning back to everyone else. "Well, let's…"

Riku suddenly stopped as he heard a faint whistling sound and his eyes darted to the side in the direction of the hallway in front of them. knowing he had only seconds to react, Riku quickly drew out a kunai shuriken and brought it up in a defensive position.

There was a sudden ringing sound of metal striking metal as Riku felt something strike his kunai. He barely got a glimpse of a disc like object with a metallic glint as it returned the way it had come from.

(No mistake, that was a chakram.) Riku thought, and looked down the hallway. Before that he glanced behind him and saw that Nagi and Tot had noticed the sudden attack and were already getting into a fighting position.

"I know you're down there, so why don't you come out, kenin, or should I call you by you're proper name, Shade?" Riku spoke looking in the direction the chakram had come from.

After a brief moment of silence there was the sound of footsteps coming towards the group, and then a tall black haired man in a black trench coat and hat stepped into view. He walked until he reached the exact midpoint of the hallway and stopped to survey the group in front of him.

"Well if it isn't the fledgling ninja." Shade spoke with a smile. "Come to rescue your friends, the Mikage twins as well as that Hirobe girl you have hidden in their cell?" Shade's smile then became a smirk as he saw Riku's surprised expression.

"If you're curious as to how your friends are doing, the cell they're in is on the other side, in the building I just came from." He continued.

"Then in that case, would you please be so kind as to let us pass?" Riku asked in mock politeness. "You'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you do."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, boy ninja." Shade replied. "If you intend to get to the ones you seek to rescue, you must pass through me." Shade then stopped as he glanced to the side, noticing Gladys, and then smiled. "Well, it looks like you and your group found my little toy, how kind of you…"

Riku glanced back at Gladys and saw that her expression was one of both shock as well as fear as she saw Shade. Her body was becoming rigid as she trembled in fear. Riku then noticed that her lips were moving and, even though her voice was practically a whisper, he could hear what she was saying.

"Please…don't…don't touch me…no." Her voice pleaded as she relived what Shade had done to her in her mind. "Please don't hurt me…"

"Well, I know that expression well enough." Shade noted with a smirk and then turned to Riku. "Hey boy, I'd say she's ready. Would you like me, as a favor from one ninja to another, to let you have a go with her just before our fight? She's can be quite good you-."

Shade didn't have chance to finish as Riku, at an unbelievable speed, suddenly turned to towards Shade, and in the blink of an eye a flurry of throwing star shuriken flew straight at him.

Shade smirked and in a sudden display of acrobatics, dodged each one of the projectiles with ease, expertly turning his body at very exact moments like he was doing a dance. After dodging the last shuriken, and his feet touched the floor Shade began to laugh at Riku.

"That's enough." Riku growled, his voice low and had a dangerous tone to it. "I don't know how you survived my shooting you, but you've obviously survived for far too long now."

"My, a stronger reaction than I expected." Shade noted with a sneer at Riku. "You really are such a child aren't you?"

"Well this 'child' just managed hurt you, kenin filth." Riku replied. "No, even that's too good a term for you. You're 'ko' pure and simple."

"What are…?" Shade stopped as he felt his body seem heavier than usual and not respond as quickly either. He then glanced down and saw that there were several senbon needles sticking in him on various parts of his body.

(I see…so that boy never lost his temper after all, he actually anticipated my dodging his shuriken and was really using these needles to target key pressure points all over my body.) Shade thought to himself.

"Well, perhaps you're not a mere child after all." Shade said, and then closed his eyes as if to meditate. Suddenly he let out a harsh cry and the needles all shot out of his body, pinning into the walls, floor, and ceiling near him. "Perhaps you can provide me with some entertainment after all."

"Then let's hope you find the idea of dieing to be entertaining." Riku said as he drew a kunai shuriken out.

(Riku, aren't we…?) Nagi spoke telepathically.

(Nagi, the only escape route is the way we just came in and with the condition Gladys is in right now, the only way we could successfully retreat is to leave her behind.) Riku replied. (And you and I both know what that son of a bitch will do to her if we leave her in his clutches.)

(Fine, but if things get tough for you, get over here and I'll destroy this connection hallway with my powers and hopefully send that thing down with it.) Nagi said. (I can float us over to the other side afterwards.)

(Got it.) Riku nodded.

"Crow, Usagi, Yuhi form a defensive position around Chidori and Gladys." Riku ordered and then turned to Shade. "I'm killing him alone."

"Then by all means, come at me!" Shade called to Riku.

(Are you sure about this, Riku?) Yuki spoke to him.

(No not really.) Riku replied. (In all likelihood, Nagi's plan may have to work.)

(So why fight him?) Yuki asked.

(It's hard to put into words but there's something that feels fake about this guy's power.) Riku answered. (You should be able to feel it too if you try hard enough…Anyway, I'm going to try to find out what it is. Can I count on you to back me up if this fight gets serious?)

(Count on it.) Yuki replied.

(Here goes.) Riku thought as he prepared to make his attack. (Sorry, Michael, I don't think I'll be able to keep that promise…)

"Yes come at me just like that." Shade smiled. "The more that you struggle the more enjoyable it is for me to watch."

AN: Major cliffhanger! Sorry, but I had to end this chapter here since a lot's going to happen in the next chapter.

Riku: I suppose that includes my ass getting kicked by this guy, since anyone here who's read SX knows how the fight turns out.

DF (grins evilly): Assuming of course next chapter's fight turns out to be 'that' fight.

Riku: NANI! Are you saying Nagi, Tot, and I have to fight this psycho more than once!

DF: Oh relax, you're not going to die. That would create a time paradox in the storyline.

Riku (shakes his head): I still have a really bad feeling about this.

Anyway, here's some Easter Eggs and stuff about this chapter:

1) The idea of giving Riku a forehead protector with the FOXHOUND symbol on it was inspired by Naruto.

Riku (mumbles): If you ask me this particular author is obsessed with that series.

2) The idea for that scene with Yuki and Riku was inspired by two things actually. The part for how they're connection affected Riku was inspired mostly by a favorite TV series of mine, Farscape, with Crais and Talyn's connection (though not as nasty as in Crais' case).

The conversation between them was inspired by a scene early in Suikoden IV. Where one of the characters, Snowe, abandons the ship he was the captain of and the hero character takes over. I was pretty put out with Snowe over that and thought 'what kind of loser leaves his ship and crewmates behind, especially if he's the one in charge?', but then I thought, 'but then again what would make the hero character stay?'. That pretty much inspired Riku's conversation with Yuki.

3) Riku's conversation with Yuhi about learning to be an emergency medic was inspired by a scene in the manga for Peacemaker Kurogane, where Susumu Yamazaki (also a ninja) is recruited to fill out that role in the Shinsengumi (fans of Rurouni Kenshin should check this anime series out, by the way (you'd almost expect Kenshin to suddenly show up in it (though Saitou is portrayed differently than in RRK).

4) The scene with Shuro and Omi was also inspired by a scene in the Peacemaker manga where the main character, Tetsunosuke Ichimura, comforts another character named Akesato.

5) This isn't really an Easter Egg, but a translation note. 'Ko', which Riku calls Shade is a Japanese term whose kanji is made up of three 'mushi' (insect) kanji (don't ask me what it looks like since I just got this from a translation note for a manga I'm reading). It can mean one of the following, vermin, worm, bug, or bad company. So that's pretty much an insult on Riku's part.

Well folks, I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can. Provided I can find a new job and not get writer's block. Anyway, please review.


	30. Chapter 29: Into the Lion's Den Part 2

AN: Well, here we are with the next chapter for DCR. Hope you guys enjoy what's in store in this chapter. I'm sure you'll like this one GreyWolf4, cause I'm going to include a little flashback with Shade that I'm sure will be to your liking. The same goes to TempestDynasty as I'm finally going to have Riku use that special technique you made for him.

Sorry for taking a while to update but my computer caught a virus and it took some time to get it fixed. After that I ended up losing almost half of this chapter so I had to start over again. Not to mention I've been busy reading the new Harry Potter book, along with the fact that I've recently gotten hooked on this really cool RPG called Tales of Symphonia (to fans of Oh My Goddess, you'll probably like it since the creator, Kosuke Fujishima did the artwork and all for the characters). Anyway, enough of that, on with the story!

PS: There's going to be a bit of a reference to the TV series 'Farscape', plus a very small one to 'The Shield' got the inspiration from an interesting (and not mention funny) chapter from Lyrix of Azn Ethix's 'Capcom vs. SNK: Infiltration'. To anyone reading this who is into big crossover fics, that is THE crossover fic to read, take my word for it.

PPS: To new reviewer Firemore: I'm glad that you think my story is good. As for your note on the new Hokage and all, well I admit in the earlier parts I was a bit hasty in writing parts for FoR into this fic (mostly cause I was trying to effectively crossover WK into MGS more) (don't worry I didn't find it insulting, it was more like constructive criticism to me). Perhaps if I get the time I'll rewrite those parts, but that might not be for a while. As for your views on Campbell, well that's actually how it's supposed to be in order for certain events to occur later on (you'll soon see in the story arc after this one). I won't spoil anything for you, but Campbell's actions involving Reese will have very dire consequences later on. Anyway enjoy and I hope that you send more reviews.

Disclaimer: See past disclaimers.

Chapter 29: Into the Lion's Den Part 2: Confrontation

Mikage Base:

Riku stood a few feet away from Shade as he pondered what to do. He had his kunai shuriken up in a defensive position ready to counter any attack Shade would make either with his chakram or something else.

(If I rush this guy, I'm as good as dead.) Riku thought as he studied the man in front of him. (But then again, he knows I'm waiting for him to attack first so instead he's doing nothing baiting me into being the attacker instead.)

"Hey kid, if you wait too long there's a good possibility something may happen to those friends of yours that you're trying to rescue." Shade spoke. "Can you really afford to waste time just standing there?"

"No, not really so I need to end this as quick as possible." Riku replied.

(If he's really as strong as Garland is, then my only choice is to catch him off guard and use my powers of flame to kill this guy before he can do anything.) Riku thought to himself. (It won't be pretty, but…Yuki, be ready to add some of your flame power into mine when I say so.)

(I won't let you down.) Yuki promised him.

Riku gave a light nod, before suddenly dashing forward towards Shade, kunai shuriken ready.

"So this is what you've got for me? How disappointing." Shade shook his head and then glared at the incoming Riku. "You should know…THAT I DETEST DISSAPOINTMENT!"

Shade's left hand shot out at Riku's head at a sudden and surprising speed, fully intent on grabbing the young ninja by the head and crushing his skull. Riku, however, having anticipated a counterattack like this, was able to quickly duck his head away from Shade's grasp in the nick of time, the man's hand missing him by mere millimeters.

Riku quickly seized this opportunity, and swiftly turned the kunai he was holding in his hand and plunged it into Shade's left wrist, disabling that hand. Shade snarled and lashed out at him with his chakram using his right hand.

"Wave Crush!" Shade shouted as he hurled his chakram at Riku, who quickly dashed out of the way, only to find that a wave of dark energy that had been following the chakram was headed straight for him. Riku immediately made a swift ducking motion, making him able to dodge the shot, but not before it grazed his left cheek leaving a small cut as well as a burn mark.

(What the hell was that! Some sort of dark energy…but that doesn't look like any ninjutsu I've ever heard of.) Riku thought as Shade caught his returning chakram.

"Surprised?" Shade spoke. "Don't think I fall into the same category of ninja as you, boy. Compared to me you're lower than even a genin."

"I admit that you're techniques aren't anywhere near what I was expecting." Riku admitted. "But…DON"T UNDERESTIMATE A SHINOBI OF HOKAGE!"

Riku then made a small flame appear on his right index finger and then used it to draw a kanji in the air.

"Homura!" Riku called and immediately the dragon's spiraling flame whip encircled his right arm. He then sent the whip shaped flame straight at Shade, who was caught off guard not just at this new and unexpected attack, but mostly by Riku's statement.

(Did that kid just say 'Hokage'?) Shade thought to himself as he got into a defensive position. As Shade prepared for the incoming attack, he suddenly saw the whip twist away from him and then dart to his feet.

(Shit!) Shade realized what Riku was planning, but was too late to do anything as the whip coiled around his right leg.

"Alright Homura, do your stuff!" Riku shouted to the dragon spirit, and the whip immediately pulled back, yanking Shade off the ground. It then began to spin around in a spiral doing the same to Shade. Riku then brought his arm up quickly causing the whip to smash the spinning Shade into, and almost through, the ceiling. He then brought his arm down, causing Shade to smash this time into the floor.

For a moment, Shade just lay there motionless, then he suddenly lashed out with his chakram, severing the flame whip around his leg. He then started to get to his feet, surprising Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and Gladys who were watching the fight. Riku's expression didn't show surprise as he didn't expect that to finish Shade, but his eyes narrowed as he saw his enemy start to get up.

(No kidding, this guy's way strong…) He thought to himself. (That should have broken a number of bones in his body, but…)

(He was injured when you did that to him, I could feel it.) Yuki spoke. (But it's like his injuries have just disappeared…)

(No kidding, and what surprises me even more is that even though this guy got all the needles I put into him out, he's not the least bit affected by what I did to him.) Riku replied. (The needles all hit the mark, I'm sure of it. He shouldn't even be able to move correctly right now.) Riku then shook his head as he saw Shade was getting up.

(No time for that, I've got to finish this now.) He thought, and then quickly drew the kanji for 'break'.

"Saiha!" Riku called, and the dragon's curved flame blade appeared at his right wrist. He then concentrated chakra into his feet and dashed towards Shade.

Before the man could take a defensive position, Riku's blade connected with the lower area of Shade's stomach, making a long and deep cut as well as a nasty burn there. The blow also managed to knock Shade a few feet into the air, which was exactly what Riku wanted to happen. Riku then made a quick turn around, concentrating more chakra into both his feet and legs, and then propelled himself into the air to execute another slash attack on Shade, this time adding another deep cut and burn this time on Shade's back. Riku quickly twisted his body around so that his feet would touch the wall and then propelled from it to make another slash. Riku repeated this three times before he used Saiha's blade to execute a powerful downward slash on Shade's middle.

"Dragon Claw Gale!" Riku shouted as he completed the technique with that slash, sending him and Shade back to the ground.

Riku quickly got up and looked down at his fallen opponent. To say the least, Shade's body was in very bad shape as there were six long and deep cuts, which were accompanied by burns that were third degree, which now decorated his stomach, chest, and back. Also blood was starting to seep out from the cuts.

"Well, looks like I got him." Riku said and then turned back to where Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and Gladys were. "Alright, it looks like we can…"

(Riku, turn around now!) Yuki's voice cried out to him in warning, causing the young ninja to quickly do so. The site that greeted him caused his eyes to widen in shock.

"Really, that was cold of you, boy." Shade spoke as his 'supposed' corpse suddenly got up, the wounds Riku had given him melding back together and the burns practically fading away back into normal skin. "I did just die, you know."

(Shit, this guy can regenerate!) Riku thought as he watched Shade's injuries heal and disappear.

"But still you have managed to make my day in a way." Shade continued as he looked at Riku as if he were studying him.

(So it looks like there were more survivors of the Hokage clan after all besides that bitch Kagero. After all, there's no mistaking it, that is the flame of the chieftains of the Hokage clan.) Shade thought to himself as he looked at Riku. (Now that I look at this boy, the resemblance he has with Okha, the chief of the Hokage clan…the prey that I most desired during Nobunaga's campaign against the ninja clans…)

Flashback: 400 + Years Earlier: Hokage Village:

Shade, or Shingen Koga as he was called then, was calmly observing the attack Nobunaga's forces were making on the village of the Hokage ninja clan. The battle was obviously in favor of the samurai under Nobunaga's command, as the ninja defending the village were slowly but surely being exterminated one by one.

(It looks like Nobunaga's plan to obtain the madogu of the Hokage may actually work.) Shade thought to himself. (Though the advantage Nobunaga has is weight of numbers. If he didn't have as many samurai, things would be quite different…)

Shingen then noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see a young female ninja with long black hair in the distance who was fleeing the battle. She appeared to be carrying what looked like a small bundle or bag. Shingen smirked at this.

(Samurai certainly are overrated.) He thought. (Which is why Nobunaga had me join this little campaign of his. But I'll deal with that kunoichi later, now is the time to collect my fee for this. Ohka, leader of the Hokage clan…I hope I can get the enjoyment I'm expecting from you when we fight.)

Shingen grinned in anticipation of this, for he had heard many stories about the power of flames possessed by the heirs of the Hokage clan chiefs. Supposedly it was remarkably different from the flames wielded by those of the Kusanagi and Yasakani clans, or even the Orochi flames and that had definitely captured Shingen's interest.

(I suppose it's time for me to join the battle.) Shingen thought as he got up and prepared to make his move. (After all, it wouldn't be good at all if my prey ends up getting killed before…)

"So you are the one whose been giving away the locations of the ninja villages to Nobunaga." A voice spoke behind him, causing Shingen to turn to see a male Hokage ninja standing behind him, sword drawn and ready.

"We were assuming it was the work of a kenin who had allied himself with Nobunaga." The ninja continued. "And it turns out to be Koga's outcast, Shingen."

"Well, you can blame the Koga clan for casting me out." Shingen replied with a smirk. "Now if you don't mind, I have an important meeting with your clan chief to get to."

"You're not going to get a single step closer to Ohka-sama, kenin traitor!" The ninja then lunged at Shingen with his sword.

Shingen merely sneered and reached out with a single hand and caught the incoming blade. A small stream of blood flowed out from a cut the blade's edge made on his hand, but Shingen ignored it and firmly held his enemy's sword in place.

"You really should have taken my offer and let me pass." Shingen stated simply, as the ninja struggled in vain to pull the blade free from Shingen's grasp. "Now, allow me to demonstrate the proper use of this weapon…"

Shingen then made a sudden and ferocious kick at the ninja's side, cracking a number of the man's ribs and causing him to let go of his sword as well as stumble from the intense pain. Shingen wasted no time and quickly flipped the sword around, smoothly catching its handle, and with a quick and hard thrust of his hand, ran the unfortunate Hokage ninja through the chest.

"That is your first and final lesson in the proper use of swordsmanship." Shingen spoke as he twisted the sword slightly, causing the Hokage ninja to grimace in pain, before yanking the blade out and the ninja collapsed to the ground dead.

"Now to find the Hokage clan leader." Shingen turned away from the corpse of his opponent and then tossing his enemy's sword aside. He then vanished from where he was standing, leaving nothing but the dead ninja and the sword stained in its owner's blood as the only sign he had ever been there.

A few minutes later, Shingen finally found his target, who was fighting a whole squad of samurai, who had quickly chosen to use their naginatas in place of their katanas as Ohka was wielding his flame powers and any enemy that got too close was quickly burned to ash, as could be seen by the large number of charred corpses of Nobunaga's samurai that surrounded the Hokage clan chief.

(Perfect.) Shingen was almost openly grinning at the sight that greeted him. (I can feel that man's chakra, he's done quite a bit of fighting but I can tell he's still in his prime for fighting. He should provide me with plenty of entertainment before death finally claims him.)

Shingen was about to step forward and order his men to step aside so that he could begin the much awaited fight he so desired, when suddenly the samurai, all as one, made rush at the Hokage clan chief their naginata points finding their marks, killing him instantly.

End Flashback…

(Because of those fools, I was deprived of the chance to fight such a worthy foe.) Shade thought to himself. (But now…)

"What the hell are you talking about?" Riku asked Shade.

"Thanks to you, I now know that there were survivors of Nobunaga Oda's attack on the Hokage clan village hundreds of years ago, which means you must be their descendant." Shade answered. "Not only that, but you possess the kekkei genkai of the Hokage clan chiefs, which is the power of flames. Flames said to be like the flames of the dragons…"

(How…how does this guy know all of this!) Riku thought and then remembered something. (Actually, what's Grandma's connection with this guy anyway?)

"Well, you certainly know quite a bit about my clan." Riku spoke, trying to hide his surprise at what Shade had just said. "Care to tell me how you know that?"

"Sorry, but I'm not here to tell you stories, child of Hokage, but to eliminate you and your group." Shade answered. "Now, do try to provide me with some more entertainment before death finally comes to claim you."

"We'll see who death claims." Riku said, getting Saiha's blade ready, and then concentrated chakra into his feet and made a sudden and quick dash towards Shade.

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku shouted as he approached Shade, who merely stood where he was.

With a sigh as well as shake of his head in disappointment, Shade made a simple sidestep out of the way of the incoming fire blade just seconds before it could touch him, and the blade ended up cutting through nothing but air. Riku quickly slowed down and made a quick turn around so he could face his enemy.

"Really now, don't tell me that's all you can do." Shade spoke. "I admit your attack is quite formidable, however, when you used that stronger variation of it on me earlier, I noticed that your attack has one major flaw. You can only move forward in a straight line when using it, which makes that technique quite easy to dodge."

Shade then held his chakram out and began to charge a large amount of dark energy all around it.

"Let's see of you can dodge this…" He said. "BLOOD SHOWER!"

A large wave of dark energy then shot out from the ring weapon and towards Riku, who quickly made to summon the dragon Madoka's barrier to defend against it.

(Please work…) Riku thought and suddenly felt that his hand wouldn't move, nor would any other part of his body. (Oh shit!)

Riku then prepared for the incoming attack to hit him, but after a few seconds nothing happened. He then saw that the energy wave hadn't moved at all, in fact it seemed like everything was frozen in place.

(You won't be able to call on the dragon's power in time, the same goes for your Dragon Armor technique.) Yuki's voice spoke to Riku. (And if you try to defend, that wave of energy will still seriously hurt you.)

(Well, that's reassuring to know.) Riku replied sarcastically. (Wait a minute, how is all of this…?)

(I'm using a part of our spiritual bond in order to temporarily slow down time so we can speak.) Yuki said. (I only have about a minute left so please just follow my instructions.)

(I'm all ears.) Riku replied.

(First concentrate as much chakra as you can into your hands and also a little into your feet since you'll need to move quickly.) Yuki instructed. (Also get ready to call out your flames into both of your hands once you can move.)

(Alright, is there anything else I need to do?) Riku asked as he began concentrating his chakra into both his hands and feet.

(Yes, as soon as you call out your flames start spinning, I'll do the rest.) Yuki answered.

(What do you…?) Riku began and then started to feel a strange sensation coming over him and he knew that time was coming back to normal. He saw that Shade's attack was once again coming towards him and could also sense that his body was able to move again and quickly summoned out his flames into both his right and left hands.

(Stretch out your hands and spin! Hurry!) Yuki's voice almost shouted to him.

(Got it!) Riku replied as did so, the chakra in his feet almost immediately accelerating his movement. He then felt both the chakra and the flames merge in his hands, and suddenly the flames seemed to burst out and, fanned by Riku's spinning, expanded and formed into a large red cyclone that spun around with him.

Almost as soon as that happened, Riku felt a large impact from the energy wave Shade had fired at him, and it almost made him lose his balance. Fortunately Riku was able to maintain it and quickly added a little bit more chakra to his feet in order to keep spinning as the pressure from the still oncoming wave of dark energy was still intense.

After a few more seconds, Riku started to feel the pressure start to slowly recede.

(That's good, any longer and I would have gotten dizzy.) He thought to himself. (Still, I'd better prepare a little surprise for Shade once I stop.)

A couple of seconds later, the pressure was gone and Riku quickly called away both the chakra as well as the flames before slowing down and then stopping from spinning altogether.

As he turned to look back at Shade, he saw a large hole in the upper wall of the connecting hallway, which had obviously been caused by the deflected attack.

"Well not bad at all." Shade commented with a look of amusement. "That was quite an interesting way to deflect my attack."

"A good friend of mine gave me advice for it." Riku replied. "Let me thank you for her for complimenting her idea. NADARE!"

Suddenly a whole bunch of fireballs appeared out of thin air and shot towards Shade who, unable to use a technique to deflect the incoming projectiles at this range, quickly crossed his arms over his face in a defensive position just before the fireballs struck him.

(How was he able to do that without forming a kanji?) Shade wondered as he felt both the impact and the intense burns caused by the barrage of fireballs as they struck him. Then he realized what happened. (I see, he must have drawn it while he was spinning, the blur of it all masking what he had done.)

Shade suddenly sensed something coming his way besides the fireballs, and as soon as he felt the barrage stop, he knew he had only seconds to react.

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku's voice called out, as the young ninja charged towards Shade, Saiha's blade out and ready.

Shade, however had anticipated this, and he quickly dropped his defensive position, and his hands then shot out, grabbing his opponents right arm effectively stopping Riku's attack just as the blade was barely an inch from touching the mercenary's lower body.

"Not a bad strategy." Shade said with a smirk as he firmly held Riku in place by his arm while the ninja struggled to free himself. "You used your first surprise move as a diversion, knowing I'd defend against it, creating a perfect opening for you to attack me with your flame blade. That would have worked, however…I can sense as well as hear you coming."

The mercenary then freed his right hand, brought it into a fist, and then with hard lunge punched straight into Riku's chest. The fist coming straight out of the ninja's back.

"Now you…" Shade then stopped as he realized something was wrong. Suddenly the Riku that Shade had just 'killed' turned into a large puff of smoke.

(A bunshin!) He thought. (Then where…?)

"You know what your problem is?" Riku's voice spoke out, causing Shade to turn and look around trying to find where his enemy's voice was coming from. "For an expert mercenary and a ninja, you talk too much…"

Suddenly Riku seemed to materialize out of thin air only a few feet from where Shade was standing, his hands pressed together indicating he had just performed a ninjutsu technique. As Shade prepared to make an attack, Riku then stared straight into his eyes.

"Dragon Fear!" Riku shouted and his blue eyes suddenly seemed to flash with a bright light.

For a moment Shade didn't feel anything different, but when he tried to move nothing happened. His whole entire body seemed frozen in place.

(He can use doujutsu (eye techniques) too!) Shade thought as he struggled to free himself. He then saw Riku make couple more hand signs before vanishing in a shower of cherry blossoms. (Damn it, I can't break free! Is this body really so weak!)

Riku then appeared behind Shade, and knowing that even though the mercenary couldn't see him due to the state he was in, the man could still sense him, Riku quickly held out his hands vertically opposite one another with his fingers slightly curled as if to grasp a circular object.

(Time to try out that new technique Garland taught me, hope it works.) Riku thought to himself as he called out his power of flames and then began to concentrate on both that and summoning out the required chakra.

The fire in Riku's hands soon began to meld and spin around in a circular formation, and almost immediately the chakra the he had been focusing before was doing the same. Soon the two spinning forces were creating a third between them, and that was a small sphere of wind that despite its size had enough force to render human flesh. All the while, Riku was gritting his teeth as he was struggling to maintain and control these three forces in order to meld them into a single attack.

(Just a little more…) He thought, as he struggled to keep the technique from flying apart. (I need to get this under control quick or that guy will break free of my Dragon Fear soon…)

(Let me help you.) Yuki's voice spoke, and then suddenly she appeared right next to Riku. (I'll help you maintain it…)

Riku smiled slightly at her in response and nodded.

Yuki then reached out and placed her hands, each one on top of Riku's. Suddenly Riku felt a surge of power coming through Yuki's hands and the tension he was getting from before with trying to form the attack had lessened, which was enough for him to finish the technique.

Riku then looked to see that the flames, chakra, and wind had formed a grapefruit sized ball of swirling fiery wind. He could also feel the intense amount of power condensed into it. He glanced to the side to see Yuki nod at him in approval and then vanish.

(Looks like I'll need some more practice, since Garland said that this was supposed to be a perfect sphere.) He though to himself. (Well, here goes nothing…)

"Sky Dragon Demon!" Riku shouted as he thrust the fireball into Shade's unprotected back.

Shade's back arched as the ball ripped, tore, and burned its way into him. For a moment, the expression on Shade's face was one of pure agony, but, if Riku had been able to see it, that expression suddenly vanished and was replaced with a victorious smirk.

Suddenly the fireball burst straight through the other side of Shade in a large explosion of fire and chakra. The explosion caused the hallway to rumble, and for a moment the occupants were afraid it was going to collapse. Fortunately, the connection hallway held.

After a few minutes the smoke cleared to reveal a large burning hole in the upper wall and ceiling of the hallway, as well as Shade's body, which now had a circular hole all the way through his back, as it slumped face down onto the floor.

Riku waited for a few minutes, expecting the wound to regenerate and Shade to get back on his feet, but nothing happened. Not taking any chances, Riku took out a throwing star shuriken and hurled it straight into the back of Shade's head where it embedded itself. There was no response at all.

(I don't think he's alive anymore.) Yuki spoke. (I can't sense anything from the body at all.)

With one more cautious look, Riku decided to go and head back to where his friends were. But even as he was walking back to them, Riku kept making quick glances back just to make sure.

"It looks like you got him." Yuhi spoke as soon as Riku arrived.

"Yeah, I guess…" Riku replied. Something just didn't feel right about how Shade had just died.

"Drakken, before we go there's something I need to speak with you about." Nagi spoke suddenly, his tone of voice serious. "It's about your fighting Shade…"

"I see…so you figured me out, huh?" Riku said with a sigh, knowing full well what Nagi was about to say. "What gave me away?"

"That last thing you told me before you began your fight with Shade." Nagi answered. "That you were 'killing him alone'."

"Uh…what's all this about?" Yuhi spoke, a confused look on both his and Chidori's faces.

"Alright, I admit it." Riku said. "The main reason I kept you and Usagi out of the fight was to keep you out of danger of fighting Shade."

"Nani? You mean having us stay behind to protect Yuhi, Chidori, and Gladys-san was a lie?" Tot spoke. "Ri-Drakken, why would…"

"I wasn't lying completely, there was still danger of Shade targeting everyone else in order to distract me. Though that danger was slight…" Riku replied quickly, and then hung his head slightly with a sigh. "I guess when I heard from Venom that this Shade was at least as strong as Garland, I guess I kind of panicked and…" Riku wasn't sure how to finish.

Nagi's serious gaze softened slightly as he understood his friend's worrying about him and Tot.

"Alright, I understand that your intentions were good, but I want you to promise me you won't needlessly keep us out of battle and do things yourself." He said to Riku. "We're partners so that makes us equals as well as teammates, so it should be that way. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Riku nodded. "And I promise I won't do something like that again, alright. So do you accept my apologies?"

"Of course." Nagi nodded with a slight smile at his friend.

"If Nagi forgives you then so do I." Tot added in.

(Why don't I find that very comforting?) Riku thought to himself about Tot's statement.

"Well, now that we've settled that, shouldn't we get moving?" Chidori spoke. "I mean after what that Shade guy told us, I'm worried about Aya, Maya, and Aki."

"The feelings mutual." Riku agreed. "But first, I'd better contact Venom and tell him we've taken care of Shade."

As Riku was about to reach for his codec, he noticed that Gladys was looking at where Shade's corpse lay nervously.

"Hey Gladys-san, don't worry. I'm sure this guy won't be getting up any time soon." He said to her reassuringly.

"Are you…sure?" She asked hesitantly in reply.

"Maam, if a guy has huge hole burned all the way through his body, and he isn't regenerating from it, that guy's probably dead." Riku answered. "And besides, even if he were still alive, the three of us would make sure that thing doesn't touch you ever again."

"O…okay." Gladys nodded.

With that, Riku activated his codec and called Michael's frequency.

"Venom, this is Drakken, I've got some good news for you." Riku spoke as soon as Michael's face appeared on screen.

"Did you find Aya?" Michael asked in reply.

"No, but I think we're close. You're in the second building for this base, right?" Riku said in reply and Michael nodded. "I've just found out Aya, Aki, Maya, and probably even Alec are being held in that building."

"You're at least right about Dr. Howell as he's with us right now." Michael spoke. "But I'll tell you later, so what's this 'good news' anyway?"

"That Shade guy you warned us about, he's dead." Riku answered simply.

There was brief moment of silence until Michael finally spoke, the look on his face skeptical.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Pretty sure." Riku answered confidently. "I came, I saw, and I killed that bastard's ass."

"Did you check the body?" Michael asked seriously. "And I don't mean just to make sure he's dead."

"No." Riku answered. "But I'll check it right now. Hold on."

Riku then got up and started towards where Shade's corpse was, but stopped and turned back to Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and Gladys.

"I'm just going to check something." He said before continuing.

When he reached the body, Riku kicked it over so he could see the front. When the body rolled over, Riku could see just how much damage the Sky Dragon Demon had really done. When the fireball had exploded, it had occurred while it had still been inside Shade. The blast had burst through, completely destroying the enemy's chest, and stomach area.

(This is what an unrefined version does!) Riku thought in amazement. (Damn it, Garland sure taught me one nasty technique. I wonder what a perfected one would do…)

Riku's eyes then absently strayed up to where Shade's head was, and immediately the young ninja's eyes widened considerably at what he saw. The face he saw was not the face of the mercenary he had just faced, but rather one of a middle aged man, whose expression was twisted into one of shock as well as pain, his eyes open and staring.

"What the hell!" Riku shouted, too shocked to contain his exclamation.

"What is it?" Michael asked Riku over the codec.

"This…this isn't the guy I was fighting a few minutes ago!" Riku answered as he calmed himself down.

"He must have used a ninja replacement technique on you." Michael replied.

"No, that's not possible." Riku said, shaking his head. "After how the fight was…how I delivered that attack…There was definitely no time, room, or any opportunity whatsoever for a kawarimi no jutsu (replacement technique) to be performed. This was something else…"

"That's not surprising considering that it's Shade." Michael replied. "Regardless, just get over here into this building. And one more important thing, don't let this unnerve you. As the leader of your team, you need to keep a cool head."

"I understand." Riku nodded. "Anyway, I'll get the others and we get moving, especially since that Shade guy is probably somewhere nearby."

Meanwhile: Somewhere Else on the Island:

Shade leaned against the wall of the room he was in, breathing heavily, as what he had just done had taken a lot more out of him than he had expected. Not only that, but there were multiple burn wounds on his back that he was regenerating from.

(God damn it, wounds aren't supposed to carry over to the real body!) Shade thought to himself. (This is actually the first time this has ever happened…What the hell kind of technique did that Hokage brat use on me!)

After a couple of minutes, Shade finally caught his breath as he recovered from the unexpected ordeal. He then calmed down enough to recall the situation.

(That second attack he made after that first fireball trick was also a distraction.) He thought. (That kid must have used a bunshin no jutsu when I covered my face to defend myself, knowing I'd have a brief moment where I wouldn't see him. Immediately afterwards, he used a concealment justu to hide himself while sending the copy to attack me. He then used the element of surprise to use some kind of doujutsu technique to cast chakra into my eyes so he could paralyze me and make me defenseless.)

Shade paused and turned to look at what Crawford had told him to take with him, before going back into thought.

(If that had been my real body, I wouldn't have been affected by a childish trick like that, not to mention I would have been able to recover from whatever he did to me.) He continued. (Still, that temporary body should have lasted longer, but I suppose that's what I get using some weakling fisherman as a sacrifice for 'that' particular jutsu. Oh well, at least now I know that Hokage brat will be a little fun when I fight him for real along with whoever else joins the fray. Not to mention I know enough of his fighting style to crush him…)

Shade then looked back at the object Crawford had told him to bring with him, which was none other than the hagoromo that the Mikage had managed to create using Chidori Kuruma's power. It was securely held in a large glass container and was beginning to glow and pulsate.

(So this is the legendary hagoromo of the tennyo, which is supposed to be the key to bringing out a tennyo's true power.) He thought as he regarded the glowing orb like object. (If what Crawford told me to do with this goes as planned, perhaps I can unlock the secrets behind the C-Genome's power or rather the tennyo's power, and gain it for my own. After all, according to what the databases have shown, the progenitor obtained his powers from Ceres. If Ceres is completely restored, I should be able to subdue her and eventually persuade her to give me that same power she has. From what I can tell, a power such as that, in my hands, could rival even that of the Orochi…)

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

"So how did you find Alec?" Riku asked Michael over the codec as he walked back to the others.

"He was being held in a large cell along with none other than Kagami Mikage and his bodyguards." Michael answered. "So we now have our would be Patriot in our custody."

"Talk about news that brightens up your day." Riku smiled. "Hope you guys didn't hurt him too badly, well not really…"

"Actually, we haven't done anything to him…yet." Michael replied. "We are in the middle of a mission, you know. Though Shuro gave him a little sample of his comeuppance."

"What did she do?" Riku asked, as he couldn't wait to hear this.

"She hit him…hard." Michael answered, obviously fighting to keep from smiling slightly. "Also that ring Tsukasa-san has was on that hand, and it happens to have a crystal set in it so…"

"That should have hurt." Riku grinned. "Well, hopefully we'll see you shortly. My team needs to get a move on. Drakken out." Riku then ended his transmission.

"So what happened?" Nagi asked as soon as Riku walked up to them. "You looked pretty shaken up for a moment when you were talking with Michael. Did something happen?"

"Well, I've got some real bad news and then some good news." Riku answered, and then paused to glance around suspiciously. "Just to be safe, let's switch over to nanocommunication."

Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori nodded and activated their codecs.

After a few minutes Riku finished telling them the details of what he had just found out about Shade's 'supposed' demise. It was no exaggeration to say that the rest of the group was in total shock at what they heard.

"So this Shade guy is still alive…" Nagi spoke.

"We still have to deal with a bad guy as strong as Garland-san. That isn't good news at all." Tot drooped her head slightly at the prospect since even she could tell from the fight with Riku that Shade was a powerful enemy.

"So what's the good news?" Chidori asked hopefully.

"Michael's group has managed to find Alec, and they've also managed to take King of Bastards Kagami Mikage and his lackeys into their custody." Riku answered with a smile. "I also heard some pretty interesting news about Kagami's capture from Michael…"

After Riku explained how Shuro had given her 'compliments' Kagami, everyone had something to say

"So Shuro slugged the guy and her ring added a little extra." Chidori spoke with a slightly bitter smile. "That's more than that guy deserves for what he's done…"

"I've got a few words for Kagami myself, if you know what I mean." Yuhi spoke, and then turned to Chidori. "But all things considered, you and Aya should go first."

"You're really sweet you know that, Yuhi?" Chidori replied to her boyfriend with a sweet smile.

"They somehow manage to turn something like this into a romantic conversation." Nagi said to himself. "Still, I can't help but agree with them about Kagami. I think I'll add a few 'words' of my own when I finally meet him."

"Yeah, me too." Tot nodded and then turned to Nagi. "So what should I say to him?"

Riku, Nagi, Yuhi, and Chidori both sweatdropped at what Tot had just said.

"Usagi, do you know what a metaphor is?" Riku asked.

"Uh…" Tot then put her hand to her chin to try and think how to answer that.

"Never mind, Usagi." Riku said with a shake of his head. "Anyway, we should get going…"

"Yeah…" Yuhi nodded, and then he, Chidori, Riku, Nagi, and Tot ended their transmissions.

They were about to set off when Chidori spoke.

"Hey, Drakken, shouldn't you put a band aid on that or something?" She said, as she indicated the cut on Riku's left cheek, which he had gotten from Shade. Riku then brought a finger to the cut and then looked at it and saw that it was still bleeding.

"Thanks, Chidori, I'll take care of this…" Riku then reached back with his right hand and took two long strands of his black hair. With a sudden tug, he pulled them loose with a slight flinch of pain. He then pressed the two strands to the cut and then made a single hand seal with his left hand. Immediately, the strands of hair began to melt and then started melding with the skin around the cut, causing the wound to quickly close up and then disappear.

"Well, that takes care of that…" Riku then stopped when he noticed his friends were looking at him in amazement.

"You can use your hair to regenerate!" Yuhi exclaimed.

"Well, sort of." Riku rubbed the back of his head. "I got the idea from a medical nin technique that uses hair as a medium to regenerate from wounds. I only know how to use it on myself though, so it isn't all that useful…"

"Could you teach us how to do that?" Tot asked, her eyes alight with interest.

"I suppose." Riku answered with a shrug. "It depends how well you are in that area of ninjutsu. Anyway, we'll get to that later after this mission is over and done with. Shall we get going now?"

"One last thing, Drakken." Nagi spoke. "When you fought Shade, you used something I haven't seen before to deflect that beam attack of his, not to mention that fireball you used to finish him off."

"The fireball was an attack Garland taught me how to use a while back called 'Sky Dragon Demon', actually that was the first time I ever used it for real in a battle and it looks like it's as powerful as Garland promised it would be." Riku replied with a sheepish smile. "As for that other technique, well, you have Yuki to thank for that since she taught it to me just before that beam would have hit me."

"I don't know how that's possible, but tell her thanks for us." Yuhi said, and Chidori nodded in agreement.

"Us too, us too!" Tot added in, raising her hand to indicate her and Nagi.

"You guys can thank her yourselves in person when we finish the mission." Riku replied and noticed his friends' confused expressions at that statement and smiled. "You'll see…you'll see…"

(You could just tell them I said 'you're welcome', Riku.) Yuki spoke to him, and then there was a short pause before she added something. (Besides...you're my friend…and I was glad to do it.)

(You don't have to be so shy, you know.) Riku replied, and suddenly he got an odd feeling coming from Yuki, which he wasn't sure what it was. (I mean…our friends would probably be glad to see you and all once I use that chakra trick I told you about and…)

(I am not being shy!) Yuki's sharp reply came and almost seemed angry.

(Uh…okay.) Riku blinked a few times in confusion as he tried to recall what he had said that could be considered offensive. (Did I say something wrong?)

(Never mind.) Yuki said.

(Alright.) Riku replied and decided to change the subject. (Anyway, how did you come up with that technique? You told me yourself that you're not a ninja…)

(While you were training earlier in preparation for this, I noticed how you created your Dragon Armor technique. Then I remembered spinning objects can knock away things sent at or around them, so…) Yuki then paused for a moment as she considered something. (I don't mean it to sound like I was betting your life on a theory, but then again I…)

(It's alright, Yuki, from what I've heard from Michael, sometimes ideas that come up at the last minute end up becoming key points in creating a good strategy.) Riku said. (And besides, I told you before that I would be counting on you to help me in case a fight turned nasty. Looks like I made the right decision.)

(Thank you.) Yuki said gratefully. (Anyway we should all get going, right?)

(Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me.) Riku replied, and then remembered something. (Oh yeah, what do you call the technique you taught me?)

(It doesn't have a name.) Yuki said. (Why don't you decide?)

(Alright, then how about 'Red Tornado'?)

(I…guess that fits.)

Riku then turned back to the others to speak with them.

"So what did Yuki have to say?" Yuhi asked him.

"Just your welcome, plus a couple of other things." Riku answered. "Anyway, let's get going and quick."

Riku has learned the defensive/offensive technique 'Red Tornado' from Yuki Urukawa.

Note on Attack: While the attack 'Red Tornado' can be used as a defensive technique to protect against damage from attacks or deflect projectiles, it can also be used as an offensive ability when Riku is surrounded, in which the flames will burn the surrounding enemies and the cyclone created will knock the enemies away.

Meanwhile:

Michael's group, which consisted of him, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, and Shuro were headed in the direction of the signal from Maya's codec. Their prisoners, Kagami Mikage, Wei Fei Lee, Asamu Bagte, and Black Arts Viper, all of whose hands were securely bound by Youji's wires, which the blonde assassin kept a firm grip on, were being led along. Michael, Youji, Shuro, and the newcomer Alexander O. Howell were in the front, Ran on the left side, Ken on the right side, and Omi bringing up the rear. All four members of Weiss, and also Michael had their weapons ready in case of either enemy attack or their prisoners tried to escape. Meanwhile, Shuro was trying to contact Maya using a codec Michael had given her just before they had set out on the mission, unfortunately she was having no success.

"No good, I still can't make contact with Maya." Shuro spoke turning to Michael.

"Is there any sign that your call is breaking through at all?" Michael asked her in reply and Shuro shook her head.

"You think something happened to her?" Youji spoke.

"I hope not." Michael answered. "Right now all we can do is follow the signal from her codec."

"We could always ask this guy." Youji said as he pointed at Kagami. "Maybe he knows something."

"We don't have time for an interrogation, Balines." Ran spoke seriously. "Finding Aya, Aki, and Maya is our top priority right now."

"No prob, fearless leader, I'll just talk with the guy as we go along." Youji replied and then glanced over at Kagami. "Too bad we don't have the time for an interrogation. I've seen a few of those myself back in the day when I was on the force, so I know the basics of what to do."

"I'll bet..." Ran said with some sarcasm.

"Hey, when have I ever let you down?" Youji asked in reply. "And for Kagami, I could always fall back on what I've seen on this American police show I saw a while back when I was in the academy. The main character's name was Vic something…Asuka and I used to watch it all the time…"

"This is not the time to talk about some TV show you happen to like." Ran replied seriously.

"You wouldn't say that if you saw that series yourself, fearless leader, it's actually pretty good." Youji grinned and then turned to Kagami. "Anyway, old man, let's get down to business and you tell me what you know."

"Why should I tell you anything at all?" Kagami asked simply.

"Because if something has happened to Maya-san or any of the others we've come to rescue, then when FOXHOUND is through getting information about the Patriots out of you, there won't be anything that can save you from us." Ran spoke before Youji could say something in reply as he glanced back at Kagami the coldness in his voice as well as his eyes promising that.

"What's jamming your communications is probably some security installation designed for that purpose." Viper spoke suddenly for Kagami. "Probably just in case prisoners somehow managed to sneak a communication device into the cell area."

Youji looked over at Viper but found no hint of deception in what he said, he then spoke out to Michael.

"You think that might be the case, Venom?" He asked.

"It would make sense since it's not unheard of." Michael answered. "In some prison camps they tend to design holding cells to block any type of signal from communication devices."

Meanwhile, Kagami leaned over to Viper.

"Why did you tell them!" He asked in a whisper.

"I am one of the ones in charge of your safety, sir." Viper answered. "Besides, this base is under enemy control so it's not like I gave away any critical information."

"Still, they admitted they didn't have time for an interrogation, so you could have…" Lee spoke, but Viper cut him off.

"Look around you, Lee." He said indicating Michael, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, and Shuro. "Do you honestly believe these people wouldn't interrogate the chief given the choice?"

Lee glanced around and saw Viper had a point. It was no understatement to say that everyone of these people who had taken them prisoner seriously would not mind kicking Kagami Mikage's ass at least once.

"Good point." Lee agreed.

Meanwhile, Michael then made a gesture to his codec and the four members of Weiss along with Shuro understood and activated their own so they could talk to him.

"What's going on?" Shuro asked as her face appeared on screen along with everyone else's.

"We may have some enemies waiting for us when we find Aya, Aki, and Maya." Michael spoke.

"I see, so you've noticed it too." Ran said in agreement. "Ever since we've gotten inside this base, we've run into next to zero guards."

"Yeah, aside from a couple small patrols and the guys guarding the cell Dr. Howell, Kagami Mikage and his lackeys were in, we haven't found anything." Ken agreed.

"Not to mention that jamming device that one guy just mentioned." Omi said. "That almost gives away there's something waiting for us at least when we get to the cell area."

"You mean the device may be there to keep Maya from contacting us to warn us if there's a trap." Shuro said.

"More than likely." Michael nodded. "Not to mention that if a jamming device is being used, it's too good to be true to assume that our getting a signal is just good luck."

"So what should we do then?" Youji asked. "Besides contact Drakken and his team about this, I mean."

"Keep your eyes open for any possible traps or possibly any hidden troops that are either ahead or following us." Michael answered. "In the meantime, I'll contact Drakken and his team. The rest of you stay alert, understood?"

"Consider it done." Ran said, as the others voice their agreement.

Later:

"I see…" Riku nodded as he heard what Michael had to say regarding his recent findings about the enemy troops. Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori were also listening. "That is strange though. There were a lot of enemy patrols that we had to dodge on the way through the last building, but you guys didn't have very many."

"I also don't sense any of them following us." Nagi spoke. "They also seemed to be more focused on guarding something than looking for something, if you understand what I mean."

"Hey, Drakken, there's something Chidori and I noticed while we were passing through that building we just came from." Yuhi said. "Remember how we got close to being found a couple of times?"

"What about it?" Riku asked.

"Yuhi and I noticed that those soldiers all seemed pretty tense, like they were either hurrying or waiting for something important to happen." Chidori answered for Yuhi.

"Hmm…you think maybe they're guarding something important instead of looking for us?" Tot spoke.

"That does sound like the case." Michael voiced his agreement. "Though I have no clue what it could be they're guarding…"

Riku thought for a moment and then an idea came to him.

"Venom, could you get Alec a codec so we can talk with him?" He asked. "Maybe he knows."

"You mean Dr. Howell? Alright, I'll see."

A few minutes later Alec's face appeared on the codec screen.

"Hey, long time no see." Riku greeted him.

"Yeah, same here." Alec replied. "So what is it you guys need to ask me about?"

"In the other building that's part of this base…is there anything in there that's important?" Riku asked.

"The soldiers in there seemed to be pretty focused on guarding something in there." Nagi added.

"Well…" Alec suddenly remembered something and then his expression grew serious. "I think I have a good idea of what they're guarding. What they're guarding are the remaining C-Genomes the Mikage have collected."

"Remaining?" Riku asked in reply.

"For some reason there's this strain that affects C-Genomes at a certain point." Alec answered.

"Hold on, do you mean that thing that almost killed Chidori?" Yuhi exclaimed.

"Almost…" Alec's eyes widened. "You mean you were able to prevent it from killing her! How…" Alec then noticed Yuhi's expression as he tried not to recall all of that. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's alright, Chidori's alive anyway, and that's all that matters to me regarding that." Yuhi replied, that remark causing Chidori to blush a little.

"Anyway, Alec, to answer your question we were able to design some special nanomachines over at FOXHOUND HQ to act as a counter to the strains." Riku said. "Let me guess, the C-Genomes here don't have anything like that, do they?"

"No, unfortunately. Kagami didn't recruit anyone with a specialty in nanotechnology." Alec replied.

"Some project leader." Riku shook his head. "Looks like once we get Aya and the others, we'd better backtrack and rescue those other C-Genomes."

"And then get them over to FOXHOUND as soon as possible so Naomi can administer them all the nanos so the strain won't affect them." Michael finished.

"What about the hagoromo?" Chidori asked.

"I'm afraid that will depend on whether or not anyone is still up to the task of finding it if we haven't found it in the process of doing all of that." Michael answered. "If too many of our team members are unable to continue afterwards, we may have no choice but to abandon the hagoromo for the time being."

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Venom on that." Riku agreed and turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "I won't deny the hagoromo is important but human lives take priority."

"Don't worry we both agree on that subject." Yuhi said. "Not to mention too many people have died for that damn thing anyway."

"And since I'm the one who made it, that technically makes it my hagoromo." Chidori added. "You have my permission to forget about it."

"Besides, can't we just look for more of those fossily rock thingies the Mikage got and Chidori can just make another?" Tot suggested.

There was a moment of silence as everyone else considered that, also because they were amazed Tot came up with an idea like that.

"Sounds like a good Plan B to me." Michael admitted. "What do you think, Drakken?"

"I think it sounds like a good idea as well." Riku agreed. "However, considering the amount of strain that Crow, Usagi, and I saw Chidori go through to make it…"

"Now hold on a second." Yuhi spoke seriously. "If it's going to put Chidori in danger then I don't think…"

"Yuhi, it's alright." Chidori said. "It's true making the hagoromo wore me out, but if I can do it once then I can do it again. Besides, this time I won't be forced into doing it, and I'll be helping you guys too, especially Aya."

"Well, that's still only 'if' we don't find the hagoromo." Riku reminded her. "Odds are we'll probably find that thing somewhere when we're either looking for Aya or where the C-Genomes are being kept."

"Oh yeah, Riku, that reminds me…" Michael spoke. "I need your team to be on alert, since in light of what I told you I smell a trap waiting somewhere for us. That or maybe…"

"That kenin Shade will be there waiting for us." Riku finished and clenched his right fist in anger. "I'd really like the chance to take that bastard down for what he did…"

"What do you mean?" Michael asked.

"On the way through we found a woman named Gladys, who's with us right now." Riku answered.

"Gladys? You mean Gladys Smithson?" Alec spoke, and Riku nodded. "She's a colleague of mine. Is she alright?"

Riku sighed as he wasn't sure how to answer since he knew Alec was not going to like what he was going to tell him.

"Usagi, could you please end your transmission and turn off your monitor for a few minutes?" Riku asked his partner.

"But why?" Tot asked.

"Just please trust me when I say this is something you really must not hear about." Riku answered quickly.

"Why wouldn't I…?" Tot began.

"Nanami, I'll do the same thing along with you, alright?" Nagi spoke and tried to smile at her.

"Well…okay." Tot/Nanami nodded, knowing that since Nagi was calling her by her real name in this situation it had to be important. Her face then vanished from the codec screen as she ended her transmission and Nagi did the same thing, but not before leaving a telepathic message to Riku.

(Thank you.) He said simply.

"I think I'll do the same." Yuhi said. "I already know what that bastard in black did, and I don't want to hear about it again…"

"Yeah, me too." Chidori nodded in agreement, and the two of them then ended their transmissions as well, leaving only Riku, Michael, and Alec.

"What…what happened?" Alec asked reluctantly, fearful of what he was about to hear.

"If this involves Shade then I think I know what he must have done to that Smithson woman." Michael spoke, and then muttered to himself. "Damn that bastard…"

"Then you'll probably be right." Riku said his face now grim.

Alec then slowly began to realize what was being said.

"Oh God, don't tell me she was…" Alec couldn't finish.

"Shade is a skilled mercenary of the worst kind. That and the things he does for entertainment are worse." Michael said. "His main hobby when not working as a mercenary is basically being a serial rapist, and his other hobbies are even more distasteful…"

Alec was silent as he wasn't sure what to say after hearing this. After a few minutes he spoke.

"Gladys she…she didn't deserve what happened to her." He said. "Look she did work for Kagami, but…she isn't a bad person. I mean…her job was to take care of the C-Genomes in this base. She may have played a part in feeding them all that BS Kagami made up about tennyo and all, but I know she genuinely cared about what happened to them…"

"Tell you what, Alec, the next time I see Shade I'll turn him into ash for sure." Riku spoke.

"Riku wait, I don't blame you for getting angry about this but please bear in mind that you must not turn this into some personal vendetta, especially since this is the middle of a mission." Michael spoke up seriously. "If you do, you'll be putting your friends and comrades at risk unnecessarily."

"I understand what you're trying to tell me, Michael." Riku replied the both of them forgetting the whole codename thing for now. "If I were to do something like that, I would forfeit any right to call myself a ninja. Shinobi do not endanger allies unnecessarily."

"I'm glad to hear that." Michael nodded, and then decided to change the subject. "I assume that as of now you and your team have taken Miss Smithson into your protection."

"Of course." Riku nodded.

"I've got to thank you all for that." Alec said. "Tell you what, as thanks I'll lend you one of my anime collections along with one of my games when this mission of yours is over."

"I hope you've got a good selection since I've seen quite a lot thanks to a friend of mine in FOXHOUND." Riku replied. "I should introduce you to him sometime, you guys would probably get along great."

(Especially since he and Otacon are so alike it's unbelievable.) Riku thought to himself.

"Anyway, we'll contact you if anything else comes up." Michael said. "Now let's resume our search."

"Alright." Riku nodded and ended his transmission.

Later:

After about fifteen minutes of walking, Riku noticed that they were coming towards a large room that was filled with various computers and other technical hardware. He held his hand up to tell the others to stop and then looked into the room and found that there were, strangely, no guards in it.

"It looks like that's the main computer room for this place." Nagi noted from behind Riku as he was looking at the room as well. "Drakken, can we stop here for a few minutes? I think if I look, I can find out information on whatever the Mikage are planning, as well as locate where Aya and the others should be, along with where our current location is in regards to our destination."

"Sounds like a good idea." Riku agreed. "Let's go."

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and Gladys walked into the room. Immediately Nagi went to the closest computer, sat down at it, and then turned it on. He then glanced back at Riku and the others.

"I'm going to need you guys to let me concentrate since hacking through whatever protective measures the Mikage have installed into their system may be tough." He said.

"No problem, I'll hang out outside while you're doing this in case any enemy troops come by." Riku said in reply. "After all it wouldn't be good if any of those guys found out what we were doing."

"And I'll stay here and make sure nobody bothers you, Crow." Tot added.

Nagi nodded his thanks, and Riku then exited the room.

Nagi then held both his hands out over the computer's keyboard and then focused on looking at the screen. He then focused on using his powers to type, and immediately various keys on the keyboard began to quickly move as they were typed onto by Nagi's powers. As this was happening various menu screens quickly appeared and disappeared as Nagi began to penetrate the firewalls and other anti-hacking measures installed on the computer.

After a few minutes, Nagi finally had gotten through and he now had access to anything in the Mikage's database.

"Amateurs…always picking the fancy stuff but not knowing how to properly use it against hackers." Nagi muttered with a light smile, and then turned back to the others. "Alright I'm done."

Riku, having heard what Nagi said from outside the door, took a quick look to make sure no enemies were around before going back inside the room.

"So, what have you found?" He asked.

"Well, I've checked a layout on the inside of the base, and if Aya, Aki, and Maya are in this holding area I've found, then we're pretty close." Nagi answered. "All we need to do is take some stairs down a few floors and then we'll get there." Nagi's eyes then strayed over to a panel in the corner. "Actually, give me a sec and I'll fix that panel so it can act as a node for you and Usagi to log into and then we can use our soliton radar and find our way around this place."

"Alright." Riku nodded and then walked over to the panel, placed his hand on it, and immediately input his data.

"Loading area map into personnel's node." The console read. "Data transmission complete."

After checking the soliton radar and finding that it was working, Riku then turned to Tot and nodded at her, and she went over to the panel and logged in herself.

"So did you find any information about whatever the Mikage or the Patriots are up to?" Yuhi asked Nagi as Riku and Tot logged in.

"I may have." Nagi answered without turning to Yuhi, as he was too focused on what was on the computer screen and he was directing his powers to type faster and more intensely on the keys on the keyboard. "I've come across a pretty large file of data that's heavily encrypted…"

"Any idea what it could be?" Chidori asked as Riku and Tot came over to see what Nagi had found.

"I'm trying to decode the first three to five percent. I need to do this carefully since this file is a lot better protected than anything else on this system so far…" Nagi replied as he concentrated on his current task. After a few minutes he stopped and then surveyed the small part he had decoded. His eyes then widened at what he saw.

"Drakken, take a look at this." He said, and Riku walked over to where Nagi was and looked over his partner's shoulder to see what he had gotten.

"These look like some kind of blueprints…" Riku noted as Nagi showed each page of the file. After a while, his eyes widened as well. "These are…"

"What is it?" Tot asked curiously stepping forward to take a look. "Did Crow find something important?"

"Important only begins to describe it, Usagi." Riku answered and looked at Yuhi and Chidori. "It looks like the Mikage are definitely planning something big. The small part that Crow just decoded are the first few pages of blueprints for a metal gear, and a big one at that."

"Metal gear…" Both Yuhi and Chidori said as they realized what had just been uncovered. Finally Yuhi spoke.

"So do you have any idea what it's supposed to do?" He asked to both Riku and Nagi.

"None so far." Riku answered.

"I'd have to decode the rest to find out." Nagi added. "Unfortunately this whole file's encryption will take hours to break even with my skills. Not to mention there's probably some traps that have been installed and hidden that I need to watch out for while decoding. If I mess up there, the file would probably self-destruct in order to protect itself from falling into enemy hands…"

"So you're saying getting rid of the code thingie will take a lot of time?" Tot asked.

"Obviously, and it's time we don't have." Riku answered.

"Which makes me glad I came prepared." Nagi smiled as he reached for a pocket in his sneaking suit and then took out a disc. "This is one of the very expensive kind with a really big amount of memory space, and is just enough to hold this file. I'll just transfer it all into the disc, which shouldn't take any more than a few minutes for me, and then after the mission we can decode it all at headquarters."

"That's a relief to hear." Riku said as Nagi put the disc in.

"My Na-I mean…Crow, is so smart." Tot smiled happily as she was impressed.

Within a matter of seconds Nagi quickly began the process of transferring the data. Now all they needed to do was wait for the transfer to finish.

"So from what the two of you saw what's this metal gear supposed to look like?" Chidori asked.

"Beats me." Riku answered with a shrug. "All I can tell from what I read was this thing is going to be large. It might even be bigger than Arsenal Gear, though how the Mikage were planning to build something like that in secret is beyond me."

"That is big…" Chidori agreed and Yuhi nodded as they had both seen Arsenal's size from its pictures in the newspapers years ago when the Big Shell incident occurred.

"Hold on, you don't think they're trying to make another Arsenal Gear do you?" Yuhi spoke.

"I doubt that the Mikage's goal is anything like that." Nagi replied. "First, the Mikage don't seem to have anything like GW, and second, if their goals were control, then I highly doubt they would work with the Patriots on that."

"So what do you think it could be for, Crow?" Riku asked.

"I'm as clueless as the rest of you guys, except on this." Nagi answered and then brought up one of the blueprint pages he had decoded. He then pointed to an object on the page. "Do any of you know what this is?"

"As far as I can tell it's just another piece for the metal gear." Riku replied.

"Is it a pipe?" Tot guessed.

"I think I'll go with Drakken's guess." Yuhi spoke.

"Maybe it's both." Chidori said.

"What that is, is actually a container to hold a specific tank of fuel that needs to be kept at a very low temperature." Nagi explained. "According to what the blueprints say, there are supposed to be many of these installed into the metal gear when it's built."

"Don't these things require a lot of fuel anyway?" Yuhi asked.

"Perhaps, but this kind of fuel is only used for one specific thing." Nagi answered. "And that is to send a shuttle into orbit…"

For a few minutes, no one said anything until Riku finally broke the silence.

"You mean this metal gear is designed to go into space?" He asked and Nagu nodded. "But what would be the purpose in all of that?"

"That's where I have no clue." Nagi answered. "But if you think about something Suzumi mentioned to us before when we started this mission it makes sense how they could come up with this."

"You mean the part where she mentioned how the Mikage were greatly involved in both research and development for Metal Gear, right?" Riku asked in reply and Nagi nodded.

"But then they abandoned it all once Solid Snake and Dr. Emmerich revealed the photos of Metal Gear RAY." Yuhi said. "And after that they moved on to pioneering development in space…"

"When did this happen?" Chidori spoke. "I don't remember hearing about this."

"That was shortly before we went in to rescue you and Shota from the Mikage." Riku answered her, and then turned back to Nagi. "So basically, after researching on how to effectively build metal gears, the Mikage must have begun work on space exploration in order to build a metal gear that could enter outer space."

"And we can assume they were planning on either somehow getting the Patriots to help them build this new metal gear or use the vast funding the Patriots had given them for C-Project in order to build it." Nagi added. "This was probably all supposed to happen after they had completed C-Project, since from what I found while browsing through the Mikage's system, construction on the new metal gear hasn't begun yet…"

"Gosh, this is so hard to understand…" Tot drooped her head with a sigh. "But I think I know enough. The Mikage learned to make metal gears, and then learned to make space shuttles, all so they could make a metal gear that could go into space like space shuttle."

"That's basically it, right?" Chidori said and Riku nodded.

"I have one question." Tot said. "Why are they doing all of this?"

"That's what we're trying to find out." Riku answered in reply. "This whole space thing doesn't make any sense at all to me."

"Or to the rest of us for that matter." Yuhi added and Chidori and Nagi nodded their agreement.

"Hey wait a minute, didn't Suzumi say that the Mikage might be planning to send the C-Genomes into space?" Tot spoke.

"Uh…Usagi, I think she was joking." Nagi said, sweatdropping a bit, but then suddenly considered that. "Actually, that might be what the Mikage are planning. It would make this whole space thing make a little sense…"

"They're going to all that trouble just to send a handful of girls with special powers into space?" Riku asked with some skepticism. "No offense but that's a little farfetched don't you think?"

"ARK…it's…" Riku suddenly heard Gladys' voice speak behind him, and so did Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori.

"What do you know about this thing?" Riku asked as he turned around to Gladys, who quickly looked away from him.

"I…I didn't say anything…" She replied quickly.

(Don't bother pressing the issue, Riku.) Nagi spoke to Riku telepathically before he could say anything. (We'll find out whatever this metal gear is for when we get the files decoded anyway.)

(Alright…) Riku replied.

"Sorry, I must have been hearing things." Riku said to Gladys as he rubbed the back of his head. "Some ninja I must be, getting all tense in the middle of a mission…"

Suddenly there was beeping sound from the computer, which signaled that the transfer of data had been completed. The disc tray then popped out with its contents, which Nagi immediately took, put in a case, and then put in his pocket.

"Well, there's nothing else I can find on this computer, so we can go now." He said, turning to Riku, who nodded in agreement.

"Make sure to log into that makeshift node you made." Riku reminded Nagi. "Now navigating this place should be easier, and we'll probably even find Aya and the others quick too."

As this was going on, none of the group members noticed that a single hidden security camera inside the room was still operating and it was taking footage of the group's every move.

Meanwhile:

Brad Crawford was comfortably seated in the security room of the base and watching as Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and Gladys left the room where they had retrieved the data on the Mikage metal gear.

"As usual you fail to disappoint me Nagi, my dear pupil." Crawford commented with a smile. "You were able to obtain the data just as predicted. Now all you need to do is survive until your true test of power…"

There was the sound of the door to the room opening and Crawford calmly turned around to see Schuldich, accompanied by Farfarello, walk in.

"So how's our old buddy Nagi doing?" Schuldich asked.

"He managed to retrieve the data without any mistakes, just as I predicted." Crawford answered as he fixed his glasses. "Now all we need to do is retrieve it from him so we can deliver that along with the Genome embryos to the Patriots. Have all the necessary preparations been completed?"

"Yes, the chopper is on board and ready to take off at any time." Schildich nodded. "Farfarello just finished loading the embryos onto it, while I saw to Shade's Harrier…"

"Excellent." Crawford said as he got up from his seat. "Now we should board the boat ourselves and take our positions. Once all the necessary players get onto the boat and it sets sail, we need only wait for the carrier to arrive…"

"And, according to you, after a couple more things happen, our mission for the Patriots is as good as completed." Schuldich grinned. "Smooth sailing if you ask me…no pun intended."

"What I don't understand is why we're hiding ourselves from Nagi and his new friends, including Weiss." Farfarello spoke. "Each one of my blades and scars ache for their blood…"

"Well there's always next time, my friend." Schuldich grinned at his partner's frustration. "I hope you don't add too many new scars to yourself in compensation."

"Shut up." Farfarello growled.

"Testy, aren't we?" Schuldich asked in reply before turning back to Crawford. "So you think Nagi will pass the test you've laid out for him? You're not the least bit concerned about him?"

"As the old saying goes, 'A lion pushes its cubs over a ledge and into a ravine, and only recognizes the cubs that are strong enough to crawl out of that ravine as its own'." Crawford answered calmly as he turned off the monitor for the security camera. "The same goes in this case. Anyway, we're wasting time just standing here and talking, let's get to the boat now…"

Meanwhile:

"So this is where Aya's probably being held?" Riku asked Nagi.

They had gone down to the first floor of the base's building, and from there used the soliton radar and Nagi's directions until they finally arrived at their destination.

"It should be." Nagi answered with a nod. "According to what I found in the system, this is the right place."

"Alright then." Riku nodded and stepped forward and the door automatically slid open. With that Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, and Gladys stepped in through the open door.

The room they entered was actually a long corridor with a series of cell doors on both sides. Knowing that Aya, Maya, and Aki were inside one of these, the group then proceeded down the corridor, checking each cell before proceeding to the next one.

After a few minutes they came upon a cell with strange looking object placed near the cell's door. Deciding to take the chance Riku walked up and called out into the cell.

"Aya, Maya, are you in there?" He called.

"Riku…" Aya's voice spoke from inside and she immediately came up to the front of the door, Maya and Aki right behind her. Her face brightened up as she saw everyone else. "Yuhi, Chidori, everyone…"

"Yeah we're all here." Yuhi spoke. "Everyone else is on the way and they should be here soon enough."

"Aya, Maya, Aki-san, could the three of you please step away from the door?" Riku asked them. "I'm going to bust you guys out…"

Aya nodded in reply and she, Maya, and Aki quickly stepped back. Meanwhile, Nagi made sure the others stepped back to give Riku some room.

When he was sure Aya and the other were out of the way of what he was about to do, Riku then called a small flame to his right forefinger and drew the kanji for 'break'.

"Saiha!" He called and the curved fire blade quickly appeared at his right forearm. Riku then made a quick series of slashes onto the cell door, causing it to collapse into many finely sliced pieces of metal.

"Wait a sec for the metal to cool." Riku warned Aya, Maya, and Aki, and after a few seconds passed spoke again. "It should be safe, but try to avoid stepping on the pieces of the door. With the way Saiha can cut through tings, stepping on the edge of them will probably hurt quite a bit."

The three nodded and then proceeded to step over the remains of the door and into the corridor.

"What happened exactly, Riku?" Maya spoke as she handed the Oboro madogu to him. "I tried contacting you guys for a while, but I couldn't get any response."

"Actually we tried contacting you and got the same results." Riku answered as he took the sheet like madogu and put it away. He then turned and looked over at the device near the cell door. "And I think I found the cause…"

"Hey I didn't see this when your grandmother brought me here." Maya said as she saw it too.

"The enemy soldiers must have put it there while you guys were resting." Riku replied, and then made a gesture, causing the device to temporarily burst into flames and a few minutes later it was just a charred lump. "I doubt we'll have communications problems anymore."

Meanwhile Aya looked over at both Yuhi and Chidori, as well as Nagi and Tot.

"Before you guys say anything I really want to say I'm sorry for causing you to worry, again." She apologized, and then turned to Nagi and Tot. "I'm also sorry for tricking the two of you like that."

"No need to apologize, I've been through worse." Nagi replied.

"I kind of needed a nap anyway so there's nothing to forgive." Tot added, causing Riku to sweatdrop as he heard this.

(She can be forgiving for someone drugging her, but she only forgives me for something if Nagi does.) He thought to himself. (That really isn't comforting at all…)

Riku then turned and looked over at Aki and decided to make some conversation with him.

"So you're Aya's twin brother, Aki." He spoke, causing Aki's attention to turn to him. "My name's Riku, it's good to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too." Aki replied as the two of them shook hands. "Aya's told me about you and your two partners from FOXHOUND."

"So you basically know our names and all, huh?" Riku assumed. "Well, that makes things easier."

"Well, I'd like to thank you for helping in looking after my sister as well as her friends, I really appreciate it." Aki said gratefully.

"Hey, it was no problem at all, man." Riku replied with a light smile. "But you really should thank my two partners. They did at least as much as I did."

"Of course." Aki nodded and turned to Nagi and Tot. "I'm very pleased to meet the two of you face to face as well."

"Yeah, even though technically we've already met." Nagi spoke as he shook Aki's hand (AN: Nagi's referring to when he dived into Aki's mind and freed him from Shiso, just to remind you all). "And don't worry about thanking me for before."

"Gosh, you and Aya really are twins." Tot spoke. "The two of you really look so much alike. It's like a mirror or something."

This statement caused both twins to sweatdrop at that comparison.

(I'm not sure how I feel about that.) Both Aya and Aki thought at the same time.

"You do realize that's like saying that either Aki looks like a girl or Aya looks like…" Riku immediately stopped as he saw the icy glares both Aya and Aki were giving him, which indicated that if he finished that sentence he was going to get his ass kicked, and quickly decided to change the subject. "Uh…forget I said anything…"

"Anyway, I guess I should contact Venom, and…" Riku began.

"Well, it looks like your team made it here first, Drakken." Riku heard Michael's voice call out to him. Riku turned to see Michael, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, Shuro, and Alec coming towards them from the opposite side of the corridor, with their four prisoners in tow.

"Glad you guys made it." Riku said with a grin. "So is everyone on your team alright, Venom?"

"Pretty much, but that's mainly because we didn't have any real confrontations with any guards on our way." Michael replied. "And I can see your team members are all doing fine as well."

"That's good luck for you, especially considering our run in with that Shade guy." Riku said.

"Well, it looks like Aya, her brother, and Maya are doing well." Ken spoke. "Looks like the first part of the mission has gone just fine."

"True, but we still need to divide up into teams to complete the rest of this mission." Ran spoke. "Which is getting Aya, and the other non fighters to safety as well as getting our prisoners into FOXHOUND custody, and then of course there's rescuing the other C-Genomes held here, as well as getting the hagoromo."

"You don't have to make it sound like we've barely done anything, you know." Youji commented to Ran.

"I'm just telling the facts as they are." Ran replied simply.

"I think he's just trying to hide that he's relieved we found Aya, Aki, and Maya in one piece." Omi spoke with a smile. "Not to mention the fact that Abyssinian mentioned getting Aya and the others to safety first, proves he's more concerned for their safety than anything else."

"I knew it." Youji said with a grin before Ran could say something in reply. He then draped his shoulder over Ran in a typical buddy buddy style. "Under that cold as ice expression, our fearless leader's got a heart of gold. No wonder Sakura fell for this guy…"

"I'd appreciate it if you removed your arm or else." Ran said in a calm yet dangerous tone of voice. His hand then touched the handle of his katana.

"On second thought I take that all back." Youji said quickly as he withdrew his arm.

(Damn, this guy has no sense of humor at all.) Youji thought to himself.

Riku's eyes then strayed over to Kagami, who did not look very happy in his current condition, especially since no one had bothered to put a bandage on the cut from Shuro's ring.

"So this is the would be Patriot, Kagami Mikage, huh?" Riku spoke. "Looks like Shuro gave him quite a punch, oh well, heard he deserved it anyway."

"I suppose it's predictable that someone like you would gloat." Kagami mumbled at Riku.

"Ever heard the saying, 'to the victor go the spoils'?" Riku asked in reply. "Though you deserve a great deal more than what Shuro gave you, you…"

"Drakken, not now…" Michael spoke, knowing that with how Riku was towards people like Kagami from how he remembered the young ninja's conversation with Korzhakov during the incident with WOTAN.

"Alright." Riku said, stepping away. "Besides, my reasons for hating this guy are insignificant compared to Aya's and Chiodri's, not to mention most everyone else in this room."

"Hmph, so quick to demonize what you can't understand." Kagami sneered. "What I was trying to achieve was well worth the necessary sacrifices."

"Necessary sacrifices?" Nagi spoke. "Don't you mean necessary 'murders'? That is what killing hundreds of innocent people is called. Look it up in the dictionary sometime…"

"And what exactly have I done that can truly be considered wrong?" Kagami asked. "You of all people should know how flawed humanity is. C-Project was designed to fix those flaws, and if the sacrifice of few worthless lives was necessary…"

"Worthless, huh?" Chidori spoke as she stepped forward, the upper part of her face hidden by a shadow. "Let me guess, you probably only saw the victims as a bunch of numbers and figures. But no matter what you say about how it was all justified…"

Chidori then raised her head slightly, enough to reveal that as she was talking tears of anger as well as sadness were streaming down her face.

"…It still doesn't change that you were the one ultimately responsible for their deaths!" She shouted. "That you were the one who murdered so many innocent people, including my grandparents. Two kind people who never did anything except take care of Shota and me…!"

"Chidori…" Nagi spoke suddenly as well as calmly, the expression on his face unreadable. "Do you want to take your revenge on this man now? If it really will help, you can take it. But…is he really worth it?"

Chidori stopped to consider it, and then glanced over at Kagami before shaking her head in disgust.

"Someone like him…isn't even worth the energy it takes to hit him!" She answered before turning and walking off down the corridor a little ways.

"You know, she's right about that." Shuro mumbled half to herself. "I know from experience…"

"Could you guys excuse me for a minute?" Yuhi spoke, and without waiting for an answer, he shot Kagami a hateful glance before turning and walking over to where Chidori was. When he reached her, he put his arm around her, obviously in order to console her.

Knowing that it was best to leave those two alone right now, Riku glanced over at Nagi, who immediately knew Riku needed to ask him something.

(What is it?) Nagi asked telepathically.

(Would you actually have let Chidori kill him?) Riku asked in reply.

(I…I don't know…) Nagi answered. (What would you have done if you had been in my place?)

(Good question.) Riku replied. (But I do know one thing. If I had been in Chidori's shoes, that bastard Kagami would be a pile of ashes by now.)

(I see…) Nagi said.

"And what about you, my dear cousin Aya?" Kagami spoke to Aya. "I suppose you have your own share of things you wish to say to me…"

"I have nothing to say, since I've already told you just what I think of you." Aya said, contempt in her voice. "And you want to know something else? Chidori was right about what she said about you."

(I agree.) Yuki spoke to Riku.

(The feeling is mutual.) Riku replied.

"Well, since everyone's pretty much said their peace, I just hope you enjoy the food that you're going to be served in wherever you're going to be put in prison." Riku said to Kagami with a grin. "I've heard it's really disgusting, so I'll make sure you get extra servings every meal."

"I suppose that someone like you can just make jokes about this, Riku Hanabishi." Kagami spoke, and then smirked at Riku's surprise. "The security cameras got plenty of good shots of your face when you and your underlings stole Pallas from us. Enough that I was able to obtain a considerable amount of information on you."

"So what's your point?" Riku asked, his grin and friendly tone of voice vanishing.

"I'm only telling you this so I can explain how people like you understand nothing." Kagami replied simply. "I don't know how or why you became a ninja or joined FOXHOUND, but from what I've read on your everyday life…It seems you've led a sheltered existence completely coddled by your family or should I say your clan? I suppose you're even willing to give your life for those people as a ninja…"

"What does any of that have to do with anything?" Riku asked.

"Just that your sheltered life has made you blind to the truth of things." Kagami then turned over to where Chiodri was. "I believe you should listen to this too, since you seem to be a similar type to this ninja."

"Haven't you caused that poor girl enough anguish?" Riku growled, the fingers in his right hand starting to curl up and then uncurl almost anticipating grabbing Kagami's throat.

"Even if you don't learn from what I have to say, you'll learn soon enough the truth about humans that I know well." Kagami said, ignoring Riku's question. "And that's that humans, regardless of age, race, or gender are all creatures that simply exist to pass on their genes, and prolong their brief lives for as long as they can. You people keep going on and on about how my sacrificing human life was wrong, yet in the end you're all no different. Tell me, how often is it that you use your powers or talents for yourselves than for others? That's a simple example of how your very nature is to sacrifice others for yourselves."

Riku was about to speak, but Kagami cut him off.

"Your very reaction proves my words have truth to them." He continued. "Now tell me, Hanabishi, are you willing to give your life for your ninja clan if necessary?"

"Don't you dare mock the ninja with your words." Riku said threateningly. "But to answer your question…if there were no other alternative, then yes. But I'm warning you…"

"Let me guess, you're probably willing to do that because you believe those of your clan love you completely and unconditionally." Kagami said. "That's similar in a way to how Pallas feels anger towards me for her grandparents' demise, since in her eyes that's how it was with her grandparents. But in reality, you're being deceived. The only reason for that 'love' to occur is because they find you 'acceptable' in terms of their views of how their genetic material turned out or perhaps because you are an acceptable reflection of them in terms of quality."

That particular statement really rubbed Riku the wrong way, and a glance back to see Chidori's shocked as well as outraged expression at what Kagami had said did little to help either. He could also see that Yuhi was on the verge of inarticulate rage at what Kagami was saying to Chidori not to mention how this was affecting her.

"You…" Riku growled and slowly raised his right hand.

"I'm merely stating the truth." Kagami replied simply. "And I know all too well, that if you are not acceptable in either of those terms, the parents will reject their offspring completely. What you consider family is simply…"

"SHUT UP!" Riku shouted as he punched Kagami, putting as much force as he could into that strike and hitting the exact spot Shuro had hit him previously (except Riku's punch was harder), causing the cut to reopen along with sending Kagami crashing onto the floor. He then grabbed Kagami by the front of his shirt and lifted him up."It's bad enough that you actually try to justify your actions, you murdering son of a bitch, but to hear you keep spewing such lies! Don't you ever say such a thing about my family, or Chidori's, ever…!"

Riku then prepared to hit Kagami again but then stopped as he saw and realized that he was about to just beat up someone who couldn't fight back. Almost immediately, Riku realized that he had just done and immediately felt a brief moment of shame as well as self-disgust at it. He then threw Kagami onto the floor.

(Damn it, I let what that guy said get to me, and lost my temper…) Riku thought to himself.

"I…could I have a moment to get some air, Venom?" He asked Michael.

"Sure, take all the time you need." Michael answered with a nod, since he understood what was happening.

Riku nodded in thanks and then walked over to the cell that Aya, Aki, and Maya had been in and entered it. He was then stopped by someone he didn't expect, it was Gladys.

"What you just did…it was thoughtless and cruel." She said accusingly.

"I'll admit what I did was ridiculous and I'm almost sorry for it." Riku replied quickly.

"It's not just that." Gladys said. "It's how you all are judging the chief like you are. You have no idea what his life has been like…"

"If it's about that then I must say that guy must have had a pretty fucked up life to say things like that and mean it." Riku replied.

"What are you saying?" Gladys asked.

"I'm saying that things like personality defects are no excuse for murdering innocent people. In Kagami's case, if I knew what his life was like, it would earn him my pity, but it will not ever justify what he's done." Riku answered. "That's almost like saying that if that Shade had had a miserable life then that would justify…"

Riku quickly stopped as he realized what he was about to say and quickly changed the subject.

"It looks like you've managed to recover from your condition some…" He said quickly. "I'm glad to see that…"

Riku then quickly walked past her and entered the cell where he sat down to think by himself.

"What condition did he…?" Lee spoke and suddenly noticed that Gladys was only wearing a lab tech's coat. He then regarded the FOXHOUNDers with a hateful glare. "Did you bastards do something to her!"

"Of course not." Nagi spoke. "Our group doesn't include those kinds if that's what you're implying…"

"If you're looking for the perpetrator then it's a tall man in black named Shade." Michael spoke. "I'm sure you know of his reputation yourself…"

Michael then turned to Kagami, who was struggling to get up from the floor since the wire binding his hands were getting in the way. Michael reluctantly proceeded to help him up.

Meanwhile, Nagi and Tot decided to go to where Riku was to talk with him, and Aya decided to go with them.

"Giving in to violence as a response towards something he can't understand. How foolish." Kagami grumbled about Riku.

"You know, I have no idea what kind of life you must have had before this to bring you to this level of lowness, but as someone whose also had a difficult life I have to say this." Michael said. "Everyone…everyone carries a burden in life, and that's just how it is. Your burden is no heavier or lighter than anyone else's."

"Hmph, more foolishness…" Kagami snorted. "You like the rest of your group have no idea about how C-Project would have given humanity true perfection, not to mention…"

"I really don't care." Michael said, his tone of voice now angered as he knew all of the horrible deeds this man was responsible for. "You know, there have been plenty of people just like you...educated men. Men of science and medicine. Men who were searching for some self-described ideal and willing to maim and murder untold thousands to find it. There was one in particular who I'm sure even you've heard of. His name was Mengele. To him, anyone was fair game as a subject of his experiments -- the weak...the handicapped...men...women...children..."

"You put me on the level of that scientist from the Nazi death camps, but at the same time you should realize that in the end, some of the results of that man's experiments were very notable." Kagami replied. "If you would look at it from that perspective, that would almost make him a visionary…"

That one statement caused Michael's eyes to harden and the expression on his face turned to a cold and harsh one.

"Visionary…Scientist? Far from it…there was only one word to describe him, and that was that he was a monster." He said coldly, and with that Michael gave a sudden quick and vicious kick at Kagami's legs causing him to fall over and land face first on the hard metal floor. "And I've changed my mind. Find someone else to help you up." He then turned and walked away.

Youji then turned to Ran, Ken, and Omi.

"So, are any of you guys going to help him up?" He asked.

"I'd sooner fall on my katana." Ran answered.

"No thanks." Omi said simply.

"I'd sooner sell my motorcycle." Ken gave his answer.

"Hmm, it looks like this guy's out of luck." Youji grinned. "I'd give up smoking, women, and then shave my head and become a priest or something before I help this guy."

"I don't think there would even be many priests who would be willing to help someone like Kagami if you ask me." Shuro spoke.

As this was going on Nagi, Tot, and Aya were speaking with Riku.

"Are you alright, Riku?" Nagi asked him.

"Yeah, I guess I just needed a breather." Riku answered.

"Hey, if you're feeling guilty about hitting Kagami like that, then don't." Aya spoke. "After all he's done, being hit is far from what he deserves. Believe me…"

"Yeah, that scumbag deserved it." Tot said in agreement.

"It really isn't about that, it's more how I just lost it like that…" Riku said with a shake of his head. "For some reason, around people like Kagami…and also Reese, for some reason I just lose my temper easily at them when the conversation turns to an argument…"

"If it's just for people like that, then I'd hardly call that a flaw." Michael spoke as he walked into the cell. He then looked at Riku sympathetically. "If you ask me, that's your way of rejecting their ideals since they go completely against your own."

"Maybe, but…even if he is scum, the fact that I hit someone who couldn't even physically defend himself…it just doesn't feel right." Riku said.

"Well, you're a good kid, Riku." Michael replied. "I mean since you have conscience enough to feel guilt, even though you are a ninja and have experienced many battles. In my opinion, that proves my point as well as shows you have good mental fortitude since I've seen a lot of soldiers end up hardening up and changing drastically from the kind of people they were when they left the academy due to those kinds of experiences…"

Riku was silent for a few minutes then smiled slightly.

"I guess that does count for something, thanks Mike." He agreed, and then turned to Nagi, Tot, and Aya. "Also thanks for being concerned about me. Anyway, let's get going and complete the mission."

"Yeah, the sooner we end all of this, the better." Aya agreed.

A few minutes later, the group had reassembled and the decision was made as to how the rest of the mission would carry out. Michael's team would escort Aki, Maya, and Shuro out along with the prisoners (which now included Gladys) and then call for a FOXHOUND chopper to pick them up, while Riku's team would take Aya and Alec with them and then search for the hagoromo. Once Michael's team successfully loaded those they were escorting onto the chopper, they would then head into the other building of the base and rescue the C-Genomes. If something went wrong, Riku's team was to drop searching for the hagoromo and rescue the C-Genomes instead.

"Anyway, we'll have to head out the way Drakken and his team came in, since the way my team came in was from the stairway." Michael said after the plans had been decided.

"Alright." Riku nodded and then turned over to Yuhi and Chidori. "Are you sure you want to come along? You don't have to…"

"We want to see this through, just like Aya does." Yuhi replied and Chidori nodded her agreement.

"Yeah, and after all that's happened, I definitely want to see that we finish this." Chidori said.

"Okay then…" Riku nodded and with that the group headed for the exit door. However, once they reached it, it wouldn't open.

"Must be a security trick to the door to keep prisoners from escaping." Michael noted. "We'll probably need a card key or something like that…"

"Let me try, I think this will open it." Aya said, stepping forward and indicating the plate attached to her outfit. However the door wouldn't open. "Well, scratch that idea…"

"I think this should work." Alec spoke and handed a card key to Aya. "This card key should get you through most doors in this facility."

As this was happening a thought came to Michael.

(It's strange that this was all pulled off so easily.) He thought to himself. (Not even a single trap was waiting…)

Meanwhile, Riku was having similar thoughts.

(Why would they not have a single guard in this area, given how important Aya is?) He wondered. (Actually, that communication blocker makes no sense at all…Unless they…)

It was at that moment both Michael and Riku figured out what the enemy's trap was.

"Aya wait, don't…!" Both Michael and Riku shouted in warning, but their warning came too late as the door beeped and slid open. Immediately the security alarm for the base went off, obviously signaling their presence.

"So the door was the trap." Michael muttered. "That explains why we didn't see many guards on the way through here. They were hiding and lying in wait for this to happen."

"No kidding." Riku replied as he quickly stuck his head out the open door and saw that a large group of heavily armed soldiers were already headed their way. He quickly withdrew and turned to the others.

"Aya, Maya, Chidori, Shuro, and Aki head for the cell Aya was in and take the prisoners with you, and wait till this fight is over. Yuhi you guard them." He instructed.

"Got it." Yuhi said with a nod.

"We'll take you there and then Weiss and I will defend the way we came in." Michael spoke to Yuhi, Chidori, Aya, Aki, Maya, and Shuro. "Now let's hurry!"

As that part of the group left, Riku turned to Nagi, who nodded and used his powers to make the automatic door close. Riku then took over and called out his powers of flame; he then pressed his hands against the sides of the door, welding it in place so it would be harder to force open.

"That should buy us some time." He said and turned to his two partners. "You guys ready."

"Of course." Nagi replied with a light smile.

"You got it!" Tot said cheerfully even though they were about to go into battle.

Meanwhile, Michael, Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi reached the door they had come through just in time to close and lock it. Unfortunately one look around showed that there was nothing to barricade the doors with, and the enemy soldiers on the other side were already ramming into the door to open it.

"Well, looks like our only cover are these cells." Ken spoke. "Let's hurry and get ready since those guys will be in here soon."

"I have an idea." Michael spoke and then turned to Youji. "Balines, can I use some of your wire?"

"You're more than welcome." Youji said as he handed Michael a long strand of his spare wire.

As this was going on, on Riku's end there were now loud blasts coming from outside the door, as the soldiers were now resorting to using grenades to blast through the door. After a minute the door finally burst open and the soldiers rushed in, their guns drawn and ready. However, there was no one waiting for them on the other side.

The lead soldier looked around suspiciously and then spotted Michael's team on the far end of the corridor as they were getting into the cells to hide.

"Looks like we spoiled their ambush." The soldier grinned. "Alright men, let's eliminate the targets!"

The soldiers then charged forward, however they didn't realize that Riku, Nagi, and Tot were lying in wait in the cells they were about to run past.

Nagi, from his cell, waited until enough soldiers had run past before bursting out of the cell door quickly making a psychic barrier to cut the soldiers behind off from the ones who had just passed and also to shield himself from their fire.

Meanwhile Riku and Tot waited for the soldiers to come past their cells, which were directly across from each other. When the soldiers did go past, the two immediately burst out from their hiding places and began their ambush attack.

"Mizuchi!" Tot shouted as she drew her Muramasa blade and executed a slash that combined with the moisture in the air, which cut through two of the enemy soldiers from behind. She then quickly turned around and ran an incoming soldier through with her sword.

Riku, meanwhile, threw himself straight in the middle of the incoming soldiers, and was immediately concentrating chakra into his hands and feet as well as calling out his powers of flame.

"Red Tornado!" Riku shouted as he spun and created the red cyclone of flames Yuki had just recently taught him, which caught a large amount of the enemy, and then burnt them severely before sending them crashing into the walls, floor, and even ceiling.

Nagi still kept the barrier behind him up using his left hand to keep it in place, while he drew his beretta and fired into the remaining enemy troops.

Meanwhile, on Michael's end, the enemy troops finally succeeded in breaking down the door, and quickly rushed in to find that they, much like the soldiers on Riku's end, had no enemies waiting for them on the other side.

The lead soldier for that squad immediately saw Riku, Nagi, and Tot fighting the other soldiers on the other end of the corridor and was about to order his men forward when he suddenly saw a long wire pulling away from him and towards a cell a bit further down, and attached to the wire were four metal rings. Rings specifically used for grenades.

The lead soldier turned just in time to see a pair of grenades strapped to the wall on each side of the door they had just broken through with duct tape. The soldier didn't even have enough time to call out to warn the other soldiers with him before the grenades went off.

The moment the explosion occurred, killing the soldiers who had gone in along with the ones who were too close to the door, Michael's team burst into action.

"Gunner Blow!" Michael shouted as he executed two punches onto the nearest soldier and then finishing with an uppercut. He then drew out his USP and began firing into the enemy troops.

"Rising Sakura Upper!" Ran shouted as he performed a spinning single uppercut with his blade on one of the soldiers as his body turned. He then turned to attack the next closest enemy.

"Ruthless Strike!" He shouted as he performed a series of lightning fast slashes as he approached his enemy and then proceeded to run him through with his sword and kick him away. He then turned and leaped at some more incoming enemies.

"Penance Strike!" Ran then executed a haymaker slash that brought the lethal edge of his katana down onto his enemies.

"Twister Claw!" Ken shouted as he lunged at an incoming enemy with a turning claw slash while going airborne. As he landed he spotted an enemy soldier about to run past the group and to where Riku's team was in order to attack them from behind.

"You wish. Dash Cut!" Ken then charged at the soldier and took him down in a single and powerful knockdown slash of his claws. He then turned and saw a number of the soldiers were rushing at him. The closest one raised his assault rifle to fire it at him.

Ken quickly rolled on his side, evading the bullets from the gun, and then towards the gunman surprising him with a kneeling stab.

"Rolling Cut!" Ken shouted as he stabbed his claws straight into the soldier's stomach and then pulling them out. He then turned, got up, and charged towards the other enemies.

As soon as he reached them, Ken began clawing the ground in front of him in three jabs, the first one causing the soldiers in front to stumble and fall over, knocking down the men behind them as well, making it possible for the next two jabs to do serious damage. Ken then performed a flying double kick on the remaining enemies.

"Ground Cutter!" Ken shouted as he completed the technique.

"Reverb Kick!" Youji shouted as he performed a quick, one legged, turning somersault kick on one enemy and then made a leap into the air at another, before performing a charging flying kick on him. "Chivalrous Kick!"

Youji lunged forward at another enemy, bringing his wire out, and then quickly wrapped it around the enemy soldier's throat and proceeded to strangle him.

"Cross Elbow!" Omi shouted as he turned his body and performed two succession attacks on one of the enemy soldiers with his right elbow before finishing him off with a dash knee attack to the head. "Crescent Knee!"

Omi then grabbed for one of the darts for bowgun and found that it was an explosive one, he then aimed it to fire through the door the enemy troops were coming through.

"Guys, stand clear!" Omi called out to Ran, Ken, Youji, and Michael in warning, before firing the dart. "Dart Fire!"

A few seconds later, an explosion occurred past the door, killing the soldiers that were coming down through the stairs.

On both sides the battle raged on in both Weiss' and the FOXHOUNDers' favor mostly because the enemy troops were too cramped in to properly fight their opponents and were already getting heavy losses.

Unfortunately, they didn't realize they had made one mistake in their defense and that was the defense within…

As the battle kept going on, Aya, Maya, Aki, Yuhi, Chidori, Alec, and Shuro were in the cell along with the prisoners Kagami, Lee, Asamu and Viper.

"You think they're doing well against all those soldiers?" Shuro asked.

"Considering that these guys are specialists, I'm pretty sure they're alright." Yuhi answered. "But still…"

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking." Aya spoke. "About how frustrating it is that we can't do much to help them in this situation."

"Yeah, it almost feels like we're a liability." Maya agreed.

"Considering that Riku and the others have special training for these kinds of things, we would be if we tried to help them in this situation." Aki said. "And that's what makes it so damn frustrating…"

"You said it." Chidori agreed. "Yuhi, Maya, and I went through only a bit of the training they've gone through in VR and that in itself was a challenge while to them it's probably a warm up."

"This almost reminds me of some scenes in the old Gundam animes with the characters that didn't fight in the battles." Alec spoke. "I think I understand what the writers for them meant now."

As they were all talking, Asamu, who was seated close to the cell door, looked over at Lee, who looked over at Viper, who gave a light nod, causing Lee to turn back to Asami and do the same.

The young Indonesian assassin then slowly pretended to change the position he was sitting when in actuality he was reaching for a small pocketknife he had concealed in his right boot. He was able to quickly draw it out without anyone seeing him, as he had been trained to do this many times, and began to cut his bonds away in secret.

Suddenly a loud thump was heard and Yuhi glanced outside and saw that it was the body of one of the soldiers, who had one of Omi's poison darts sticking out of the back of his neck, indicating how he had just died.

"I-it's nothing." Yuhi said quickly as he wasn't all that comfortable with what he had just seen.

(The corridor outside is probably going to look like a real war zone once the battle's over.) Yuhi thought to himself.

Unbeknownst to Yuhi, Asamu had seen the dead soldier along with the assault rifle he was still carrying and immediately knew this was the right opportunity.

It took the Indonesian boy another minute, but he was able to free himself. For a second, he checked to make sure no one suspected what he had just done, and when he was sure, he suddenly got up and made a sudden and quick dash to the soldier's body, quickly grabbing the assault rifle and pointed it into the room. Yuhi reached for his M9, but it has too late.

"Don't make a move." Kagami spoke. "If you attempt to call to your allies for help, then I will instruct Asamu to kill whichever of you we do not need. Now Aogiri, drop your gun now."

Yuhi gritted his teeth in anger, but reluctantly did as Kagami said.

Asamu then tossed the knife over to Lee, who caught it and then cut off the wire bounding his wrists and then proceeded to cut Kagami's bonds and then Viper's.

"How close are we to the emergency exit?" Kagami asked Viper.

"That would be in the second cell across from us to the left, sir." Viper answered.

"Excellent, now Aya, Aki, the both of you will be coming with us. That is if you wish for your friends to remain in good health." Kagami said as he turned to the twins. He then turned to Lee. "Also we'll be taking Pallas with us as a hostage…"

Yuhi was about to say something in objection but Chidori then reached over and stopped him.

"Don't…" She said. "There isn't any choice now, and…I don't want you, or anyone else here, to die for me…"

"Hold on a second, take me instead." Shuro suddenly spoke up.

"No, if you need a C-Genome then I'll go in Shuro and Chidori's place." Maya spoke.

"I think not." Kagami replied simply. "A C-Genome who hasn't even emerged and one with a celebrity status that would make her missed is out of the question."

"I'd make a better hostage than either of them." Yuhi spoke. "My father's the head of the Aogiri family so…"

"I'm afraid we need a spare C-Genome in case things go awry." Kagami said and turned to Chidori. "Miss Kuruma…"

"I'm sorry…" Chidori said and stepped to where Lee was. Aya and Aki both did the same.

"You know something, if I could go back in time I'd do it so I could tell myself not to trust you to help me because you're nothing but a deceiving and murdering son of a bitch." Aki said to Kagami angrily. "Just how many things did you do to hurt Aya that you kept secret from me?"

"None that I felt I needed to tell you about." Kagami answered him simply.

"Which is his way of saying more than enough." Aya said.

(Aya, if you let me take over, I will handle this.) Ceres spoke to her.

"Oh, one thing, if you're thinking of letting Ceres out now or she's asking to be, please ensure neither happens for your friends' sake at least." Kagami added. "Besides, if she killed me then there would be no one to lead you to the hagoromo we have made…"

(Do as he says.) Ceres spoke.

(Ceres, don't tell me that…!) Aya began shocked that Ceres was going to agree to Kagami's terms just like that.

(Aya, there is no other choice anyway. Besides, aren't you the one who wished to protect your friends? If so this is the only way.) Ceres replied calmly. (Also, when I have the hagoromo then there is nothing that man Kagami can do to stop me…)

(But…Alright.) Aya hung her head as she reluctantly agreed.

"I see you've made the correct decision." Kagami smiled and then turned to Alec. "Alec…"

"Tell me something…" Alec spoke, an unusually serious expression on his face. "Just how many people do you plan on using and killing! Because I've had enough of it! This isn't the reason I joined this project!"

"If I remember correctly you were supposed to have agreed in the beginning that for the sake of our project being successful...you had to be willing to become the devil." Kagami replied to that. "Even if it meant that you were hated by the rest of society, you should be willing to sacrifice that for the sake of reform..."

"I can't become a devil, and I can't become a god either!" Alec half shouted. "Because I'm just a normal human! Just like everyone else here. Just like you are…"

"I wouldn't be so quick to call this scum human, if you ask me." Yuhi grumbled angrily.

"Alec I am not asking that you come with us, but I am demanding it." Kagami said to Alec firmly, causing the blonde Scottish doctor to glance over at Asamu and he realized if he refused he might be endangering the others in the room with him. With a sigh, Alec then reluctantly walked over to where Kagami was.

Kagami then glanced over at Gladys, and with a nod she went over to him as well.

With that, Kagami, Lee, Asamu, Viper, and Gladys left the room along with Aya, Akia, Chidori, and Alec. As this was going on, Asamu kept his gun trained on the remaining occupants of the cell. Lee then noticed that the dead soldier on the floor had a handgun at his side and he quickly bent down to take it before following the rest of his group to the cell Viper had indicated.

Viper then walked in and searched under a cot until he found the necessary switch, which he pressed. Immediately, a part of the floor for the cell opened to reveal a long ladder leading down into an underground passage that went under the base.

Kagami nodded and then turned to the others of his group and nodded to get going. For a moment it looked like everything was going to work, but that was soon proven wrong when suddenly Gladys, who was the last one to go in, let out a scream of pain and fell over as stray bullet from the battle struck her left leg.

Knowing that would definitely alert both Riku and Michael's team Kagami turned to Lee who looked like he was about to make a rush over to help her.

"We don't have time to spare, we have to leave her behind!" He commanded him.

"B-but sir…!" Lee objected.

"In a moment those FOXHOUNDers will be after us, we have no choice!" Kagami shouted and then went down the ladder.

Lee gave one last glance at Gladys, whose eyes were widened in shock that she was just about to be abandoned like that and was looking to Lee for help, before reluctantly turning away and following Kagami down the ladder, but not before closing the trapdoor.

Meanwhile, Riku turned around having heard the scream and saw Gladys lying on the ground. Nagi had also heard it and quickly erected a psychic barrier between them and the enemy troops. Suddenly Riku saw Yuhi run out of the room holding the M9 that he had given him previously. Before he could do anything else he heard his codec beep and answered it. When he checked the codec screen, he saw that the caller was Maya and everyone on his and Michael's team were also among the ones she had called on her codec.

"Riku, Michael, everyone, Kagami's men were able to break free and they've taken Aya, Aki, Chidori, and Alec with them." Maya said.

"Nani!" Riku said and then realized fully what Maya had just said. "Oh shit…Hold on then what was Yuhi…"

"Yuhi went after them and told me to call you." Maya replied.

"He went after them by himself!" Michael exclaimed.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Ran demanded.

"Both Shuro and I tried, but he said something about how he couldn't fail at protecting Chidori again, and wouldn't listen." Maya said. "I'm sorry…"

"There's no choice then." Michael spoke. "Drakken, hold the men you're fighting back for a few more minutes, and then Weiss and I will take over the rest of the fighting while you and your team go after Yuhi to rescue Aya, Aki, Chidori, and Alec."

"You guys can't fight this many people by yourself!" Tot objected.

"She's right that's practically suicide." Riku agreed.

"Do we have any other options?" Ran asked Riku. "I understand your concern Riku, Nagi, Tot, but we can handle this."

"Yeah, after all we took on about as many guys when we were being hunted by Takatori's guys." Youji spoke.

"And since we're still alive after that, this should be nothing." Ken spoke.

"In other words, you have nothing to worry about." Omi said confidently.

"Well, I…alright." Riku said reluctantly and ended the transmission.

But as soon as he did, he suddenly heard the sounds of more approaching soldiers coming towards the door that there were still plenty of enemy troops coming through.

(Damn it, more of them!) Riku thought. (Even if there's just back up from this side, there's no way Michael and the others can hold out against those odds. What should we do?)

Meanwhile:

"So we make our way to the boat from here, right?" Viper asked Kagami as he, Lee, Asamu, and their reluctant followers Aya, Aki, Chidori, and Alec headed through the underground passage.

"Yes, from there we'll make our way to a rendezvous point with our people from Mikage International, we can effectively start over as long as we have Ceres, the hagoromo, and a few C-Genomes." Kagami said.

"But sir, how are we going to complete C-Project now that the Patriots and Ragnalek are no longer on our side?" Lee asked.

"My father suspected we might have to break ties with them sooner or later, so he sent some of our people to talk with NESTS." Kagami answered. "They seem to have some great interest in C-Project's development."

"I bet they'll probably lose interest when they find out you don't have anymore C-Genomes." Yuhi's voice spoke from behind.

Asamu, who was holding up the rear of the group and at the same time leading Aya and Chidori forward, was about to turn around when he felt something pressed against his back.

"Don't move." Yuhi instructed him, and then pointed his M9 at Lee, the laser sighting pointing straight at his head. "I don't know what this NESTS group is, but I'm not going to let you take Chidori or any of my friends to them. Now let Chidori, Aya, her brother, and Dr. Howell go."

"Or what you'll use that tranquilizer gun that isn't even automatic?" Lee asked. "Don't think you can bluff your way through…"

"I'm not bluffing." Yuhi answered. "Right, Asamu Bagte?"

"What does he mean, Asamu?" Lee asked his partner.

"He also have something pointed against back." Asamu answered. "Possible it be knife…"

"Now that you know I'm not bluffing…" Yuhi began.

"But I no think he able do it." Asamu added. "This one not able stab me, he probably not have nerve, he not even holding blade right."

"So in the end you're still bluffing." Lee said and took a step forward.

"Are you sure you want to take that much of a gamble?" Yuhi asked warningly.

"Do you honestly have what it takes to kill a child?" Lee asked him. "Do you have the nerve? Actually have you even killed someone before in your entire life?"

(I'd better approach this carefully though, if I back him into a corner he might actually do it.) Lee thought to himself.

(This guy knows…he knows that I'm bluffing. It might not be long before this kid realizes these are just chopsticks and not a knife…) Yuhi thought to himself as he glanced down at the iron chopsticks that were his main weapon. (Damn it, this is not good at all…)

AN: And that ends this update! Sorry for leaving it at a cliffhanger again, but this is the only stopping point I could make. Also, I must say this is the longest chapter I've ever written; over 50 pages! That's enough to almost be two chapters! (pauses to catch breath). It certainly took a while to cram all of that story material into this update, hope you all enjoyed it.

Anyway, I've got some good news. I just recently found out this fic has been added to the Yuhi/Chidori C2 community. Yeah!

Now to mention the Easter Eggs:

1) If you think Riku's Sky Dragon Demon attack sounds a lot like Naruto's Rasengan, then you're right. That's basically what TempestDynasty based the attack on (to Tempest, thanks for the move and I hope I did it right).

2) The part with how Shade was really using a body created from using another person's body as a sacrifice was based on a scene in Naruto with Itachi Uchiha (just to let you know it hasn't happened in the anime yet, but in the manga it has).

3) The part with Riku being able to use his hair to regenerate also came from Naruto.

4) As for the Farscape reference, that was basically what inspired Michael's conversation with Kagami. Just watch the first season and you'll know.

Anyway folks, again I hope you enjoyed this update, and don't worry I'll try to update soon so as not to leave you all hanging (that is if having just finished the new Harry Potter book doesn't distract me too much in my writing schedule).

DF (pauses and flashes back to reading the last few chapters of the book): Grrrr! That damned Half Blood Prince! How I want to wring the dirty, back stabbing traitor's neck!

Riku (shrugs): Can't say I blame the good author for wanting to do that. After all, that guy did…

DF (turns around quickly): Hold it, some people reading this might not have finished reading the book yet!

Riku: Good point.

Anyway, folks please R and R.


	31. Chapter 30: Unexpected Reunion Part 1

AN: Well the next chapter of DCR is here and I hope you folks enjoy it. Anyway let's get on with the story.

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers.

Chapter 30: Unexpected Reunion Part 1

Mikage Base: Underground Passage:

Yuhi Aogiri started to sweat nervously as he could see that the standoff between him and Wei Fei Lee was not going well. He could see that Lee obviously didn't believe his threat on the young Indonesian assassin Asamu Bagte, which was actually a bluff.

(Damn it, at this rate they're going to figure me out.) Yuhi thought to himself as he kept his M9 trained on Lee. For a moment Yuhi felt a sudden sense of doubt, but he quickly pushed it aside. (I can't think of backing off now; I can't let these guys take Chidori, Aya, Alec, or Aki.)

For a few minutes there was a tense air about the passage as both sides waited for the other to make a response. Finally, Lee decided to call Yuhi's bluff since he could see that the young chef in training probably wouldn't be able to kill Asamu, and stepped forward.

"You won't do any of what you say you will." Lee spoke as he took another step forward. "I know it, you know it."

"Are you sure?" Yuhi asked as he kept his M9 trained on Lee.

"If you insist…" Lee then made one of his throwing darts come out of his right sleeve and into his hand and then prepared to throw it. "Very well then, Aogiri, let's see which of us is faster…"

Now heavier silence was between Yuhi and Lee as they both studied one another, one trying to figure out when the other would make a move. Suddenly, before a shot could be fired or a dart thrown, the tense silence was broken by Chidori.

"Stop it!" She shouted. "If you hurt or kill Yuhi, I'll bite my tongue off and bleed to death! You people need me, so…"

"No!" Yuhi objected.

"It is an empty threat you are making, Miss Kuruma." Kagami spoke. "Besides we can always find a replacement if…"

Suddenly there was a sudden bright flash of light which enveloped Aya and suddenly standing in her place was Ceres.

"That is enough." Ceres said and turned to Kagami. "Let these two go and take me to where the mana is." She was obviously meaning Yuhi and Chidori. "That is what we both want is it not?"

"It is, however…" Kagami began.

"If you do not let those two children go, I will destroy you and find the hagoromo myself." Ceres cut him off. "Those are my conditions; either take them or accept your own demise."

Kagami could tell from Ceres' tone as well as the look in her eyes that she meant what she was saying.

"Very well." Kagami relented and then turned to Viper and nodded at him.

Viper gave a slight bow of his head to say he understood and then stepped aside so Chidori could pass by.

Chidori looked over at Ceres and was about to say something, but was cut off.

"Do not worry about me or about the safety of Aya and her child." Ceres spoke. "You have my word that they will not come to harm, nor shall Aya's brother."

(What about me?) Alec thought to himself.

"O…okay." Chidori reluctantly replied and then turned and walked over to where Yuhi was.

Lee carefully stepped aside so Chidori could pass him, all the while keeping his eye on Yuhi.

As soon as Chidori made it to where Yuhi was standing, Yuhi lowered his M9 and quickly shoved Asamu forward towards Lee in case the boy tried to make a sudden surprise counterattack. The young Indonesian assassin stumbled slightly, but quickly regained his footing. He quickly turned around and kept the assault rifle pointed at Yuhi and Chidori.

"If that is all, then let's head for the ship." Kagami spoke and looked at Yuhi. "Let me warn you Aogiri, that if you or your FOXHOUND allies try to follow us, I will have Lee, Asamu, and Viper kill you on sight."

"You're wasting time, now take me to the hagoromo." Ceres spoke, causing Kagami's attention to return to her.

"Of course." Kagami nodded and with that, his group walked away with Asamu in the rear keeping his assault rifle pointed at Yuhi and Chidori until they were out of sight.

When they were gone, leaving Yuhi and Chidori standing there alone, Chidori turned to Yuhi.

"Yuhi, you…you idiot!" She shouted. "You could have gotten killed! You shouldn't…"

"Well, what was I supposed to do, just let those guys take you and Aya!" Yuhi half shouted in reply. "You know I won't let that happen, and besides I don't see why I'm not allowed to risk my life for yours when you're allowed take a bullet for me…"

"I did that because I didn't want you to die!" Chidori shouted, her eyes now starting to tear up. "I…I didn't want to lose anyone else…that I loved…"

It was at that moment, Yuhi realized what was going on.

(I see…that whole thing with that bastard Kagami not too long ago, those things that miserable excuse for a human being said to Chidori…It must have brought all that grief and pain from losing her grandparents back.) Yuhi thought to himself. (Now that I think about it, a part of her probably blames herself for that. Just like how it was with her parents' death. Damn it, why didn't I see that before?)

Yuhi suddenly reached out and put his arms around Chidori, holding her close to him.

"I'm sorry, Chidori, I didn't mean to get you all upset." Yuhi said as he held her. "I should have realized what was going on and how you must have been feeling."

"It's alright." Chidori replied as she returned his embrace. "Just promise you won't do anything stupid that could get you killed. I don't want to lose you…"

"As long as you promise the same thing." Yuhi said and then the two of them broke apart so he could look at her seriously. "I don't want to lose you either."

Yuhi and Chidori were silent for a few minutes until Chidori spoke.

"Why don't we make a promise, then?" She said. "Let's promise that no matter what, we'll survive for each other."

"Alright, it's a promise." Yuhi replied with a nod. "I promise that I'll do everything to make sure I'll stay alive for you, Chidori."

"And I'll do the same so I can stay alive for you, Yuhi." Chidori blushed slightly, and then realized something and smiled at Yuhi mischievously. "Oh yeah, there's one last and very important thing. Our promise needs to be sealed with a kiss."

"Why do I get the feeling you just added that in at the last minute?" Yuhi asked with a grin causing Chidori to puff her cheeks a little in mock indignation.

"Hey, don't you want to kiss me?" Chidori asked with mock disappointment in her voice.

"Does this answer your question?" Yuhi suddenly surprised her by kissing her.

The two of them held that kiss for a few seconds before breaking apart, an awkward silence following that lasted for a moment.

"Well…we should probably go and get to Riku and the others." Yuhi spoke.

"Yeah, they're probably worried." Chidori agreed, and with that the two of them turned and ran back the way they had come from.

Meanwhile:

Riku suddenly made a flame appear on his right index finger and drew the kanji for 'round'.

"Madoka!" He shouted as he called on the fire dragon's power, causing the dragon's barrier to appear in front of the door the enemy reinforcements would come through, cutting them off. He then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Be ready hold these guys off for a few seconds when I bring the barrier down, first I'll take care of the ones on Michael, Ran, Omi, Ken, and Youji's side."

Riku then called Michael by codec.

"Drakken, what are you still doing here?" Michael asked as soon as his face appeared on screen. "I told you we'd handle these guys."

"And I think we've got a better chance of rescuing Aya, Chidori, Aki, and Alec if we're all together." Riku replied. "There's no time to explain, just have everyone withdraw and get into a cell so you guys won't be in the way of what I'm about to do. I'll get rid of all of these soldiers in a matter of minutes, trust me."

"How do…?" Michael decided not to press the issue since he knew from the sudden serious tone in Riku's voice he'd probably find out soon. "Alright."

As soon as Michael ended his transmission, he called out to the four members of Weiss.

"Everyone, let's withdraw now!" He shouted. "Get into one of the cells if you have to, but get out of this hallway!"

Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi heard him, and quickly killed the soldiers they were currently fighting before getting inside the closest cells and closing the doors behind them.

When Michael saw that the four men had safely escaped he threw a grenade at the enemy troops to slow them down before heading into the nearest cell, which just happened to be the cell Maya and Shuro were in. He was about to say something when he noticed there was another occupant, the injured Gladys Smithson, whose wounded leg was roughly bandaged with a piece of torn cloth.

"She was injured and we didn't want her to get caught in the cross fire so we dragged her in here." Shuro explained.

"That's good." Michael said in approval.

"So what's going on?" Maya asked, but before Michael could answer her the explosion from the grenade rocked the cells and corridors.

Riku knew the soldiers from Michael's end would be heading in their direction soon and quickly turned to Nagi and Tot.

"Get ready, I'll bring down the barrier now." He said and then with a simple gesture, Madoka's barrier was gone.

The soldiers who had been kept at bay by the barrier quickly rushed in, only to be met with a barrage of psychic blasts from Nagi and multiple slashes from Tot's Muramasa. Meanwhile, Riku was calling forth a large ball of fire that soon began to expand until it was larger than Riku himself.

"Alright guys, get back! Make sure you're standing right next to me!" Riku called out to Nagi and Tot, and the two quickly dashed back until they were standing right next to where Riku was standing.

With a nod at his two partners, the young ninja then moved his hands apart, causing the fireball to split in two, one for each hand, until he was holding his right hand outstretched in the direction of the soldiers on his end, and the left hand held in the opposite direction. He then released the fire he had called up. Immediately, what looked like twin rivers of fire seemed to fountain out from both fireballs and into the enemy troops, engulfing them in flames and reducing them to ash in a matter of seconds as the flames sped towards the rest of the troops on both sides, who only had time to turn around in a vain attempt to escape before they too were consumed by the fire, which seemed to have a life of its own.

The flames then poured out through the doors the enemy troops had been coming through, immediately sudden screams from out in the halls that lasted only a second before suddenly stopping signaling the fire's incinerating the rest of the soldiers who had been sent in as reinforcements. After a few more seconds, when he was sure the flames he had called out had done their job, Riku brought his arms back down to his side and the flames vanished.

"Call Michael and tell him to wait a few minutes for everything to cool down before coming out." Riku said, turning to Nagi.

Nagi nodded and did so. When he was done, he turned back to Riku.

"Are you alright?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, it's just been a while since I've called out this much fire." Riku answered with a light grin, though Nagi had a suspicion that wasn't entirely it, but he decided not to press the issue.

A few minutes later, when Riku was sure the hallway had cooled down enough, he called Michael and within a few minutes all four members of Weiss came out of the cells they had taken shelter in and walked over to the cell Michael, Maya, Shuro, and Gladys were at and Riku, Nagi, and Tot did the same.

"Well, the enemy has been eliminated." Riku spoke to his friends, and then grinned confidently. "That's the power of the flames of the Hokage clan for you."

"Good, now we can go after Aya, Aki, Alec, Yuhi, and Chidori and rescue them." Michael said with a nod. "But first, could you take a look at Miss Smithson's wound?" Michael then gestured over to where Gladys was, and Riku could see the bandaged wound and walked over to her. He carefully unwrapped the bandage and saw that the bullet was still lodged inside the wound.

The moment Riku reached over to further inspect the wound, Gladys immediately flinched away from his touch. Riku, knowing the reason for this, looked into Gladys' face with a serious expression.

"Maam, I'm not trying to hurt you, I want to help you." He said. "Please, just trust me and let me treat this wound."

Gladys didn't say anything but slowly nodded so Riku could go on and inspect her wound.

After a quick look, Riku could see that all he needed to do was remove the bullet and then properly bandage the wound. He then took out a kunai shuriken, which immediately got a reaction from Gladys.

"Will…will that hurt…much?" She asked nervously, almost like a child about to get a shot.

"Only for a few seconds." Riku answered reassuringly. "Please try to bear it…"

Riku then made a quick incision and within seconds removed the bullet. He then applied an herbal powder that he had stored in his vest that would prevent infection and scarring. After that he re-bandaged the wound, and with a slight nod got up and walked over to where Nagi, Tot, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, Shuro, Maya, and Michael were.

"Wait…" Gladys called after Riku, causing him to stop and look back at her. "Thank you…"

"Heh, you're welcome." Riku replied with a friendly smile before going over to talk with his friends.

Meanwhile, Gladys limped a little over to one of the cell cots, sat on it, and then lapsed into her own thoughts.

(Why…why is it that these people who are supposed to be my enemies help me?) She thought to herself, and then a very miserable feeling came to her as the next thought registered in her mind. (And why…did the people who are supposed to be my allies, the chief included, just abandon me?)

Meanwhile, the others were talking about what was to be done next.

"Well, obviously we need to rescue Aya and the others." Maya spoke. "So what are we waiting for?"

"Just so I can make sure we have a solid plan." Michael spoke. "Don't forget that if we rush in with how things are now, we put the lives of Aya, Aki, Alec, Chidori, and possibly even Yuhi in unnecessary jeopardy."

"I have a bit of an idea, Venom." Riku spoke. "But just so we don't let those guys get too far ahead of us, let's head to the cell they used to escape and talk as we walk."

"Alright, Drakken, tell me." Michael said as the group then proceeded to the mentioned cell.

Riku was about to tell him when suddenly the trapdoor that Kagami's group had used opened and Yuhi and Chidori came out of it.

"Well, that was good timing." Riku said, and then noticed that only Yuhi and Chidori were coming out.

"Hey where are Aya, Aki, and Alec?" Tot asked.

"Actually, how did the two of you manage to get back here?" Ran added his question.

"Aya turned into Ceres and she made Kagami let us go." Chidori answered. "She, Aki, and Alec are still with Kagami and his group."

"Why didn't Ceres at least let Aki and Alec go?" Shuro spoke.

"We'll get to that later." Michael said and looked at both Yuhi and Chidori seriously. "Do you know where Kagami and his men are taking them?"

"They mentioned a boat." Chidori replied. "They were probably planning use it to make a getaway from the Patriots all along."

"That and they mentioned something about bringing Aya and Chidori to a group called NESTS to continue C-Project." Yuhi added.

"Did you just say NESTS!" Both Michael and Riku practically shouted at the same time as they definitely recognized the name.

"You guys look like someone just stepped over your grave or something." Chidori said and then noticed that the expressions on Nagi, Ran, Youji, Ken, and Omi's expressions seemed troubled, since even they had heard of that organization. "Who are these NESTS guys anyway?"

"Bad news, that's what." Riku answered. "Though I haven't had any conflict with those guys before, I've heard a great deal about them from both Heidern and Venom since they've had their share of conflicts with them." He then turned to Michael. "Since you know more about the NESTS cartel than I do, could you…?"

"Of course." Michael nodded and turned to Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro. "Well to sum it up, the NESTS cartel is an organization with about as much power as the Patriots, and they happen to have a great interest in powers that can be considered supernatural. Now that I think about it, it really isn't all that surprising they're taking an interest in C-Project to, considering their past attempts to harness the power of the Kusanagis using Kyo Kusanagi's DNA."

"It could be likely they're planning the same thing except using C-Genomes instead." Riku surmised. "What do you think, Venom?"

"It's possible." Michael admitted. "Either way, if you ask me, Kagami's an idiot if he thinks NESTS will help him in the way he wants. For one thing the people in charge of that organization wouldn't trust him for a minute. I know for a fact that Zero, Krizalid, and Igniz, if he's still alive, aren't that stupid."

"So what would happen if these guys manage to get their hands on Aya, Aki, and Alec?" Chidori asked. "Would it be the same as with the Mikage or the Patriots?"

"More or less." Michael answered. "Aya and Aki would probably be kept confined, but the facility would probably be more comfortable than one from the Mikage or the Patriots, and Alec would probably be forced to work for them."

"And let me guess, Kagami and his lackeys would find their life spans shortened considerably." Ran spoke.

"Of course." Michael replied. "Once the bosses of NESTS get what they need from Kagami, they won't have anymore need for someone they can't trust. I mean would you trust someone like him?"

"No." Everyone else said at the same time.

(I'd sooner trust Revolver Ocelot.) Riku thought to himself.

"Well then, I vote we go run that bastard and his cronies down and rescue Aya, Aki, and Alec now." Youji said with a grin. "Like Maya said, what are we waiting for?"

"We have no choice, let's go in after them." Michael spoke and turned to Riku. "Drakken first tell me your plan, though…"

"Well Venom, since Siberian and I are the fastest on our feet, the two of us would go in ahead of everyone else." Riku explained, making sure to make his explanation quick so they could get on with the rescuing business. "I'll use genjutsu to distract the enemy, while Ken goes in and rescues Aya, Aki, and Alec. The moment we retrieve them, we'll head back to where you guys are, and since it's likely Kagami and his lackeys will follow us, we can consider our escaped prisoners recaptured."

"Alright, your plan sounds solid enough, Drakken." Michael nodded, but then stopped as he considered a possible flaw in the plan and then turned to Yuhi and Chidori. "The way you came, was it a single passage or are there more passageways down there?"

"There's more than one." Yuhi answered, and it was then that Michael could see a flaw in Riku's plan.

"But we both remember the way we came." Chidori added, sensing what Michael was thinking.

"True, but from the point you two escaped from, we have no idea where to go." Michael replied.

"Damn it, if only we knew where the boat was docked at, then we could get there first." Riku said.

"Unfortunately, life isn't that easy, Drakken." Nagi spoke.

"So I guess the plan is for us to head to where Yuhi and Chidori escaped, and then split up." Ken assumed.

"I'm afraid that's the only option." Michael said. "Though…"

"If you need to find out where the boat is docked, then I can show you to it." Gladys' voice spoke out, causing everyone to turn and see her standing in the cell doorway.

"You know where it is?" Ken spoke, and Gladys nodded.

"Yes, it's located under the facility." She replied.

"Well, looks like life can go easy on you from time to time." Riku said.

"Don't get your hopes up just yet, Drakken." Ran spoke, looking at Gladys with deep suspicion. "How do we know we can trust whatever she says, she does work for Kagami after all."

"After what you said about NESTS, then the chief's life is in danger." Gladys said. "And if he dies, then so does everything we ever…"

"The guy leaves you to die, and you're still loyal to him?" Riku spoke, immediately getting a reaction from Gladys.

"That…that was…" She stammered, trying to find the right words until she finally did. "The chief only did that in order to ensure C-Project survived. If my life were required as a sacrifice to make sure a greater good happened, then it's a small price to pay."

"A small price to…" Riku stopped and just decided to drop it. "Fine, you've got your reasons, we've got ours. Just please lead us to wherever this boat is."

"Of course." Gladys nodded.

As the group was preparing to leave, Riku suddenly got a telepathic message from Nagi.

(Why did you stop?) The young psychic asked. (Usually you'd have had more to say.)

(For one, there really isn't any time for that, Nagi.) Riku answered. (And the other thing is, well…for Gladys-san, everything that she's believed in for what she's done for Kagami and C-Project is probably the only thing that's kept her from losing it from what Shade did to her. I don't want that to happen…)

(You know, some people would think that you're doing this just because you don't want to lose a valuable guide.) Nagi spoke, that statement causing Riku to stop and look at him, and Nagi simply smiled at his friend.

(But, I know you well enough that you would never think that way.) He continued.

(Thanks.) Riku smiled slightly. He was about to say something to Michael when suddenly he heard Yuki's voice speak out to him.

(You know, that woman Gladys-san will realize the truth sooner or later.) She said.

(I know that, but...) Riku paused not sure how to explain things, and then gave a mental sigh. (I guess I just don't have it in me to say something that I know would shatter someone like that. You could say I'm being a coward that way, but still…)

(I think I understand.) Yuki spoke. (You just don't want to do anything to hurt Gladys-san.)

(I guess that pretty much sums it up.) Riku replied. (It just wouldn't feel right. Kind of like kicking someone who's down and doesn't deserve it…)

(I see…) Yuki said. (Anyway, enough about that. Let's go and rescue Aya and the others.)

(You don't have to tell me twice.) Riku replied and then turned to Michael.

"So shall we get going, Venom?" He asked.

"Of course." Michael answered and then turned to Gladys. "Would you please lead the way, Miss Smithson?"

"There's…one more thing…" Gladys spoke. "I need you to promise me that you'll keep the C-Genomes here from falling into the Patriots' hands."

"You realize that would mean we'll have to take those girls into our protective custody." Michael reminded her.

"That doesn't matter." Gladys said. "Those girls would be better off in your people's custody than the Patriots'. In the Patriots' hands, they'd probably be used as either weapons or experiments."

"Alright, consider it done." Michael replied. "But depending on how the situation turns out, I may have to call for FOXHOUND to send more men to take care of that."

"That will be fine." Gladys said. "Now, please follow me."

"Weren't we going to do that anyway?" Omi asked Riku as they began to follow Gladys.

"Yeah, but making a reassuring promise never hurt anyone." Riku answered.

Later:

It took about half an hour for Gladys to direct them to their destination, which appeared to be a freight elevator.

"This is probably the safest way we can get to where the boat is docked." Gladys said as she and everyone else entered the elevator. "The main elevator is located in the other building…"

"So it's probably under watch." Ran assumed, and Gladys nodded. She then pressed the closing button on the control panel, and then reached over to what looked like a small metal cabinet and opened it.

Inside it was a small retinal scanner with a button under it. Gladys immediately placed her eyes in front of the scanner, which, after a few seconds, beeped that it recognized her retinal pattern. Gladys then pressed the button below and there was chime as the elevator began to descend.

After a few minutes, there was a chime as the elevator reached the floor where the dock was located. When the group stepped out of the elevator, they could all see the Mikage boat, which actually resembled a cruise ship in both size and look.

"Pretty big boat." Riku commented.

"This ship is supposed to function as a temporary replacement for this whole facility." Gladys explained.

"Uh…isn't this thing a little big to try escaping in?" Tot asked.

"Well, yes and no." Michael answered her. "Yes, in its size would make it easy to track and also target and sink if necessary, but no in the fact that everything on the ship is controlled by a computer. In that aspect, Kagami has the bare minimum of people required to run the ship."

"You know, I just thought of something." Riku spoke and turned to Nagi and Omi. "Could either of you guys hack into the main computer system on the ship and then control it from there?"

"Of course we can." Nagi answered.

"But we'd need to find a computer onboard in order to access the system." Omi added.

"Are there any people on board this ship that you know of?" Ran asked, turning to Gladys.

"There is a small security team that is stationed on this ship." Gladys answered. "They're our men, not the Patriots'."

"Do they know about what's currently happened inside this base?" Ken asked.

"Well…yes and no." Gladys answered him. "Because the base was taken over, those men have been cut off."

"But because of that, those men know something is wrong." Omi spoke.

"So this means the guys guarding the boat will be on alert." Riku assumed, and then turned to Michael. "So what do you recommend we do Venom? Kagami hasn't shown up yet, so we have the opportunity to ambush him."

"Good idea." Michael agreed. "However, we need to make a back up plan just in case anything goes wrong." He then turned to Ran. "Abyssinian, you and your team are to infiltrate the ship and either locate a computer on board so Bombay can use it to hack into the ship's computer and take it over or take over the bridge. Either way you can make sure that if worse comes to worse, you can make sure that this ship won't be under the enemy's control. We'll contact you once we've retrieved Aya, Aki, and Alec."

"Consider it done." Ran said and then turned to Ken, Omi, and Youji. "Let's move out."

"Right." All three replied, and with that the four of them headed in the direction of the back of the ship to find a good entrance point to sneak in through.

"So what's our plan going to be?" Yuhi asked, turning to Michael. "I mean how are we going to ambush Kagami's group?"

"Because our current position gives us the element of surprise, we should be able to effectively surround Kagami and his group." Michael answered. "Right now, let's divide up and then get under some cover so we can catch them off guard."

Meanwhile: On the Boat: Bridge:

Three Mikage guards were sitting at their posts awaiting any calls from the base.

"If you ask me, it's obvious that something's going on." One of the guards spoke. "I think we should send someone there to investigate."

"Fine, then go do that yourself." The other guard replied. "I'm being paid to stay and guard this place, so that's what I'm going to do. If you want to get a reduction in pay, then be my guest."

"Alright, you've made your point." The guard relented.

Suddenly there was the sound of running feet and another Mikage guard ran in, apparently out of breath.

"What's going on, why aren't you at your post?" The first guard asked.

"I just received word from the Chief." The new guard answered through huffs of breath. "The base has been attacked by FOXHOUND and we've taken heavy losses. The chief is on his way with Ceres and requests that we have the boat ready to leave at once."

"Anything else?" The second guard asked as he and the other two got up.

"Yes, the Chief said that he was being pursued by the enemy and requested that some men be waiting for his arrival just in case." The out of breath guard answered.

"Alright then, the three of us will go and alert the other squad to be ready for the Chief's arrival." The first guard spoke. "In the meantime, you open the gate so we can depart as soon as the Chief is on board, and after that contact the pilots for the RAY units and tell them to be ready to escort this ship to safety."

"Of course, you can count on me." The new guard replied quickly, and with that the first three guards left the bridge in a hurry.

After a minute, when he was sure that he was alone, the guard smirked and there was a sudden puff of smoke, which immediately revealed that the guard had been none other than Shade in disguise.

"That was easier than I had expected." Shade spoke as he walked over to the control panel. "Basic genjutsu will get you wherever you need in the company of fools."

Shade then reached into his pocket and pulled out his radio and then selected Crawford's frequency.

"Crawford, have you and your men gotten aboard?" He asked and waited for the American assassin's response.

"Yes, we're on board the ship." Crawford answered. "We'll join you shortly, but first I need to see to something important…"

"Alright." Shade nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Just make sure to get this ship away from this island as soon as possible." Crawford replied. "Something will happen soon enough that will attract quite a few prying eyes, so make certain that we're out of sight by then."

"Of course." Shade then switched off his radio and looked at the ship's control console.

"Now to open this gate and then contact the pilots for the RAY units. It's time for the fun to truly begin…" Shade said with a smile as he reached for the control panel to open the gate.

Meanwhile: Outside:

As Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Shuro, and Michael lay in wait for Kagami's group to show up so that they could ambush them (Gladys was specifically told to find cover, which was inside a metal crate), a sound came from the boat causing their attention to turn towards it.

Half a dozen Mikage guards emerged from the boat, their assault rifles were ready to fire. They quickly moved and took positions so they were standing in front of the entranceway to the dock.

Riku quickly activated his codec and called Michael, and soon found that everyone else had the same idea.

"Well, this is a surprise, isn't it?" Riku spoke.

"Tell us something we don't know." Chidori said sarcastically. "What are we going to do now?"

"We could always fight those guards, but that would make us lose the element of surprise, right?" Shuro spoke to Michael who nodded in agreement.

"That's correct, Shuro." Michael replied. "But I think we might have a window of opportunity as soon as Kagami arrives."

"Let me guess, we make a quick and coordinated surprise attack, right Venom?" Riku spoke.

"Of course." Michael replied and then turned to Shuro. "Shuro, can your C-Genome powers affect all those men in front of us?"

"I should be able to get them without hitting Aya, her brother, and Alec, though it will mean I won't be able to hit Kagami or any of his lackeys." Shuro answered. "And since my powers are sound…"

"Your attack would strike quicker than those men can react." Riku finished. "After training with my aunt Neon, I know from experience how quick a sound based attack can be."

"The only problem we've got are those bracelet things those guys are probably wearing." Chidori spoke.

"That's a problem solved then." Nagi said. "I'll just break those bracelets like I did last time."

"Alright, we know what Nagi and Shuro are supposed to do, now what about the rest of us?" Yuhi asked Michael.

"Drakken and Usagi are to go in and grab Aya, Aki, and Alec." Michael answered. "While they go inYuhi and I are to go in just behind those two and keep those three lackeys of Kagami's from interfering. Chidori, and Maya are going to give us some cover fire with their M9s."

"Should we try recapturing Kagami?" Shuro asked.

"That depends if we have to deal with enemy back up or not." Michael answered. "Remember, our first priorities are rescuing Aya, Aki, and Alec and ensuring their safety."

"Sounds like a solid plan to me, what about you guys?" Riku spoke.

"I can't think of any other options myself." Nagi said.

"Me neither." Tot added.

"As long as it gets our friends out safely." Maya spoke.

"So all we need to do now is wait, right?" Yuhi asked and Michael nodded.

The group then stayed in their positions all the while keeping their eyes on the Mikage guards just in case. A moment later, there was the sudden loud creaking sound that filled the entire room. A quick look to the side showed that the sound was that of the large metal gate in front of the Mikage ship opening. After a few minutes, the gate was open.

Suddenly, a large wave of water came in through the opening, which was soon followed by another. Suddenly, there were twin geysers of water as two large metallic animal-like figures leaped out of the water on the right side of boat, followed by two more on the left side. All four landed on the ground with a loud crashing sound. They were all identical, each with a long tail, a pair of short metallic wings designed for floatation, and an angular head that gave them menacing appearances, and each one was colored in a brown and light blue camouflage tone.

(Shit!) Riku mentally cursed to himself as he saw the giant robots. Suddenly he heard his codec ring and answered it. As expected everyone in the group was on

"Are those what I think they are?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, it looks like we've found the Metal Gear RAYs the Mikage rebuilt." Riku answered. "So Venom, what are we supposed to do now?"

"We'll stick to the plan, but make a couple of changes in light of this." Michael replied. "Just before we make our strike, we'll use our chaff grenades, which should disable the sensors for the RAYs."

"But the RAYs are being piloted, so the chaff won't mess their coordination up as it would with the kind controlled by AI." Nagi spoke.

"I know, which is why I've got a solution." Michael said. "While Drakken and Usagi make their move to get Aya, Aki, and Alec, I'll use the Stinger I brought along and at least distract those things."

"But won't that be dangerous for you?" Shuro asked Michael.

"Yes, but not as much as you might be thinking." Michael answered. "All of us at FOXHOUND have fought RAYs in VR simulations. While I admit VR can't substitute actual training and live combat, the simulations for fighting the RAYs have given me a good enough idea of their mechanics, attacking, and maneuvering capabilities."

"Not to mention this guy is the one who destroyed the metal gear WOTAN." Riku said. "I should know, I was there when it happened."

"That was mostly a lucky guess and not to mention a lucky shot, Drakken." Michael admitted to his friend. "If I had been wrong about where WOTAN's cooling system was located then things probably wouldn't have turned out so well. Anyway, the bottom line is I should be able to handle the RAYs while you guys rescue Aya and the others."

"Well, I guess that means it's back to waiting." Maya said.

After a few minutes there was the sound of steps coming from a corridor. A moment later, Kagami came into view along with Lee, who was watching his back, Asamu and Viper were leading Aki, Alec, and Ceres.

(So that's Ceres in person, huh?) Riku thought to himself as he saw that Aya had transformed a while back as Yuhi and Chidori had told him. He then watched as the group headed towards the guards who walked forward to greet them, meanwhile the two RAYs who had come out from the other side of the boat walked towards the entrance side to join the other two RAYs.

(I sure hope this works.) Riku thought as he waited for Michael's signal to begin the strike; he quickly reached to his side and grabbed a chaff grenade and prepared to throw it as soon as he saw the signal.

However, before the signal could be given, a surprise awaited Riku, Nagi, Tot, Michael, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro.

"Over there!" A voice shouted from the ship. "There's someone hiding behind the crates!"

Riku, knowing full well they had somehow been uncovered quickly threw the chaff grenade, and looked just in time to see Michael, Nagi, and Tot, had thrown theirs and didn't have to hear Michael's next orders shouted to them.

Scatter, and then make for the ship, I'll draw their fire!" Michael shouted to them, as the whole group did so. He then leaped to the side and quickly dashed behind another crate as the RAYs began to fire their machine guns in their direction.

After waiting a few minutes for the guns to stop firing, Michael then came out from where he was hiding and fired his Stinger, hitting one of the RAYs in its leg causing its mouth to open and let out a metallic shriek. Michael quickly took aim and fired at the RAY's head. As the metal gear faltered around from the damage, the other ones turned in Michael's direction and headed towards him.

(That's right, come at me.) Michael thought as he saw his plan was working. He then glanced to see that Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro were running after Kagami's group who had been quickly led on board the ship the moment the attack had begun.

Two of the Mikage guards stayed behind, one to disconnect the platform to prevent Riku and co. from getting aboard, and the other aimed his M4 at the approaching group and prepared to fire.

Riku quickly threw a kunai shuriken which caught the guard with the gun in the throat, and the dead man collapsed to the floor. Before the other guard could do anything, a shot from Shuro's M9 hit him in the forehead. Immediately the guard stumbled as the tranquilizer began to take effect, and then tripped and fell over the side of the boat and into the water.

With the coast clear, the group then quickly got on board. Riku then looked in the direction Michael was in, and saw one of the RAYs take a hit to the head with another Stinger missile before giving a final metallic shriek before crashing into the ground. Riku then called Michael via codec.

"Venom, the boat could take off at any minute, hurry and get on board, Crow and I will cover you!" Riku called out to his friend.

"There isn't any time, Drakken, just go on without me." Michael replied. "From here on, you're in charge of the operation. Rescue Aya, Aki, and Alec, that's an order."

"But…" Riku began.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle a few RAYs." Michael interrupted him. "Besides, one of us would have had to stay behind anyway to take care of Miss Smithson as well as oversee the other C-Genomes' rescue. After I take care of the metal gears, I'll contact HQ and request backup, now go!"

"Alright." Riku nodded and ended the transmission. He then turned to Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro. "We're going on ahead, Venom's staying behind to take care of the RAYs and then oversee the rescue of those other C-Genomes in the base."

"Are you sure he'll be alright?" Maya asked, with some concern in her voice.

"Venom has more battle experience than I do, so I wouldn't be worried." Riku answered her. "Anyway, enough about that, we need to find Aya, or Ceres since she's transformed, and the others…"

As the group headed in the direction Kagami's group had probably gone in, a thought came to Riku.

(But still, how was our position given away when it would have been impossible for us to be seen from the boat?) He wondered. (That, and when our position was revealed and those RAYs attacked, why were their shots so off? Not a single shot came close to hitting us…)

Meanwhile: Somewhere else on the boat:

Brad Crawford stood on the back deck of the ship, which had a launch pad where Schwartz's helicopter and Shade's Harrier were landed on. He had been observing the events below with the RAY units, and he had been the one who had called out Riku and co.'s location.

Crawford looked back and saw Farfarello emerge from under Shade's Harrier. He was about to speak to him, when he heard footsteps and saw that Schuldich was approaching from below deck.

"It looks like you brainwashed those pilots for the RAYs well enough." Crawford commented to the German telepath. "They were able to fire in the direction of Nagi and his companions but intentionally miss."

"Thanks for the compliments, boss." Schuldich replied with a lazy grin. "Anyway, our old friends from Weiss got on board as well, just to let you know."

"Were you able to make sure they won't interfere with the plan?" Crawford asked.

"Some of those soldiers we got from the Patriots that we brought along just in case should distract those guys long enough." Schuldich answered casually. "Oh yeah, is that cypher we brought along ready?"

"Yes, all we need to do is activate it." Crawford answered in reply, and then turned to Farfarello. "Have you finished making that little 'adjustment' to our friend Shade's Harrier?"

"Yeah, but do you think that guy will fall for something like that?" Farfarello answered. "That mercenary is a lot of things, but he isn't stupid."

"Just trust me, under the circumstances that are about to occur, it will work." Crawford said as he fixed his glasses. "Anyway, now that we've gotten all of that prepared, let's wrap up this assignment."

With that the three assassins then headed below deck to. It was at that time that the boat began to move and headed out through the gate and into the open sea.

Meanwhile: Somewhere else on the boat:

"It's a good thing we were able to get you, Ceres, Master Aki, and everyone else on board safely, Chief." One of the guards commented to Kagami. "Anyway, now that the boat has set out what would you have us do?"

"Take us to the lab where the hagoromo is kept at once." Kagami commanded him. "After that, contact my father and tell him to contact NESTS immediately."

"Of course, sir." The guard nodded.

The group continued on for a few minutes and then went up some stairs and through a door until they were standing out on the main deck of the boat.

"The lab is this way, sir." The guard spoke, and was about to say something else when a voice suddenly interrupted him.

"Good so you can take us to the hagoromo for us, then." Riku's voice spoke out, causing everyone's attention to turn to where the voice came from, where they saw Riku step out from behind one of the lifeboats on the side of the deck, his USP drawn and pointed at Kagami with his right hand, and a blazing fireball forming in his left hand.

Almost immediately, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro stepped out from their hiding places. Nagi had his PSG-1 sniper rifle pointed at Lee, while Tot had her Muramasa katana drawn and was prepared to make an attack, and the others had their M9s out and pointed at Asamu, Viper, and the other guards, who only barely had time draw their handguns, now leaving things in a complete standoff between Riku and co. and Kagami's men.

There was a minute of silence until finally Riku spoke.

"Well, I guess this is what the Americans call a Mexican Standoff." He commented with a smile, but stopped and considered something while still keeping his eye on the enemy and not losing his focus. "But I don't think we've got any Mexicans…"

"Uh…I think your interpretation's a little off, Drakken." Nagi commented with a sweatdrop.

"Really…" Riku paused for a second as he contemplated what he got wrong before finally giving up. "On second thought, I'll just ask one of our friends back at FOXHOUND when we get back." He then turned to Kagami. "Look man, just call off your guards and surrender peacefully, it would save us all a great deal of trouble."

"You know you're not in any position to make any demands." Kagami replied to him. "If you attack then so will my men, and I doubt you want to risk harm coming to your allies."

"The same could be said to you, you know." Nagi spoke. "Not to mention we've got some more guys on the way, which means more bad news for you."

"And from what Drakken said, these NESTS people you're thinking of joining won't trust you for a minute." Yuhi added.

"Yeah, and they'll probably have their guy K9999 do the executions." Riku said, and looked at Kagami. "From what I've heard of him, he'll probably use that drill technique of his to turn at least you into swiss cheese."

"And the bad part about that would be…?" Chidori asked Riku.

"Nothing, if we didn't have to capture this guy alive. Orders from the top, you know." Riku answered.

"Are you trying to frighten us into cooperating?" Kagami asked with a slightly mocking tone in his voice.

Riku sighed and shook his head.

"Fine, you got me there." He admitted. "Looks like the only way to deal with this would be…"

Suddenly a surge of psychic energy from Nagi came forward and struck the Mikage guards along with Lee, Asamu, and Viper. Immediately, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro fired their M9s, each one downing one of the guards, and before Lee, Asamu, and Viper could do anything, Nagi quickly used telekinesis to hold them in place.

"Looks like we outsmarted you this time." Riku said with a smile to Kagami as he kept his USP trained on him. "The standoff and the conversation worked as a nice distraction for you guys, while Crow instructed everyone else what to do and when via telepathy." Riku then turned to Ceres, Aki, and Alec. "Anyway, are you guys alright?"

"I am fine, as is Aya and her child." Ceres answered simply, and then paused before speaking again. "Aya sends her thanks as well for what you did."

"I'm fine thank you." Alec replied.

"Same here." Aki said

"That's good to hear." Riku said and the others nodded their agreement.

"Wait a minute." Yuhi spoke and turned to Ceres. "You said that Aya sent her thanks, does that mean…?"

"Yes, Aya is aware of what is happening around me." Ceres answered. "I'm allowing her to see through my eyes and we can also speak to one another in our mind."

"Good, so that means she won't have to miss us giving you the hagoromo." Chidori said with a smile.

"In a way she'd have a front row seat to it all." Maya added. "It fits if you ask me."

"Is it alright if I ask you something?" Shuro spoke to Ceres.

"Very well." Ceres answered.

"I think it would be best if you tell us what the hagoromo is." Shuro said seriously. "With everything we've done to find one of those things, we should know."

Ceres paused for a moment and then spoke.

"Very well, I will tell you about the hagoromo, or mana." She said. "One could say that the mana is…a part of our body." Ceres then paused and looked at everyone before speaking again. "I'm sure by now you know that we tennyo are a different species from humans. Though we do resemble your species in a way, we could not evolve like you humans did because we are a female race."

(That would definitely be a problem being a species with only one gender.) Riku thought to himself.

"Whether or not we were born from the mana or did it just bear us, I nor of my kind ever knew." Ceres continued. "Since we lost our past, our goal became to make descendants, to procreate. And while our bodies change, we live for a long time…looking for stronger seeds. However, we have a weakness…without our mana we cannot live."

"You mean…tennyo who don't have mana can't…" Alec began and Ceres nodded.

"Yes, even though we can live for countless days, in this form we can hardly last for ten years." Ceres replied, this statement causing a reaction from Kagami.

"Well, looks like we've found out why that strain keeps happening." Riku spoke, and turned to Kagami. "And it also looks like your C-Project was doomed from the start with this."

"Hey, we can talk later, let's hear Ceres out first." Chidori reminded him as she, and not to mention everyone else, wanted to know if there was anything else Ceres had to say regarding the hagoromo.

"Putting on the hagoromo and returning to the heavens, our home, is what makes us not human." Ceres said. "In that aspect, we are weak…very weak." Ceres then paused and looked at everyone, including Kagami, and it could be seen that the look on her face seemed weary and almost tired. "Even so, why…why are you the strongest beings of this planet?"

None of them knew how to answer that question, and there were a few minutes of silence until finally Riku spoke.

"I'm sorry but I don't think any of us here no how to answer that question." He said. "Still from what you've told us, getting you that hagoromo is important since it will make sure Aya and her child come out of this healthy."

"That and it will end your having to come back to life all the time." Tot added. "So, let's go get it."

"Wait." Kagami spoke. "You can't seriously be thinking of giving the hagoromo up without having more made than just that one."

"Actually that's exactly what we all had in mind, right?" Riku said casually.

"With Ceres resting in peace, that means no more tennyo to recreate another hagoromo." Shuro said. "Works for me."

"You do realize the C-Genomes can't survive…" Kagami began.

"Without a hagoromo because of the strain?" Riku finished. "That's been solved."

"Oh yes, these guys told me they found a solution to that using nanomachines. Sorry for not telling you." Alec spoke, not really meaning it.

"Well, that said and done, before we get going, could we put something like cuffs on Kagami and the rest of his lackeys first?" Nagi asked. "I may be holding these guys in place for the time being, but I can't hold them forever."

"No problem." Riku said and took out some kunai shuriken and then put some tags marked with multiple kanji on the end. "These shadow binding jutsu should hold them long enough."

"Better save those shuriken, you're going to need them." A voice very familiar to Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Chidori spoke.

Riku quickly turned around, drawing one of the kunai shuriken up with a free hand, just in time to counter Shade's chakram as the mercenary suddenly appeared behind him and swung his weapon at Riku.

"Well, it looks like your reaction time is coming along fine." Shade smirked as he leaped away from Riku before he could make a counterattack.

"Crow, release them." Riku said to Nagi, keeping his eyes on Shade.

"Already did." Nagi replied.

As he said this Lee, Asamu, and Viper quickly got into a defensive position around Kagami. Riku could see, that he wouldn't have to worry about them trying anything since even they were aware of how dangerous Shade was.

"Crow, Usagi, looks like you'll be seeing that promise you made me give you not too long ago take effect. Looks like we're going to have to fight this guy." Riku said as he and his partners got into a fighting position. He then glanced over to Yuhi. "Yuhi, take Ceres and everyone else to wherever it is the hagoromo is. Alec should be able to show you where it is."

"But, what about…" Yuhi began.

"Not to worry, we'll be right behind you." Riku replied reassuringly.

"I'm afraid I have more pressing business with a specific member of your group other than with the three of you for the moment." Shade said as he stepped forward towards Riku, Nagi, and Tot. "So I'm afraid I'll have to wrap this up quickly…"

"Just try…" Riku replied coolly as he prepared to make an attack. He already had his flames ready to wield so he could stop the mercenary from getting anywhere near his friends.

"You're not fighting just one of us this time." Nagi said as he started to summon his psychic powers; he was ready to go all out as well.

"Yeah, the three of us will waste you with the power of our teamwork." Tot said confidently as she brought her Muramasa into a position so that she could execute any technique she wanted on Shade almost immediately. She was fully prepared to take on whatever the mercenary was going to throw at them.

"Well then, let's…" Shade stopped, and in a second it was evident what it was that stopped him as it also caught the attention of everyone else on the deck.

A large and blinding pillar of light suddenly emerged from the water below. A great power could immediately be felt coming from it. As everyone there, friend and foe, looked at this sudden and unexpected phenomenon, the light began to dissipate to reveal a figure with shining white wings floating in the air above them. But it wasn't as much that, which surprised everyone, but rather the face of winged figure above them.

"NO WAY!" Yuhi and Chidori exclaimed, while Riku, Nagi, and Tot simply gaped at who they saw.

The one who was hovering above them, wings spread out full, giving him an appearance that could only be called angelic, was Toya.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

Michael was leaning against a large crate as he caught his breath, his now empty Stinger missile launcher laying on the floor. Around him lay the burnt and shattered remains of the four Metal Gear RAYs that the Mikage had restored.

(I'd better contact Riku and then FOXHOUND so I can get some back up over here on the double so we can rescue those other girls the Mikage captured.) Michael thought to himself and then remembered something. (I'd better go and tell Miss Smithson that the coast is clear.)

Michael then walked over to the crate Gladys had been told to hide inside until the coast was clear and then opened it slowly. He then stood in front of the opening so Gladys could see it was him.

"Miss Smithson, it's me, the coast is clear now." He said reassuringly.

Their was a moment of silence followed by what sounded like a sigh of relief, and then Gladys slowly stepped out from the door. She looked like she was about to say something, but suddenly her eyes widened in fear and she shrank back away from Michael.

Normally Michael would have called out to Gladys to ask what was wrong, but instinct immediately told him what, or rather who, it was.

"No doubt about it, it's you…Shade." Michael said as he turned around to see his old foe standing behind him.

"You certainly surprised me when I found you were commanding this mission, Hansen." Shade spoke with a smile. "But I suppose I shouldn't be. We just keep running into each other…one might call it fate." Before Michael could react, Shade noticed Gladys was behind him. "Well, it looks like my old toy has become quite popular lately. I never would have guessed you were one who went for used goods though, Hansen."

"You don't have to provoke me, I'm more than happy to fight you now." Michael said as he stepped firmly between Shade and Gladys, a sudden ferocity in his voice. "And I won't allow you to so much as touch Miss Smithson after what you've done to her."

"Oh, quite the chivalrous one, aren't you?" Shade said with amusement in his voice. "Well, I suppose we should get down to business then."

"I thought you'd never ask." Michael replied as he got into a fighting position.

(Well, there's one good thing about my having to fight this guy.) Michael thought to himself as he prepared to defend against whatever attack Shade had in store for him. (If Shade's here, then that means he isn't on the boat and Riku and the others aren't in any danger…)

AN: And with that this chapter comes to a close. Hope you enjoyed reading this one. Anyway, this one also ended in a cliffhanger (this is certainly becoming a habit). Sorry for not updating sooner, folks, but college has been giving me a great deal of work lately but fortunately for me this weekend I had a break in all that work, and not only was I able to finish this chapter, but I also just finished watching Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. To fans of the FMP series, I'm certain you'll like it, though I must say it's a tad more serious than the first season for FMP and it's shorter too (only 13 episodes long), but other than that, it's great (not to mention the new characters are pretty interesting (though Gauron was a way cooler villain than the main villain for TSR).

Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy the next chapter which will answer questions like, 'what's going to happen now that Toya's back?', 'how is Shade able to be in two places at the same time?', and 'what is Schwartz planning?'. You'll see in the next chapter.

Anyway, please R and R, and I'll have the next chapter out ASAP.


	32. Chapter 31: Unexpected Reunion Part 2

AN: Well folks, you wanted to read more so here it is. I hope you all enjoy the major plot developments that are going to occur in this chapter. Anyway, let's get on with the story since I'm sure that's what you all want.

Disclaimer: I own none of the anime/game series that crossover into this fic (if I owned AnC, there would have been at least one story arc focusing on Yuhi and Chidori and their relationship, and Chidori wouldn't have died). Also Seishiro Takeda, Marcus Blackthorne, Trang Nguyen Han, and Kojiro Shimura all belong to GreyWolf4 and Mana Kirshima is the property of the Evangelion game Girlfriend of Steel.

Chapter 31: Unexpected Reunion Part 2

Mikage Base: Inner Docks:

Michael Hanson stood between Gladys Smithson and the mercenary known as Shade. Michael was fully prepared to use the fullest extent of the training he had received from General Heidern of the Ikari Team along with his other instructor in martial arts, Yukimura Sanada, to take his enemy on.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Shade?" Michael said. "You've wanted to kill me ever since the day we met, so why don't you try again?"

Shade simply smiled at Michael and held up his hand, a gesture that confused Michael.

"Before we begin our fight…" He said as he reached into his trench coat's pocket and pulled out a radio. He then lifted it up and spoke into it. "This is Commander Shade. Commence retrieval of the C-Genomes and have them ready for transport."

"It will be done, commander." The soldier on the receiving end replied simply.

With a smirk of satisfaction Shade then simply tossed the radio away and turned back to Michael.

"Well that should give you the right incentive to fight me with everything you have Hansen." Shade grinned. "Because if you don't, those C-Genomes will be going to the Patriots, I'm sure they'll make effective weapons…or even pets if you know what I mean." A lecherous grin formed on his face at that last statement. "Who knows, maybe as a bonus, the Patriots would let me give them a little test drive in that department."

"I think I have incentive enough, thank you." Michael replied coolly. "Now I'm done talking with you..."

Suddenly Michael dashed forward at a surprising speed and then made a 180 degree downward slash from around his body at Shade, which immediately caught the mercenary before he could dodge or defend.

"Crescent Slash!" Michael shouted as the attack connected, and quickly leaped back out of range of a counterattack from Shade.

Shade however just stood where he was and grinned at Michael, whose eyes widened when he saw that there was no wound or sign of any physical damage to Shade's body at all. It was like his move had never touched him.

(No way, I know I hit him.) Michael thought to himself.

"Not a bad move at all Hansen." Shade spoke. "It looks like your skills have improved quite a bit since our last encounter. In fact that attack would have been effective…if I were really here…"

Suddenly Shade started to become transparent, like he was vanishing, before suddenly he did vanish, leaving only a large rectangular piece of paper with multiple Japanese kanji written all over it, floating in midair.

"A shikigami…" Michael said as he recognized it, and his eyes widened as he realized what this meant. "Then that would mean…"

"I'm on the boat that you're comrades and friends are currently on." Shade's voice finished as it emanated from the shikigami tag. "My doesn't this remind you of the day we first met? It looks like the outcome will be the same as that time as well…" The voice then took a mocking tone. "I can almost see your face now Hanson; that same hopelessness you felt as I slaughtered your old unit…it must be creeping back to you right now. Well, I should get back to work now, good luck on fulfilling your mission…"

And with that the tag suddenly burst into flames and then the ashes collapsed to the ground.

Michael quickly reached for his codec, selected Riku's frequency, and immediately called, only to get a 'No Response' signal. He quickly tried to call using the frequencies for Nagi, Tot, Ran, Youji, Ken, Omi, Yuhi, Chidori, Shuro, and Maya, but got the same results.

Michael fought to contain the feeling of frustration that threatened to overtake him as he knew that as much as he wanted to be on that boat in order help Riku and the others, he knew that he was powerless to do anything about it.

(Riku, you and everyone else please stay alive until I can get help over to wherever you guys are.) Michael prayed, and then selected Campbell's frequency.

After a few rings, Roy Campbell's face appeared on the codec screen.

"Colonel, the situation has taken a turn for the worse, and it looks like we're going to need backup, are there any recruits available yet?" Michael asked.

"Yes, I'll have them on the way to your location immediately." Roy answered, knowing that from Michael's tone of voice this was a very serious situation. "What's happened?"

"The remaining C-Genomes captured by the Mikage are about to be taken by the Patriots' men, and because our teams have been divided I need back up in order to stop them." Michael reported. "Also, I have reason to believe that the other teams are in extreme danger, so I need rescue to be sent immediately."

"Alright, I'll have some of our agents come along with the recruits." Roy nodded. "In the meantime do your best to prevent the Patriots' men from taking the C-Genomes."

"Of course, sir." Michael replied and ended the transmission.

"Alright, I'll show you the quickest way to where the C-Genomes are." Gladys said.

"Wait." Michael spoke. "Is there anything at this base like a launch pad for choppers or anything like that?"

"Yes, but why are you asking?" Gladys asked in reply.

"If we head there we should be able to prevent the enemy from taking the C-Genomes." Michael answered and then picked up his Stinger. "With this I should be able to shoot down any transport choppers they'd be using. With those gone, the soldiers won't have any way to transport the C-Genomes off this island."

"And that should give us enough time for your people from FOXHOUND to arrive." Gladys said as she realized what Michael was planning.

"Exactly." Michael nodded. "Anyway, we're short on time, so let's get to the launch pad."

"Of course, follow me." Gladys replied with a bit of enthusiasm in her voice.

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND HQ: Campbell's Office:

A man of Japanese descent with shoulder length black hair stood in at Campbell's desk as he was told the details of his assignment. The man had an almost muscular build and looked to be in his mid thirties (though he was actually in his early forties), and wore an eye patch over where his left eye would have been. The man's expression was serious as he received his instructions and the look in his right eye, which was black, showed that he was taking in everything he was hearing.

"Alright, I understand, sir." The man said once Campbell was done talking to him and then gave a sharp salute. "I'll inform my teammates outside and then we'll get our equipment and move out."

"Good luck to you." Roy said, and the man nodded and exited the office.

When he came out there were three men waiting for him out in the hall. One of them was a tall man in his forties of British descent and medium build with short brown hair, blue eyes, and a hairline scar. The second man, also in his forties, was of Vietnamese descent with black hair and eyes and had an athletic build about him. The third man was in his thirties and of Japanese descent with short brown hair cut short with bangs and brown eyes, and he had a medium body build.

"So what's the mission supposed to be, Seishiro?" The first man asked.

"We're going to be giving Michael some backup with the mission he's on, Marcus." Seishiro Takeda answered him. "We're also to aid in retrieving some people, I'll explain the details to you on the chopper."

"I'm fine with that as long as that moron Reese isn't in command of the operation." Marcus Blackthorne replied.

"We won't have to worry about that." Seishiro said. "I was just informed previously that the good lieutenant's been given a load of paperwork which should keep him off our asses for this assignment."

"Now if only there were some way to make that permanent." The third man spoke wishfully.

"One can only hope for now, Kojiro." The second man said to the third, Kojiro Shimura, before turning to Seishiro. "Anyway, what are we waiting for? Let's get our supplies and get to the choppers."

"We'll do that, Trang, but first I need to go and notify another one of our recruits, Mana Kirishima, first." Seishiro answered.

"Is she going to be part of our team?" Trang Nguyen Hang asked in reply.

"No her assignment is separate from ours." Seishiro replied. "She's to meet with some allies of FOXHOUND's, mercenaries that work for the Aogiri family, and aid them in retrieving some of our other recruits who are working with Michael who got separated from him."

"Alright, we'll get the equipment over to the choppers while you take care of that." Marcus said with a nod.

With that, the four FOXHOUNDers quickly went to their tasks, each knowing that as of now their new assignment was on and every second would count.

Meanwhile: Somewhere on the Mikage Boat:

Ran deflected a stream of bullets shot at him by an enemy soldier using his katana before cutting that soldier down with a powerful downward slash of the blade. He then quickly ducked for cover as more soldiers arrived and began firing in his direction.

Almost as soon as the Mikage boat had started moving he, Ken, Youji, and Omi were attacked by what started out as a small squad of soldiers who were dressed in similar attire to that of the ones back in the Mikage base, meaning that these were not the Mikage guards Gladys had told them about, but soldiers from the Patriots' side. While eliminating a small squad was an easy task for the four assassins, the large amount of troops that showed up almost immediately after they had defeated the first squad were not.

"These guys just keep coming!" Omi shouted over the gunfire as he ducked behind a door before quickly firing a poisoned dart into one of the enemy troops with his bowgun, killing him almost immediately.

"No kidding." Youji replied to him, and turned to Ran. "I thought we took those guys from the first squad out before they could call for backup."

"We did." Ran said simply. "My guess is these soldiers heard the commotion of our fight and came here. But what I don't understand is what soldiers from the Patriots are doing here."

"Yeah, I thought that Gladys Smithson said there would only be guards for the Mikage on this boat." Ken spoke. "I guess she was wrong…"

"Do you think Venom and his team are dealing with the same thing on his end?" Omi asked turning to Ran.

"I don't know, I've tried contacting them but all I got was a 'No Response', and that was for every frequency." Ran answered. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but enough talking, let's concentrate on getting rid of these soldiers and then we'll concentrate on finding everyone else."

Meanwhile:

Riku and co. simply gaped at what they saw in front of their very eyes. Floating in the air above them was Toya, who not only looked very much alive, but also had a pair of white wings which made him look like only what they could imagine an angel would look like.

"Is this possible…?" Nagi spoke, not believing his eyes.

"I guess so, it's happening." Chidori said with amazement, and Yuhi could only nod in agreement.

"Yeah." Tot said simply.

Suddenly Riku remembered what had just happened and looked around to find Shade, only to find that he was gone, like he had never even been there a few minutes ago.

(Did he run away…?) Riku wondered, though he seriously doubted that was the case. He then turned back to Toya just in time to see him descend onto the floor of the deck.

Wordlessly, Toya then held out both his hands as if to hold something in them. Suddenly, the white wings flew apart and then converged into Toya's outstretched hands and soon it melded into a strange circular object that seemed to glow and pulsate.

"Hagoromo!" Kagami exclaimed as he saw it.

(So that's what a hagoromo is supposed to be…) Riku thought to himself and a look at Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro's expressions showed they had similar thoughts.

"What nonsense…why…?" Kagami was at loss for words just like everyone else.

Suddenly Ceres took a step towards Toya, a look of undeterminable emotion on her face.

"Ceres, wait!" Kagmi took a step after Ceres in an attempt to stop her, but suddenly Riku appeared between them, casually holding his USP right in front of Kagami's forehead.

"Nice try, but you're not getting anywhere near those two." Riku said, and then glanced back at Ceres and saw that she was now running towards Toya. Suddenly, Riku noticed that Ceres' hair was starting to shorten and turn lighter and he then realized what was happening.

Unfortunately, looking away from Kagami proved to be a mistake on Riku's part when Riku was surprised when he was suddenly tackled and then shoved aside by none other than Kagami, who then ran after Ceres, who had just turned back into Aya.

Riku silently cursed himself for his carelessness as he saw Kagami catch up to Aya, and that Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, or Shuro had just noticed this and were too late to stop Kagami.

"Toya!" Aya called out to Toya just as Kagmi grabbed her from behind, preventing her from going any further.

"Aya!" Toya called out to her as he came towards her, but suddenly stopped and reached out with a free hand smoothly catching a throwing dart that was thrown at him by Wei Fei Lee.

Despite the sudden attack, Lee was looking at Toya with an expression of complete and utter shock.

"Why! Why are you here? Why are you alive?" Lee shouted. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Instead of attacking Lee just kept looking at Toya with an expression of disbelief, the shock of seeing someone he had personally seen die enough that he didn't notice the activities of the others around him.

"Wei!" Kagami called as he pulled a struggling Aya away from Toya.

"Back then…you must have died…my master shot you in the head at point blank range!" Lee said as he remembered how Shiso had shot Toya to death. "You had to have died!"

Toya simply smiled slightly and then pointed at the exact spot the bullet had struck him in the forehead.

"Naturally, that healed itself." He said simply.

"I don't believe it…he is completely healed." Alec spoke as he had seen the wounds that Toya had taken.

"Toya!" Aya called out to Toya, still trying to reach him even though Kagami was holding her back. It was probably that shout that brought Lee out of his trance.

"Chief, take Ceres inside!" Lee shouted to Kagami. "Asamu, Viper, escort the chief! I'll handle this bastard!"

"Don't you mean…" Riku began as he stepped forward, but stopped when Toya turned to him. Riku could see from the look on Toya's face that his help wouldn't be necessary.

"On second thought…" Riku turned to face where Kagami was standing with Aya, Asamu and Viper had already taken defensive positions around them. "I don't know how this is happening, but I think a good way to welcome Toya back from the dead would be for us to rescue Aya, what do you think?"

"Works for me." Nagi agreed.

"The two of them can't have their romantic reunion if we let the bad guys win." Tot said.

"That said and done, I'll take care of the kid." Riku said, indicating Asamu. "Crow, Usagi, you take care of the other guy, and Yuhi, you get the honors of rescuing Aya, and feel free to give Kagami a couple of hits if he's got a problem with that."

"Count on it." Yuhi replied.

Lee could see that this was a problem since his group was totally out numbered, but seeing there was no other available option he turned back to Toya.

"I don't know how you managed to come back, but this time I'll put you away for good, you rotten old bastard!" Lee shouted.

"Is that so…?" Toya asked with a neutral expression on his face, and then his expression became one of acceptance of the situation and then he closed his eyes. As he did, the mana he held in his hands began to glow with a brilliant light. "Well, then…come!"

With a cry Lee charged forwards towards his hated foe, the man who he had lost to in battle many times and in their first battle, Lee lost his left eye.

Meanwhile, Riku charged straight at Asamu, who quickly brought his assault rifle up to fire at the oncoming ninja, but before the Indonesian boy could fire, Riku suddenly leaped into the air above him and threw a pair of senbon needles down at him. Asamu, knowing Riku was targeting the pressure points of his body with those, quickly rolled aside, evading them.

Asamu quickly pointed his rifle at Riku and fired at him, but Riku, expecting that quickly pressed his hands together and performed a _kawarimi no jutsu_, causing Riku to vanish in a puff of smoke just before the bullets touched him and the bullets ended up striking a log instead.

"Saiha!" Riku's voice could be heard behind Asamu, who quickly turned around in the direction of the voice, assault rifle ready, just in time to see that Riku had the curved fire blade out but it was already too late for Asamu to fire his weapon.

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku dashed forward, becoming a blur to the young Indonesian assassin's eyes.

In less than a second, the blur dashed past Asamu, and the boy felt an intense heat from the fire blade as it approached and passed. Asamu glanced behind him to see Riku stand up behind him.

For a brief instant Asamu wondered if the attack had missed since he didn't feel anything touch him or any pain for that matter. Suddenly, the rifle he was holding collapsed into two neatly sliced halves. Before Asamu could do anything else, he felt the same intense heat from before along the back of his neck, and knew Riku had Saiha's blade held close to it.

"This fight is over, now please surrender and I won't hurt you." Riku said calmly.

Asamu didn't say anything, but dropped the remains of his rifle. He then raised his hands in the air, which satisfied Riku enough that he slowly withdrew the fire blade at his right forearm and made it disappear and then drew his M9 and pointed it at the Indonesian in front of him.

"Alright, now turn around…" Riku began.

"This fight not over!" Asamu shouted and he quickly pressed a section of his right boot against the floor, causing a short blade to come out of the front.

Before Riku could react, Asamu leaped into the air and lashed out at the young ninja with an aerial round about kick. Riku quickly leaped back as the kick grazed along the chest area of his sneaking suit, but didn't penetrate it.

Asamu quickly drew out an army knife from his left boot and Riku quickly responded in kind by drawing a kunai shuriken.

"Well, this looks familiar." Riku commented, remembering how he and Asamu had last fought. "Which reminds me, I need to ask you a question, kid. Were you a child soldier before you were with the Mikage?"

"What you think?" Asamu asked in reply, some sarcasm evident in his voice. "Where else I learn to fight like this?"

(Well, I guess it was sort of obvious.) Riku mentally agreed.

"If that's the case then could you please surrender?" He asked Asamu. "I know some people who have gone through the same thing so…"

"You think because of that you understand me, or that you nice words can make me betray Chief and allies?" Asamu asked in a now infuriated expression as well as tone of voice. "You…you FOXHOUND people, Ragnarek people, Patriot people…you people don't know anything! I remember being picked up by the guerillas and being taught to kill…there must be many other kids like me. No family, can't go to school…C-Project was supposed to get rid of those things! But because you people all had interfere…"

"Now hold on, I…" Riku began, but didn't finish as Asamu made a quick dash at him making a slash with his knife, which Riku parried with his kunai, and immediately leaped into the air as Asamu suddenly dropped down and made a kick with the blade attached to his right boot at Riku's legs, evading the blow.

Asamu then used his free left hand to flip himself back onto his feet in a surprising display of both agility and acrobatics and made a lunging thrust at Riku as he came back to the floor. Riku immediately put his kunai up in a defensive position to block the knife thrust, and the moment the knife struck the shuriken, he focused chakra into his feet for a burst in speed and then leaped far out of Asamu's attack range so he could plan his next move.

(Well, I guess there's no choice…) Riku thought as he could see nothing he said would get through to Asamu. (Time to put that training I had with James to use…)

Riku then made a quick dash back towards Asamu, executing a heavy slash at his enemy, which Asamu was barely able to defend against with his knife. Riku then smirked as he now had Asamu where he wanted him. With that, the young ninja went on the offensive, making a series of quick slashes and jabs with his kunai at Asamu which were so quick, the Indonesian assassin only had time to parry each strike with his army knife or narrowly dodge them, all the while the force of Riku's sudden assault was driving him back until he was standing against the railing of the boat.

The moment his back touched the railing, Asamu knew Riku's skills completely eclipsed his skills with a knife. The young Indonesian then closed his eyes and made his decision.

With a cry Asamu lashed out at Riku one last time with his army knife. Riku made a simple sidestep to avoid the slash, and just before Asamu could make a second attack, Riku made a quick thrust with his kunai, the point biting into Asamu's right wrist, causing him to drop his knife.

Riku then made a quick thrust punch into Asamu's stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs, and then flipped over to deliver a rising spin kick which caught Asamu in the chin and knocking him into the air and back onto the deck.

Asamu quickly struggled to get up, but before he could get to his feet, Riku suddenly seemed to appear right in front of him, the barrel of the ninja's M9 pressed against his forehead.

"You lose." Riku stated simply. "Just be glad this isn't a killing gun."

(W-what the hell…?) Asamu wondered in confusion as he looked up into Riku's face, finding no hint at all of the friendly and hesitant person of a moment ago, just a cool and somber expression that almost had no emotion to it. (How did he do all that with just a shuriken?)

Asamu's question wasn't answered as Riku pulled the trigger of his M9, causing Asamu's head to jerk back as the dart hit its mark before he collapsed to the ground. With that, Riku put his M9 back into its holster and then took out a paper tag with some kanji scribbled over it and attached it to the kunai he had just used. He then threw it onto where Asamu's shadow was, and made a series of hand seals.

"Well, that should hold him." Riku said when he was finished. He then turned to leave, but suddenly stopped as he remembered something and then turned back and walked over to where Asamu lay, pulled out a bandage, and then bandaged the wound on the boy's wrist.

(I really am a softie…) Riku thought to himself as he turned to rejoin his comrades.

As this had gone on, Nagi and Tot made their attack on Black Arts Viper.

"Mizuchi!" Tot shouted as she executed the powerful slash with her Muramasa.

Viper immediately leaped out of the way of the attack, immediately preparing to make a counter attack when he suddenly felt an invisible force slam into him and sending him crashing into the wall.

(What the…?) Viper then looked and saw Nagi was standing not too far away from where he had been when he had been hit. (I see…so that's the psychic of the team…)

For a moment, Viper thought of continuing the fight, but immediately decided against it.

(While taking these two on might not be a real problem for me, I won't be able to perform my job if I have a fight that may drag out too long.) He thought to himself.

With that, Viper made a forced groan and then collapsed onto the floor, feigning unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, both Lee was facing off against Toya. Lee immediately drew out his link whip and lashed at Toya with it. Toya simply stepped aside from the attack and then leaped up and onto the upper part of the deck to get out of range from the whip.

"Running away, eh?" Lee asked looking up at Toya. "Aren't you going to fight me, coward!"

"We don't have to fight…" Toya replied calmly.

"No, I'm afraid we do." Lee said. "Now come down now or…"

Lee was interrupted as he saw that one of the Mikage guards had recovered and, obviously trying to give him backup, drew his beretta and fired at Toya.

Toya simply lifted his arm up in front of his face and the bullets immediately embedded themselves into his arm, yet Toya didn't show any sign of feeling pain from the wounds. A second later, it was obvious why. The bullets simply fell out of the wounds, which immediately closed up and healed in an instant.

"Stop this insanity." Toya said simply to a stunned Lee and the gunman next to him.

"You…" Lee said and then pulled out one of his throwing darts and then leaped up to where Toya was standing, bringing the dart in his right hand down in a stabbing motion. "You monster!"

For a second it looked like Toya was just standing there, when suddenly his right hand shot out and grabbed Lee's right wrist, preventing the Chinese assassin from making his attack. Toya then slammed Lee against the wall of the upper deck and with his left hand, held it above where Lee's left eye used to be.

Immediately the same brilliant white energy that had radiated around Toya when he had suddenly appeared out of the ocean a moment ago was now radiating around Toya's hand as he held it over a now completely terrified Lee's face.

"I'm sorry, that I took your left eye away." Toya said apologetically as he motioned his hand closer to where the eye had been. "I'll give it back now…"

There was a sudden flash of light that enveloped Lee's entire vision and the Chinese assassin cried out.

Meanwhile, Yuhi had gotten Kagami to release Aya and had his iron chopsticks held at the man's neck, and Chidori, Shuro, and Maya were standing near Aya. Riku, Nagi, and Tot were walking over to them. Both Lee's cry and the flash of light in the direction it had come from caught everyone's attention. Unfortunately, this moment of distraction was exactly what Kagami needed; he quickly drew a handgun out of his pocket and pointed it directly at Yuhi's head.

"Just what are you playing at, kid?" Kagami asked mockingly. "Do you honestly think you can play hero? You don't know anything."

(Damn it.) Yuhi thought to himself as he realized the situation he was in.

"Aya, no…Ceres is the one thing I will not give up." Kagami said.

"Too bad, because you're going to have to." Nagi's voice spoke.

Suddenly Kagami's arm started to tense up and the hand holding the gun lowered itself and then it opened and the gun clattered onto the floor.

"You should remember that C-Genomes aren't the only people with paranormal abilities." Nagi said with a light smile. "Oh yeah, besides what I just made you do, I'm also the one who's holding you in place with my telekinesis."

"Well, that takes care of one problem." Riku said. "Anyway, all we need to do is wait for Toya…" Riku then stopped and looked over at Aya. "I'm sure this is a great surprise especially for you."

"You've got that right." Aya replied, her expression unreadable. It was obvious that she desperately wanted to talk to Toya.

"Well, now that Toya's back somehow, that's good news for you too Aki." Alec spoke turning to Aki, only to find that he wasn't there. Alec quickly turned and looked around but couldn't find Aki.

"Drakken, Aki's gone." He called to Riku, that statement immediately catching Riku's attention as well as everyone else's.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Riku asked in reply.

"Just what I said." Alec answered. "It's like he just vanished into thin air."

"Shit…" Riku growled to himself.

"This is bad, Aki doesn't have a codec on him so we can't contact or track him." Nagi said, voicing Riku's thoughts.

"Well, why don't we split up and look for him?" Maya suggested. "I mean this Toya guy has the hagoromo, so we won't have to look for the one the Mikage manufactured, right?"

"Yeah, but splitting up may not be the best idea." Riku replied. "Remember, Shade…"

Suddenly Riku realized something and turned to Alec.

"When did you last see Aki?" He asked him seriously.

"Just when Toya appeared a few minutes ago." Alec answered.

"And Shade disappeared shortly afterwards." Nagi then realized what Riku was thinking. "Do you think Shade took Aki with him?"

"I hate to say it, but that's probably the case." Riku replied to his partner, he then turned to Aya. "Don't worry though Aya, as soon as Toya gets here and explains a couple of things, then Crow, Usagi, and I will go look for Aki."

"Thanks, but…" Aya began.

"I know you're worried about your brother, but we don't know how long it will take for Ceres to put on this hagoromo thing." Riku said, he then gave a friendly grin as he added another thing. "Not to mention you and Toya have some catching up to do."

"He's got a point there, Aya." Chidori noted. "Let's just leave this to Drakken, Crow, and Usagi while you and Toya get caught up." She then smiled slyly at her friend as she remembered something. "Not to mention you've got some good news for him that should come as a nice surprise."

"I just hope he takes the news well." Aya replied with a nervous smile.

"Hey come on there's no need to be so nervous about that when you know he will." Shuro said encouragingly. "Trust me. From what I know about Toya, he'll definitely be happy when he finds out he's a father."

"Yeah, and I've got a feeling you two will be great parents." Tot spoke with a smile.

"I'm sure we all feel that way, Usagi." Maya said.

"You've got that right." Riku said and Nagi nodded his agreement. "Anyway, I'm going to contact Weiss and then Venom and fill them in on what's happening, and find out how things are going on Venom's end. Not to mention we can ask Abyssinian and the others to keep an eye out for Aki just in case."

"Good idea." Yuhi said.

"And after I make the calls, we'll take care of this guy and his lackeys and make sure they don't give us anymore trouble for the rest of this little cruise." Riku said, indicating Kagami, as he put in Ran's codec frequency and then called it.

Riku waited a couple of minutes, only to get a 'No Response'. He then tried Ken, Youji, and Omi's frequencies, but got the same result.

"This is odd…" Riku said to himself.

(I'll just call Michael and then hope when I'm done talking to him I can get a response from Ran and the other's frequencies.) Riku thought as he selected Michael's frequency and called it. Seconds later a 'No Response' appeared on the codec screen.

"What the hell?" Riku could only shake his head at this. He then selected Campbell's frequency, but also got a 'No Response'. The same thing happened with Mei Ling's frequency.

"What's wrong, Drakken?" Nagi asked, noticing his partner's troubled expression.

"I've got some bad news, guys." Riku spoke to everyone.

(But with all that's happening…just what the hell is really going on?) Riku wondered to himself.

Meanwhile:

The door to a storage compartment that was located on one of the lower floors of the ship, slid open and Shade stepped in carrying an unconscious Aki Mikage. He then dumped Aki onto the floor and then walked over to what he had really come for, the glass container for the hagoromo.

(I still don't understand why Crawford wants me to give this thing to this kid.) Shade thought to himself. (Normally I'd take this hagoromo for myself, but the Patriots did give me specific orders…)

With that Shade shattered the glass container, but made sure to be careful not to touch the strange object it held. He then carefully lowered it onto the floor not too far from where Aki lay.

(Well, that's done.) Shade thought and then stepped over Aki and then out of the room. (Now for Ceres, and that new guy with that awesome power. This should be very interesting indeed…)

As Shade was about to head in that direction, a thought came to mind.

(It's a pity the ship has been rigged in order to block any form of electronic communication both inside and outside, meaning I can't contact the men back at the Mikage base and see how their retrieving those C-Genomes is going.) He thought to himself. (Oh well, I'm certain things are going off without any problems. I doubt Hansen and that woman can do anything against that many soldiers.)

Meanwhile: Mikage Base:

After a great deal of tries, the lead soldier finally managed to input the correct password and with that the security doors to the chambers that held the Mikage's C-Genomes opened. This process would have been quicker, but the caretakers for the C-Genomes, a bunch of women who had been wearing outfits similar to that of nuns, had resisted them and it had taken a while for the soldiers to kill them all.

"Alright, remember the procedure we were given from high command." The soldier said, as he turned to his men. "Let's grab these girls and take them to the launch pad for transport."

The men nodded and with that they charged through the open doors and into the chamber.

Before them were all the C-Genomes the Mikage had collected, all gathered right in the center of the chamber. Behind them lay the bodies of the ones that had died from the strain.

The lead soldier turned and nodded to his men. Half of them stayed behind to provide cover fire in case the C-Genomes resisted using their powers, while the others went to retrieve them.

As the soldiers approached many of the girls looked at one another and then suddenly an intense light began to radiate around them. The last thing the soldiers felt was confusion at the sight of what they saw as the light consumed them.

Meanwhile: Mikage Base: Launch Pad:

"Well, that should keep those soldiers from going anywhere." Michael said as he lowered his Stinger missile launcher. Before him were the burning remains of the choppers the Patriots had sent to transport the soldiers and the C-Genomes they were to retrieve, all of which Michael had shot down easily.

"Alright, Miss Smithson, it's safe to come out…" Michael called to Gladys as he stepped towards where he had instructed her to take cover during the time he made his attack on the choppers, but suddenly stopped as he felt a strange feeling come over him, a sense of danger that his many years as a soldier and mercenary had honed to the point that Michael knew better than to ignore it.

"Miss Smithson get down!" Michael shouted as he rushed into where Gladys was taking shelter, quickly pushing her to the ground and covering her with his body to shield her.

That was the last thing Michael remembered as he heard the loud roar of an explosion, followed by the intense shaking of the ground before losing consciousness.

Meanwhile: Mikage Boat:

Riku had just shoved Kagami into what appeared to be the captain's quarters of the ship after Viper (Asamu was being held in place by Riku's shadow binding jutsu so he wasn't going anywhere) when he and everyone else on board heard the sound of a large explosion soon followed by the ship shaking intensely from the aftershock of the explosion, which nearly made Riku lose his balance.

Meanwhile, Nagi had caught Tot just before she fell and was using his powers to float in the air so neither of them would fall, while everyone else grabbed onto something.

As the shaking died down, Riku along with Aya and everybody else could see an intense light coming from the far distance.

(What is this power?) Aya thought as she could feel an intense power coming from that light. Suddenly she felt herself stumble and then fall back, but suddenly felt herself land into somebody's arms. Aya looked up to see who it was that caught her, and looked into Toya's face.

"Toya!" Aya exclaimed and then she suddenly heard the sound of a heart beating and immediately realized it was Toya's. She then threw her arms around him, her eyes crying tears of happiness as she realized this was really happening. "You're really here! You're really alive!"

"Still…how are you…?" Yuhi spoke as he walked over to the two of them.

"I'll explain later, Aogiri, for now let's save the talking for later." Toya replied to him.

"Let's hope later is soon, because I really want to know how you're here." Yuhi said.

"You've got that right." Riku agreed. "But still…that explosion from just now… what was that? An N2 mine?"

"That explosion…it came from the direction of the base, and that light was…" Viper spoke from within the room he and Kagami had been put in, his voice catching Riku's attention. Riku looked inside to see Viper turn to Kagami. "Chief, that light was the same kind created from the power of the C-Genomes. This can only mean…the C-Genomes destroyed themselves."

While Kagami's expression was of shock, Riku's and soon Nagi and Tot's were of horror as they realized something.

"Michael…was back there." Riku said.

For a moment, there was some silence until finally Riku broke it by slamming the door to the quarters Kagami and Viper were held in. He then took out a piece of paper with a set of kanji written on it and pressed it on the line of space that divided the door and wall at its lock with his left hand and made a series of one handed hand seals with his right hand. As soon as he finished there seemed to be a reaction from the paper and Riku withdrew his left hand, and when he did the piece of paper was hanging in place.

"A type of _kekkai no jutsu_." Riku explained. "With that tag in place the only way those guys are getting out is either if I release the seal on it, or they destroy the door or wall, and since both are made of metal that isn't likely to happen."

"Well, that keeps those guys out of our hair for now." Shuro spoke.

"Anyway, I think we should find a place on the ship where we can take a breather and Toya can start explaining some things." Yuhi spoke.

"And after that, Crow, Usagi, and I will look for Aki." Riku added

"I know of one place." Alec spoke.

"Well, lead the way then." Riku replied.

And with that the group followed Alec below deck.

Meanwhile, Lee was just sitting in the exact spot he was in a moment ago his hand held in front of his restored left eye. Lee was completely in shock not just at he could now see again through that eye, but also at what had happened. Below him lay the unconscious body of the Mikage guard who had assisted him.

"W-why?" Lee spoke as he was confused about why Toya gave his eye back. "Just who is that guy?"

Later:

"Here we are." Alec said as he stopped in front of a large set of double doors and then opened them. Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Shuro, and Toya, who was carrying Aya, immediately went in.

The room Alec had directed them to turned out to be a chapel, complete with pews, stained glass windows, altar, and a large cross on it.

"A chapel, now this is someplace I wouldn't expect to find here." Riku commented as he sat back into one of the pews, grateful for a small break.

"Still, we should be able to hide here for a while." Yuhi said as he and Alec locked the doors behind them.

Nagi, Tot, Maya, and Shuro also took seats in the pews, while Toya and Aya went further up along the aisle between the pews, Yuhi and Chidori following them, and then Toya knelt down in order to let Aya down.

"Aya, are you okay?" He asked her.

"Aya…" Toya began, but stopped when Aya's fist hit him, lightly, in the shoulder.

"Did you know…?" She asked as she sobbed lightly into his chest. "How I felt…! Always…I…alone…Jerk…Toya, you jerk…"

"I'm sorry..." Toya said as he held Aya close, he then reached up to her face to dry her tears away. "I'm sorry, Aya."

"I…" Toya began, but stopped as both he and Aya kissed.

"Well, at least one thing's going well with this mission." Riku commented as he leaned forward, folded his arms on the back of the pew in front of him, and then rested his head on them.

"Yeah, isn't it so romantic?" Tot spoke with smile, and then turned to Nagi. "Don't you think so, Nagi?"

"Uh…Tot we're still on a mission…" Nagi reminded her, but then added something when he saw Tot's disappointed look at his reply. "But, yeah I think it looks…romantic."

Tot smiled and then hugged Nagi, giving him a light kiss on the cheek.

Almost as soon as that happened, Aya and Toya's moment was interrupted as Yuhi's foot connected with the back of Toya's head.

"Toya, you idiot!" He shouted, while everyone else sweatdropped at this.

"Hey, you totally ruined their romantic scene!" Tot yelled at Yuhi.

Yuhi apparently didn't hear her, as he was making a bunch of punches on Toya's back all the while yelling "stupid, stupid, stupid".

"Um…Aogiri…hey…" Toya spoke in an attempt to get Yuhi's attention.

"Uh, Yuhi…" Aya spoke, sweatdropping at this odd sight. This didn't help that Chidori took a picture of them. "Calm down…"

"I think she's right about that, Yuhi." Chidori spoke.

"If you think so then why did you take a picture?" Aya asked.

"Come on man, give Toya a break, I mean he just came back from the dead." Riku spoke, but then stopped and sweatdropped as he realized what he had just said. "I cannot believe I just said that."

"Tell me about it." Maya spoke.

"You could at least give us an explanation." Yuhi, who had suddenly stopped hitting Toaya's back, said. "We thought you were dead."

"That was quite a change back to normal." Shuro commented and turned to Chidori. "Your boyfriend's quite a complex person."

"Yeah, but that's one of the things I love about him." Chidori replied.

"I can hear what the two of you are saying, you know." Yuhi said, looking back at both Shuro and Chidori. He then turned back to Toya. "Anyway, if you were alive, then why didn't you show up sooner?"

"To tell you the truth I really did die back then." Toya answered him.

"Then, how did you…?" Aya began. "And just a few minutes ago…How? How did you get the mana?"

Toya then took Aya's hand.

"Aya…everyone…listen closely to what I have to say." Toya said, and then looked at Aya. "I was created from the mana, so the mana could be returned to Ceres."

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND Chopper:

In a FOXHOUND chopper bound for Japan, a maroon haired girl of Japanese descent, who was in her early teens, sat among a small group of FOXHOUND agents. She was in deep conversation with Seishiro Takeda over the codec.

"Are you sure that's what happened?" She asked. "Was that explosion not too long ago really from the Mikage base?"

"Unfortunately yes." Seishiro answered. "Hey don't worry too much about it, Mana, I'm sure Michael's fine. A smart guy like him probably found some way to avoid getting caught in the blast."

"Yeah, you're right." Mana Kirishima nodded. "Have you tried contacting him?"

"We have but we haven't gotten any response." Seishiro replied. "But that's probably to be expected after an explosion like that, so don't assume the worst for now."

"Alright." Mana nodded and smiled slightly. "And I know that he wouldn't want me to worry so much during the middle of a mission. Anyway, speaking of which how are things on your end?"

"We're headed for the island at top speed." Seishiro answered. "We've especially got to hurry before the authorities start checking the place out. For now we've had some strings pulled to keep any prying eyes away from the island , but we don't know how long that can be maintained. That explosion was seen and not to mention felt from miles away. It's even attracted attention from an organization called NERV."

"Why would they be interested in it?" Mana asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, since that information is secret even from us at FOXHOUND." Sesihiro replied. "Anyway, we'll contact you as soon as you arrive."

"Understood." Mana then ended her transmission.

(I hope you're alright, Michael.) She thought and then her thoughts drifted to the mission. (Well, I hope that once we meet with these mercenaries from the Aogiri family we can track down where Riku and these new partners of his are. But still, just what could be happening that would require us to do this much to retrieve everyone?)

Meanwhile: Mikage Boat:

Aki Mikage slowly came awake to find himself in a strange room instead of where he remembered being before.

(What happened?) Aki thought as he tried to remember. (I remember we got to the deck of the boat and then Riku and everyone else showed up and confronted Kagami and his men. After that, that guy in black showed up, and suddenly there was this huge light and…) Aki shook his head as he couldn't remember anything else.

Suddenly he felt a strange sensation in his head, almost like he was being drawn to something.

(Something's calling me…) Aki thought. (It isn't Aya, it's…something else.) He suddenly, almost involuntarily, looked down to find a strange and orb like object lying on the floor inside the remains of a glass case.

"This is it…this is what's been calling me…" Aki said as he looked down at it. "Is this…could it be…?" Aki's hands then reached to touch this strange object. "…mana?"

The moment his hands touched the hagoromo, the remains of the glass container flew apart and there was a brilliant flash of light which enveloped Aki. That was the last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness.

Meanwhile:

"What do you mean you were 'created from the mana'?" Aya asked.

"What I'm about to show you are the memories of the mana." Toya answered her. "They go back over 5,000 years."

That moment Toya touched her hand and a series of images flashed through Aya's mind. Of Shiso, standing over the hagoromo, then one of some men standing around a boat, followed by an image of Shiso and the men out at sea in the boat with Shiso carrying something, and finally one of the hagoromo with a rock tied around it as it sailed into the air and into the water below.

"Mikagi threw the mana into the ocean!" Aya exclaimed as this sequence of images finished.

(Yes…that's what happened.) Ceres spoke to Aya in her mind. (And no matter how hard I tried, I could not find my other half.)

"Well, that solves the mystery of where Shiso put the hagoromo." Riku spoke. "What happened next?"

"Before I tell you, I should explain something about the mana." Toya replied. "A mana without a tennyo is just an individual. Alone, it can't do anything. If it remains by itself for too long it rots away."

"But that mana lived on." Toya continued. "Inside the ocean where it got mixed up with all the microorganisms, and eventually life began inside the membrane. With that, the mana continued to create, all the while retaining the knowledge of the evolving species. Then in order to keep itself from moving, it made a new master, for 5,000 years."

Riku could see the shocked and amazed expressions on everyone's faces as they heard all this.

(I wouldn't be surprised if mine is the same.) Riku thought to himself. (This is some pretty deep stuff…)

"It kept duplicating." Toya continued. "And the last thing it made was the strongest creature…man."

"And that was when you met that old man who raised you, right?" Aya asked and Toya nodded.

"Yes, he was essentially the one who taught me how to live as a human." Toya replied. "That humans don't have fins or wings and not to transform so much, and how humans used words, wits, and tools."

Toya then noticed Riku and co.'s confused expressions at this last statement.

"I'll explain it to you." He said. "In order to survive anywhere, the mana can change cells using the memories of the microorganisms."

Toya then held up his right hand and his stiletto came out of his wrist.

"But even though I lost all of those memories in an accident, I wonder if the mana left me with the strength to protect myself." He said as he looked at the weapon.

"So does that mean that when you died…" Alec began.

"It was too late to save my brain from being shot that time." Toya said. "But the shock from that somehow brought my memories back."

(A gunshot wound to the head cured his amnesia?) Riku thought in amazement.

There was a moment of silence, and then Yuhi noticed the way Aya and Toya were looking at one another and quickly got up.

"Ah…I think I'll stand guard outside." He said quickly.

"You know what I think you've got a good idea." Riku said as he got up from his seat, having realized what Yuhi was thinking. "I think you'll need some backup outside just in case."

"Yeah, you never know." Nagi agreed as he got up too, he then turned to Tot. "We should help too, Usagi."

"But…" Tot at first objected but then took another look in Aya and Toya's direction and then understood. "Oh…yeah, let's go and do some guarding!"

"You know, I just remembered there's something I need to talk to you and your partners about, Drakken." Shuro spoke, and then turned to Chidori and Maya. "Actually this involves these two as well, so we'll come out to talk with you about it. Don't worry it shouldn't take long."

"Yeah, but it's important though." Chidori said quickly and turned to Maya. "Right, Maya?"

"Yeah, very important." Maya agreed.

With that everyone quickly left the room, except for Alec who was trying to think of his own excuse and then quickly made one up at random.

"Uh…I…I'll see if anyone over there managed to get that Handcannon gun in Biohazard 4." Alec said quickly. "You know…clearing all four of those stages with a five star score with all five characters…well it's easy with Wesker, Krauser, and Hunk, but, uh…Anyway, excuse me…"

With that Alec quickly exited the chapel after the rest of the group, leaving Aya and Toya alone.

When they got out of the chapel, Yuhi then leaned against the wall shaking his head at all the information he, and everyone else, had just gotten.

"A man created by the mana…is that even possible?" He wondered out loud.

"Well, I don't see any reason to doubt what Toya said." Riku replied. "That would explain those wings of his earlier ago, unless Toya's actually an angel come back from the heavens."

"Still, does it matter either way?" Nagi spoke. "Does it change anything at all, about who he is?"

"If you ask me, no." Alec said. "As far as I'm concerned he's still the Toya I know."

"You've got my vote there, even though I barely know the guy." Riku said and Nagi nodded in agreement.

"Same here." Yuhi said and then turned in the girls' direction. "I'm sure you all…uh, what are you doing?"

Riku, Nagi, and Alec turned to see what Yuhi saw and sweatdropped along with him at what they saw, which was Tot, Chidori, Shuro, and Maya listening at the door to the chapel.

"Hey, I thought we were giving them some privacy." Yuhi said to Chidori.

"Hey, we are, we're just, um…" Chidori paused to think about what to say, and then turned to Tot. "We're just making sure if any enemies attack them, we'll be able to come in and help, right Usagi."

"Um…yeah, that's it." Tot said quickly.

"How would the enemy attack them?" Riku, who was leaning near the hinge of the left door, asked, sincerely doubting the reason Chidori came up with. "We're standing in front of the only way in or out of that chapel, you know."

"The windows?" Maya suggested.

"You guys are horrible liars, you know." Riku commented.

"Like, you're any better." Shuro replied.

"Not to mention, you're listening yourself, just at the hinge of the door." Nagi spoke.

"Whoah, hold on, I'm just leaning here that's all." Riku said quickly.

(Shuro's right, you know.) Yuki commented.

"Oh come on, like you don't want to know what's going on in there either." Riku commented to Yuki, only to realize he had said that out loud.

"Well, I didn't think you would admit it." Nagi said with a light smile at his friend.

"Now hold on, that was…" Riku paused and then fell back on the only option he could think of as an excuse. "Uh…like Chidori said, we need to keep our ears open in case of a surprise enemy attack."

That statement got a sweatdrop from everyone else.

"I take it back, you're a worse liar than any of us." Shuro said.

Meanwhile, Aya and Toya sat where they were, the both of them not saying anything. Finally Toya broke the silence.

"Aya, about the mana…" Toya stopped seeming hesitant about what to say next. "There's a chance that what attracted me to you was…the reason we fell in love may have been…"

Toya then stopped and looked into Aya's face and from her expression, realized what he was about to say wasn't true.

"No…no that wasn't it." Toya quickly denied what he was at first about to say. "What attracted me to you was my own heart! No one decided it for us!"

Aya smiled at what she heard as she could tell Toya was sincere in what he said and then put her arms around him and the two embraced.

"I understand." She said simply, but her thoughts said more.

(Yes…what brought us together was our hearts.) Aya thought to herself as she and Toya kissed. (We chose our path together…no matter what's out there. After all 'fate' is something you decide yourself.)

When the two of them broke apart, Toya then spoke.

"I'll give you back the mana now." He said and then noticed Aya's expression and explained it. "That's my duty…if I hadn't lost my memories, I would have done it sooner. I'm sorry…"

(That's right.) Aya thought to herself. (The hagoromo that Ceres has always been looking for is inside of Toya.)

As soon as she thought that something immediately came to mind.

(Without mana, we tennyo cannot live.) Ceres' voice from before echoed in her mind.

"Wait!" Aya said. "If you give me the mana, then what will happen to you?"

Toya didn't answer her, but that silence was already confirming Aya's fears.

"You don't mean…" Aya started, and Toya simply looked at her with a gentle smile on his face, the look in his eyes telling all.

"No! If it means that you'll die, then don't let go of the mana!" Aya shouted.

Aya was about to say some more when Toya embraced her and then held her close in a comforting manner.

"Aya, it's alright with me…to give you the mana." Toya said to her.

Before Aya could voice her objection, Ceres suddenly spoke to her.

(Aya, without the mana, your body won't survive, neither will your child.) Ceres said. (Toya knows that and that's why…)

"I don't need it!" Aya shouted to both Ceres and Toya. "I can live without the mana!"

"I'll even give birth to the baby…!" Aya continued, and then stopped and looked up to see a genuinely shocked expression on Toya's face.

"Aya…?" Toya spoke questioningly, for the first time genuinely speechless.

Aya then gripped the sleeve of Toya's shirt nervously as she answered him.

"I'm going to have a baby…" Aya answered, looking up into Toya's eyes. "It's yours too…"

Meanwhile, Chidori had opened the door slightly and secretly took a quick snapshot of the two of them together.

"Well, this is definitely one for the photo album." Chidori commented as she saw the picture show up on the screen.

"Aww…that looks so beautiful!" Tot exclaimed as she saw the picture as well.

Riku, Nagi, Yuhi, and Alec sweatdropped as they saw that Maya and Shuro had similar expressions on their faces as they had a look at the picture as well.

"They certainly seem to like Chidori's photography." Riku commented.

"I just don't want to be them when Aya finds out they've been eavesdropping on her and Toya." Yuhi said.

"Somehow, I think we're going to end up being included in whatever befalls them when Aya finds out." Nagi added his two cents. "And I don't need to see the future to know that."

"Hey come on man, don't jinx us." Riku said, glancing over at his partner. "Still, with how Usagi, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro are reacting, I'm kind of curious about how this picture looks myself."

(Then why not have a look?) Yuki's voice spoke in Riku's mind, and then there was a pause before she added one more thing. (I mean…I'm sure Kuruma-san's photography must be nice, so…)

(Okay, I'll have a look.) Riku replied, concealing a grin since he knew Yuki obviously wanted to see the picture too.

Meanwhile:

Aki slowly opened his eyes only to find himself in the same black emptiness he had been in when Shiso had control of his body.

"Oh no, not this…" Aki groaned as he got up.

As he got up, Aki suddenly noticed what looked like a sphere of light hanging in the air not too far away from him. Aki quickly ran towards it, and as he got closer to it, he could feel the exact feeling he felt when the hagoromo had drawn him to it.

When he finally reached the glowing sphere, Aki reached out to touch it, but just before his fingers touched it the sphere withdrew from his touch and slowly began to move away from him. Immediately Aki chased after it, and each time he caught up to it, the sphere increased its speed.

How long Aki chased that sphere he wasn't sure, but by the time he was practically out of breath, he noticed that what he was chasing was finally starting to slow down. As he slowed down to a walk, Aki watched as the sphere went on for a few hundred yards until it finally settled in mid air.

Aki walked in that direction until he caught his breath, and then ran over to where the glowing sphere was. As soon as he got to it, he reached for the sphere, but it immediately went up farther into the air and out of his reach.

"Damn it…" Aki cursed as he could see that this light that had some connection to the hagoromo was right in front of him, but out of his reach.

(I can't just give up now, though.) Aki thought to himself. (I have to take this to Aya…I have to help her somehow…)

Just as Aki was about to jump up in the air to try to grab the sphere, he suddenly noticed that the light from the sphere revealed something not very far away from him. Aki then walked over to the figure, and strangely enough the orb followed him. The moment what he saw came into view from the light, Aki's eyes widened in surprise at what he saw.

There right in front of him, was Shiso, who was sitting in a chair, eyes open and vacant looking. It was obvious that he didn't notice Aki's presence.

Aki wasn't sure what to do, but finally decided to try to get Shiso's attention.

"Hey…" He said, and when he saw that Shiso didn't respond, raised his voice slightly. "Hey!"

Still Shiso remained unresponsive. Aki then waved his hand in front of Shiso's face, but there was no reaction whatsoever.

"Well, it looks like I'm not going to get anything from this guy." Aki said to himself with a sigh, and then suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute…if I'm here and so is Shiso, then that means that no one's using my body, meaning my body must be lying down on the floor back outside."

(So how am I supposed to regain control of my body?) Aki wondered to himself. (Actually, how did…)

Aki suddenly remembered what had happened just before he blacked out.

(I picked up the hagoromo so I could take it to Aya…) He thought and suddenly it dawned on him. (Don't tell me when I touched that thing I somehow got it on me…)

Aki then looked up at the glowing sphere.

(I guess since that thing feels like the hagoromo, then I did.) He thought. (But that still doesn't explain why I'm…)

Aki's eyes then strayed over to Shiso and then he realized why he was where he was.

(Ceres gave Shiso some of her power, then maybe that's why the hagoromo reacted that way.) Aki thought. (Which means that the one who should be in control of my body is Shiso…But with how he is now…)

Aki then hung his head in defeat.

(Damn it, with the way things are now, there's no way I can give Aya the hagoromo or for that matter help anyone against that mercenary in black!) Aki thought to himself. (Once again, I'm powerless to help anyone!)

For a moment Aki felt despair well up in his heart, but suddenly pushed that away.

"No…no I can't just give up, like I did before when Shiso was taking over…" Aki shook his head. "There has to be some way…some way for me to…"

Aki's gaze then went back to Shiso and an idea came to mind.

(Well, it's a long shot, but I don't have any choice…) He thought and then walked over to Shiso until he was standing right in front of him.

"Hey…I know that you can hear me, Shiso." Aki said. "I need you to wake up and help me. My sister Aya and your wife Ceres need the hagoromo, that and they're in danger. I don't know how exactly, but you're the only one who can control my body so I…"

Aki stopped and looked at Shiso, but saw no change of expression on his face. As the feeling of hopelessness crept into the back of his mind, frustration started to build up and Aki finally let it out.

"Are you just going to sit there wrapped up in your own guilt, while everyone else is struggling to protect Aya and Ceres!" He shouted. "Didn't you once promise a long time ago that you would protect her?"

Aki couldn't say it for sure, but he thought he saw some reaction on Shiso's face from what he just said.

(I wonder…) He thought and then decided to continue speaking.

"Look, I know that it was you that protected Aya, and in a way Ceres, from Shade not too long ago." Aki continued. "You sensed Ceres was in danger and you protected her, so why don't you do the same now?"

This time Aki was sure he had gotten some kind of reaction from his ancestor, since he saw a sudden but brief change in his expression before it went back to how it was before. He then realized the reason why.

"Look I…I can't say I understand your situation, but I can't say I blame you for feeling guilt over what happened between you and Ceres." Aki said. "But no matter how much you want to, you can't change the past. But there's one thing you can do, and that's protect Ceres like you promised. Don't you want to fulfill that promise and use the power Ceres gave you for what you originally wanted?"

Aki waited for a reaction, but after a few minutes he saw nothing happen. Not sure what to do now, Aki turned and walked over to the glowing sphere; as soon as he reached for it, it retreated up into the air just out of his reach.

(I may not be able to persuade Shiso, nor grab this sphere and regain control of my body myself, but I'm not going to give up.) Aki thought as he jumped up for the sphere, which moved up farther before returning to its original position once Aki came back to the ground.

Aki tried again six more times, each time it seemed like his fingers barely missed what he was trying to get a hold of, after which he paused to catch his breath. After a few minutes, he was about to try again when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take care of that." A voice spoke behind him, a voice that was familiar to Aki.

Aki turned around to see Shiso standing behind him with his arm raised up towards the glowing orb, which slowly made its way towards his hand.

"Thank you…" Aki said and then moved to step aside, but Shiso's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"You want to protect your sister, and I want to protect Ceres." Shiso stated simply. "It would be best if we fought together, correct?"

Aki smiled and nodded and with that the both of them reached forward towards the glowing orb, their hands touching it at the same time.

Meanwhile:

Aya and Toya were sitting at the altar of the chapel, Toya's eyes widened in complete surprise at the news Aya had just given him.

"My...child?" Toya spoke.

"Yes, that's right…your baby." Aya replied.

For a moment Aya didn't say anything but then continued.

"I'm…very happy about it!" She said quickly. "I mean…it's a life that I was able to create with you! And what you said about being alone…" Aya paused. "It isn't true! You can have a child from your own blood, so you're not alone in the world anymore! You're not alone!"

Aya then looked up into Toya's face to see a sight she almost didn't expect. Tears were flowing freely down Toya's face, tears of happiness, which he seemed to just notice. Just as Aya was about to speak she felt a strange feeling in her eyes followed by the feeling of something warm coming out of them, and she realized she was crying too, but she still spoke.

"It means we can be a family!" Aya said as she closed her eyes to try to keep more tears from flowing out. "Because this child will link us! Forever and ever. We can…so…so…"

Toya didn't say anything, but wordlessly reached over and placed his left hand on Aya's stomach.

"In here…Is my…" He said, practically speechless. "I wonder if…you'll have it…and is it really…my…?"

Aya then placed her hands over Toya's and looked up into his eyes.

"Yes." She answered, smiling.

Toya didn't say anything, and suddenly put his arms around Aya and held her close.

"Thank you…" He said to her.

Aya nodded and returned his embrace.

(Toya…from loving you…and holding another life inside of me, I've learned something.) Aya thought as she and Toya held each other. (Loving someone is ensuring that life will continue in the future…)

After a few minutes, the two of them broke apart and then Aya turned towards the door with a peeved expression on her face.

"You know, there is such a thing as privacy, you know." She called out to everybody who was on the other side.

The door immediately opened and Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Shuro, and Alec came back in.

"That was the most beautiful and romantic thing I've ever seen!" Tot exclaimed, her hands held together and her eyes sparkling at what she saw.

"Yeah, I admit I'm kind of jealous." Chidori agreed and glanced over at Yuhi. "But I doubt I'll be for very long."

"Lucky you." Shuro and Maya chorused to Chidori.

"Still, I'm happy for the both of you, you know." Shuro said with a smile.

"Yeah, same here." Maya said.

"I have to admit, I haven't seen anything like that since Shiori's ending in Tokimeki Memorial." Alec commented.

"I offer you my congratulations." Nagi spoke.

"Me too." Riku added. "Oh yeah, Yuki says she's very happy for you."

"Thanks everyone." Aya said gratefully.

Riku turned to Toya.

"Anyway Toya, you don't have to worry about giving the hagoromo to Ceres." He said to him. "First off, nanomachines should be able to handle whatever the would do for Aya in terms of help, and secondly, we just need to give the hagoromo the Mikage recreated to Ceres and that's it, mission complete."

"Yeah, and you and Aya can live happily ever after." Tot added with a happy smile. "Oh yeah, and Yuhi and Chidori too."

"Sounds like a good way to finish all this to me." Yuhi spoke.

"I couldn't agree more." Chidori agreed.

"Not to mention we get the satisfaction of having Kagami thrown in prison for a bonus." Shuro added.

"Along with the fact that the interrogation he'll get from our people at FOXHOUND should make for a nice prelude for his comeuppance." Nagi said.

"Yeah, but it's too bad legal regulations will probably limit what you guys can do to him." Shuro replied, which got small snicker from Nagi. "What?"

"You're obviously not familiar with certain ways around that." Nagi answered.

"Oh, I see where this is going…" Riku grinned as he realized what Nagi meant.

"Let's just say that once the security cameras for the interrogation rooms go off, well any missing footage can be altered and fabricated." Nagi explained to Shuro.

"I see…" Shuro commented. "In that case, then I don't have anymore problems there."

"Well, that said and done, Crow, Usagi, and I will go look for Aki now." Riku spoke. "We should be able to find him soon, and maybe we'll run into Weiss as well."

"Wait a second." Toya said to Riku, Nagi, and Tot as they were about to leave. "When you come back, I'd like an explanation as to who you and your partners really are. Don't get me wrong, it isn't that I don't trust you…"

"We understand, you just want to know what's been going on since…" Riku wasn't sure how to put Toya's period of absence so he decided to skip over it. "Anyway, just ask Aya and the others and when the three of us get back we'll fill in our part. Sound reasonable?"

"Of course." Toya nodded, he then turned to Aya and the others but suddenly stopped and then called back to Riku and co. "Hold on!"

Riku immediately turned around sensing the seriousness in Toya's voice.

"What is it?" Riku asked him. "Is something wrong?"

"Something is coming…" Toya answered him simply as he got up. "I'm not sure who or what it is, but the power I'm sensing from it…it's strong…and dark."

(It couldn't be…Shade…) Riku thought.

"Aogiri, Riku, Nagi, Tot, stay here and protect Aya and everyone else." Toya said seriously and made for the door, but stopped and turned back to Aya. "Don't worry Aya, I promise that no matter what, this time I will comeback to you…and our child."

Aya didn't say anything, but wordlessly walked over to Toya and then kissed him.

"Be careful." She said when they broke apart.

"I will." Toya promised her and then opened the door and was gone.

"Alright, then…" Riku spoke as the door closed and then turned to Nagi and Tot. "You guys I'm going to need whatever grenades you have on you plus half of the rations you each brought and first aid equipment."

"Alright." Nagi said and he and Tot took out their Chaff, stun, and regular grenades as well as the portion of the rations and first aid supplies and Riku did the same putting them all into individual piles.

Riku then took out his USP, its ammo, and handed it to Yuhi.

"If worse comes to worse, you guys use these things to get away from here, make for the lifeboats, and escape." Riku instructed Yuhi and co., his voice serious. "A chopper from either FOXHOUND or the Aogiris should pick you up, and just in case the rations and such should be enough for you all to survive on if you have to wait a while for rescue…"

"Now, wait a minute…" Yuhi objected.

"Don't worry, this is all for 'just in case', you know." Riku said reassuringly. "The three of us have no intention of dieing in this mission, right?"

"Of course." Nagi replied simply.

"That's right, Crow and I are definitely going out on a date after this mission, right Crow?" Tot spoke confidently, turning to Nagi, who was blushing some.

"Well…of, of course, Na-Usagi." Nagi replied quickly, almost stammering.

With that the three of them opened the door and closed it behind them. Riku, Nagi, and Tot then took a defensive position in front of the door.

"Alright, remember, no matter what, we're not letting any enemy get through this door, understand?" Riku said to his two partners seriously.

"Count on it" Nagi replied and Tot nodded enthusiastically.

"You know, when you're looking all serious, you start to remind me of Ra- I mean Abyssinian." Tot commented, which immediately got a reaction from Riku, which made her fight to laugh at Riku's surprised expression, which to her (and Nagi as well), looked kind of silly. "Then again, maybe not."

"Thanks…I think." Riku replied and then turned to Nagi. "Hey Crow, could you try locating Aki using your telepathy?"

"I was just about to, actually." Nagi answered him as he began to concentrate on trying to locate Aki.

"Really…?" A thought then came to Riku. "Maybe this means I'm starting to learn precognition or whatever it is…"

"Not likely." Nagi replied simply.

Meanwhile:

Shade strolled through the corridors of the ship heading towards the area he sensed the intense power he had seen from the red haired man with wings was.

(I'm getting closer, I can feel it.) Shade thought to himself. (Still, it's odd that a moment ago I could have sworn I felt there was a second one, but…must have been a mistake.)

Shade then stopped as he felt the power he was heading towards suddenly seem to jump in his direction. He turned around just in time to see Toya come out from around the corner of one of the corridors.

For a moment the two men just stared at one another, until finally Shade spoke.

"So this is the carrier of the hagoromo, I must say I'm delighted to meet you." Shade said with amusement in his voice.

"Who are you?" Toya asked simply, his face not showing any sign of the surprise he felt that there was someone who actually knew who he was. "And how is it you know about me?"

"You may call me Shade, remember it as the one who sent you to the afterlife and took the hagoromo from you." Shade answered him. "I know you still have it, I can sense the power emanating from you…"

"Answer my other question." Toya said, ignoring Shade's remarks. "How do you know who I am?"

"My, you are certainly interested." Shade commented. "To answer your question, I was told all this by the ones who sent me. The Patriots." Shade then smiled as he saw that Toya didn't know. "Oh, you don't know about them? They're the ones who rule most of this world in the shadows. Now if you're going to ask me how they know about you, then I'm afraid I can't answer that question because that's something I neither know nor care to know."

"I see…" Toya then held his right hand and his stiletto immediately came out of his wrist and into his hand.

"Hmm…impressive weapon." Shade said. "Tell you what, since I'm feeling generous today, what would you say if I said that I would let your friends from the Aogiris and FOXHOUND go unharmed provided of course that you give me the hagoromo and let me kill you."

"I'd say you were lying and that I have no intention of letting you have the hagoromo." Toya replied, and as he said this the length of the blade of the stiletto increased until it was almost long enough to be a short sword.

"Really?" Shade asked in reply. "Good." Shade then grinned. "I find the idea of tearing the hagoromo from your body to be a much better alternative!" Shade then threw his chakram at Toya. "Wave Crush!"

As the chakram spun towards Toya followed by the blast of dark energy accompanying it, Toya just stood there and at the last second easily deflected the ring with a quick twist of his right hand which held his blade, and with his free left hand, Toya caught the dark energy wave and then hurled it back at Shade.

Shade simply reached out and caught his returning chakram before easily stepping out of the way so not to be hit by his own blast of energy.

"Not bad at all…" Shade said. "It looks like I'm going to definitely enjoy this fight…"

Shade was about to make another attack when suddenly Toya seemed to just appear in front of the mercenary. Caught off guard and unable to make a defensive move in time, Shade only had time to see the blade of Toya's stiletto slice into his stomach before Toya followed it up with an upward slash that sliced into Shade's upper chest and through his face.

Shade snarled and leaped back so the wounds could regenerate and he could make a counterattack. But just as he did, he felt a force slam into him from behind and turned around to see Toya had delivered an open palm attack to his back.

(Damn, he's quick for whatever he is!) Shade thought as he quickly turned around and then began gathering energy into his chakram.

"Blood Shower!" Shade shouted as he launched the beam of dark energy at Toya who simply stood where he was.

(Heh, the fool, I put more power than usual into this particular…) Shade's eyes widened in surprise at what he saw happen next.

A glowing circular symbol appeared in front of Toya, creating a barrier which shielded Toya from the beam attack. The beam continued until it ran out, and as soon as it did, the barrier vanished. Shade however, didn't make an attempt at attacking.

"Well done, I must say." Shade said simply. "You've exceeded my expectations…you have no idea how grateful I am to finally have an opponent worth killing…"

Shade then crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes in concentration. Immediately, a pool of red and black energy appeared beneath his feet and began to emanate a dark aura around him. Shade's eyes opened and looked down at the pool of energy. Suddenly the contents of the pool shot out like a geyser, with Shade in the middle of it, but instead of consuming him, the energy began to gather into the aura around Shade.

Suddenly, the energy rushed into the aura and Shade's back arched as it all made his way into his body. This lasted for a brief moment and suddenly ended almost as suddenly as it had begun, leaving Shade standing exactly where he was, at first glance looking no different from before, but Toya could immediately feel the difference.

(He took all that power into himself…) Toya thought. (This guy…what in the world is he?)

(That's thirty percent of my maximum power without calling upon the Orochi for power…) Shade thought as he prepared to make his strike. (That should be enough for me to finish this guy, get the hagoromo, and complete my part of the mission...)

Shade then charged forward at Toya, before he could react, hitting him in the chest area with a dark energy encased fist, sending Toya crashing back into the wall.

"I'm not done with you!" Shade then grabbed Toya by the front of his shirt and then executed a series of critical hits on Toya with his fists and then ended with his move, Genocide Bringer, which was a rising spin kick in the form of an upper cut. "Death Craze!"

Shade then charged at Toya as his body descended to the floor, calling a large amount of dark energy into his right hand.

"Now it's over!" Shade then prepared to make the killing strike.

Suddenly Toya surprised Shade by suddenly turning in mid air lashing out with his stiletto, the blade striking Shade's right wrist and it easily sliced off the mercenary's right hand.

Shade snarled in rage at Toya's catching him off guard and lunged at Toya with his remaining left hand. Just as Shade's hand was about to touch his intended target, Toya suddenly vanished.

Shade looked forward and saw that Toya was standing yards away from him, out of range of any of his attacks. He was about to say something to Toya to try to goad him into making an attach, but what happened next surprised him.

Shade watched as the wounds he inflicted on Toya suddenly regenerated, leaving him looking completely unharmed.

"I see…so you can regenerate ..." Shade said to Toya as he clutched his bleeding stump. Suddenly the flesh around the wound began to extend and expand, next bones began reforming as muscle wrapped itself around them, and finally skin covered the newly regenerated hand. "That makes two of us…"

Shade then drew his chakram and grinned in victory as he saw Toya immediately prepare to guard from the expected attack with his stiletto. Shade immediately began to gather dark energy around it, but instead of throwing the chakram he lifted it outwards in Toya's direction.

" Lights Out!" Shade shouted and immediately the dark energy shout out from the chakram and covered the area around him and Toya enveloping them in total darkness.

Shade immediately concentrated on adding more power into his chakram to perform the follow up as he only had ten seconds until the darkness that covered him and Toya vanished. As soon as he gathered enough he then unleashed the follow up to his previous technique.

"Full Eclipse!" Shade shouted and immediately the darkened area lit up, creating an intense heat radiation throughout the whole area, but left Shade unharmed.

(If that didn't kill him, it should have weakened him enough so that I can finish him.) Shade thought as he waited for the energy field around him to recede and then reveal whether or not his enemy was alive or dead.

As he watched the field recede, Shade suddenly saw a glint appear ahead of him and only just had time to put his chakram up in a defensive position just as Toya charged straight at him. Shade gritted his teeth as the point of Toya's stiletto ran in through his right arm and into his chest. Shade used his left hand and grabbed the stiletto blade to prevent Toya from pulling it out and using it.

"Let's see how you do without your weapon…" Shade grinned as he pulled at the blade to pull it out of Toya's hand.

Toya kept a firm grip on the blade's handle with his right hand and then brought up his left hand until it was right in front of Shade's face. His hand then began to radiate with a bright energy.

"I'm ending this, now…" Toya said simply.

"Don't be so sure." Shade replied and immediately an aura of dark energy began to resonate around his body. "Let's see whose will is stronger…"

Toya said nothing in reply and then furthered his concentration on the energy in his hand, which immediately burst forth and the dark energy around Shade responded in kind.

There was a loud clash as the two opposing forces met, the force created by the clash causing the area around them to tremble. For a few minutes this continued, Toya's wave of light energy and Shade's dark energy pushing against each other.

Shade's brow was furrowed and was gritting his teeth as he concentrated on both maintaining his grip on the blade of Toya's stiletto and also in creating enough dark energy to overpower Toya's. It didn't help him that he could see that Toya's expression wasn't nearly as stressed as his own in concentration.

(He's still able to match me!) Shade thought. (Damn him! Just how much more power am I going to have to use to crush this insect?)

Just as Shade was about to call on more of his power, he suddenly felt a surge as the energy Toya was producing was greatly increasing, pushing through the dark energy Shade was producing and forcing Shade back.

(No! He's producing more power quicker than me!) Shade thought as he struggled to maintain his position and also bring out more power despite the fact he could feel himself being pushed back and the palm of his right hand was being slowly shredded as Shade was still keeping a grip on Toya's stiletto.

Finally the force of Toya's blast finally overpowered the dark energy Shade produced, and it all slammed full force into him, blasting Shade through the walls of the ship, all the way through it.

(Did I get him?) Toya thought to himself as he looked through the gaping hole that extended all the way through the ship. Toya then looked at his bloodied stiletto, which also had some skin and flesh from Shade's right hand on it, which showed Shade had maintained a very strong grip on it till the end, and with a simple shake, it all came off of the blade.

Toya then ran down the tunnel his blast had created, ready in case Shade tried to surprise him with an ambush, until he came to the hole at the end, which led only to the outside of the ship and the ocean below. Toya then cautiously looked down at the water and immediately knew the outcome.

(He's still alive!) Toya thought and looked around for Shade, but couldn't find him. It was then that he realized why he couldn't find Shade and turned and ran back down the tunnel and back the way he came.

Meanwhile: Underwater:

Shade skillfully swam underneath the ship and towards his destination. He was completely unharmed by Toya's blast. Just at the last second, he had called out an immense amount of dark energy to completely shield him and regenerate the wounds he had sustained in an instant.

(That was quite a show of power.) Shade thought as he remembered it. (The carrier of the hagoromo has enough strength that fighting him directly without the Orochi's power would waste too much time…I'll have to outwit him to defeat him.)

Shade then continued to swim to the other side of the ship, confident in his plan that he was certain would not only get him the power of the hagoromo, but also complete his part of the mission as well.

Meanwhile: Mikage Boat: Outside the Chapel:

"Have you found Aki?" Riku spoke to Nagi, all the while keeping his eyes open for any approaching enemies, ready to throw a shuriken he had ready in the direction the enemy would come in and then he, Nagi, and Tot would make a coordinated team attack on whoever attacked.

"No, but I'm still trying." Nagi answered him. While he was concentrating on searching for Aki, Tot was standing near him with her Muramasa ready. She was going to act as Nagi's eyes and alert as well as guard him as he was concentrating on locating Aki via telepathy.

Meanwhile, inside the chapel Aya was talking with Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Shuro, and Alec to relieve the tension of the situation.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Aya asked. "Once Toya comes back, and we find that hagoromo the Mikage made and give it to Ceres, that's the end of all this."

"No kidding." Yuhi answered in agreement. "It's almost hard to believe it's been a little over a year since this all started."

"Yeah, and we all made so many memories in such a short time…" Chidori agreed. "Anyway Aya, what are you and Toya going to do once this is over?" Chidori smiled as she saw that made her friend blush slightly at that.

"Well…I guess plan our wedding and also get ready for the baby…" Aya answered and then quickly changed the subject. "What about you and Yuhi?"

"Well, that's, uh…" Chidori stammered and she and Yuhi looked at one another before both quickly looking away, both blushing.

"Hey Aya, I need to ask you something." Maya spoke hesitantly, almost nervously, providing a save on Chidori's part.

"Sure, what is it?" Aya asked in reply, curious about why Maya was so hesitant.

"Now…don't take this the wrong way or anything, okay?" Maya answered her and Aya nodded. "Well…about your brother Aki…did he…have a girl friend or anything before this?" Maya said that very quickly.

"Not that I…" Aya then realized what her friend was asking. "Wait a minute…are you…?"

"Hey, you promised you wouldn't take it the wrong way!" Maya half shouted, waving her hands slightly in an attempt at denying what Aya, and everyone else in the room, was thinking.

"Well, how should I take it?" Aya asked in reply. "But to answer your question, no, and as his sister I can confidently say that. There's no way he could hide that from me."

"Uh…thanks." Maya replied quickly.

Shuro smiled at her friends before laughing lightly at the exchange between her friends, but didn't say anything.

(I really should thank Nagi and Tot again for before.) Shuro thought to herself. (What I was planning was stupid and I was just rashly choosing to die…My place is here, with all these people who are my friends…)

"So…has anyone here played Biohazard 4?" Alec spoke.

"A little bit when I was a kid." Yuhi replied. "But if you're going to ask me about any of that extra stuff, then I can't help you. The only thing I beat after the main game was that game for Ada."

"You didn't even try The Mercenaries!" Alec's eyes were wide in amazement.

"I had other stuff to do at the time." Yuhi replied. "Besides it was just trying to see how many zombies you could kill in a few minutes."

"You have no idea what you missed." Alec sighed and shook his head.

"If you want to know how to get the Handcannon, I can tell you." Shuro offered. "Kei and I both unlocked that back when we got the game when it first came out."

"Really!" Alec's expression lit up at this. "How did you do it? Specifically with Leon and Ada."

"Well, for Ada you…" Shuro began, but stopped as she noticed something near the window behind the altar, a man shaped shadow which she quickly recognized.

"Everyone, get away from the altar, now!" Shuro shouted, just as the window shattered and Shade leaped in through the shattered glass. He immediately threw his own version of a paper seal at the double doors, ensuring the doors would remain shut.

"You should have picked a better hiding place." Shade said as he drew his chakram out.

Meanwhile, Riku, Nagi, and Tot were struggling to get the doors open. They had heard Shuro's shout and the sound of glass shattering coming from the inside.

(Damn it, how could I have been so stupid and not considered the windows as a weakness?) Riku thought in frustration.

"It's no use, it won't open." Nagi said.

"Stand back…" Toya's voice suddenly spoke, causing Riku, Nagi, and Tot to turn to see Toya running towards them.

(Damn that hagoromo sure gives quite a boost.) Riku thought to himself as he, Nagi, and Tot stepped out of Toya's way. (If he hadn't called out to us, I wouldn't have even sensed him coming…)

Toya immediately held out his stiletto at the door and a burst of bright energy came forth from it, reducing the door to splinters in less than a second.

The four immediately ran in to find Shade was simply standing where he was. He hadn't made single move since he drew his chakram.

"You came, just as I expected." Shade said to Toya. "Now, time to get that hagoromo from you…"

Shade then stepped towards Toya as if he were about to attack him, but suddenly surprised everyone by whirling around and then fired a single thin beam of dark energy from his right forefinger, at none other than Aya.

Whether this sudden move surprised even Ceres or Ceres couldn't take over and transform in time was unknown. But whatever the case the beam struck Aya in right in the heart and bursting out through her back. Aya's eyes widened in shock as she wordlessly collapsed to the ground, mortally wounded.

Immediately, everyone reacted in a way that was almost like a well planned coordinated attack. But in fact it wasn't.

"Bastard!" Yuhi shouted taking out his iron chopsticks and plunging them into Shade's stomach as hard as he could. So much that they were sticking into him.

Shade at first barely flinched as he had let Yuhi attack him since he could tell just by looking at him that whatever attack Yuhi made on him wouldn't do anything. But what happened next surprised him as well as Yuhi. The chopsticks suddenly began to radiate a strange energy, which burst into Shade, causing him intense pain.

"You!" Shade snarled, executing a dark energy encased open palm attack on Yuhi's chest.

Suddenly something radiated in front of Yuhi shielding him from most of the force of Shade's attack, but still enough to send him back into the wall behind him. Despite this, Yuhi quickly got to his feet; he only had a few bruises and was practically unharmed.

(How did…? It almost felt like a power was protecting me.) Yuhi thought and then felt a sensation in the headband he was wearing, touched it, and then instinctively looked at Chidori who was looking relieved to see that he was alright. He then realized what it was. (I see…Note to self: Really thank Chidori for making this for me when this is over.)

"What the hell are these things?" Shade growled as he reached for the chopsticks and yanked them out. Despite this, the wounds were still causing him intense pain and as he tried regenerating, the process was significantly slower than usual. He was about to concentrate further on regenerating when he saw Toya run towards Aya.

(Just as I expected, now…) Shade's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a large bolt of lightning strike him, almost sending him to his knees. Almost as soon as that was finished an invisible force slammed into him, accompanied by a strange sound, which sent him crashing into the pews.

Shade quickly got up to see that Chidori and Shuro had transformed into their tennyo forms and were preparing to launch another attack. He then saw that Riku, Nagi, and Tot were also planning to make an attack.

"Well, since you're all so enthusiastic, I'll finish you all now!" Shade then got into a fighting position.

(Since I'm now using fifty percent of my regular power, I should be able to finish this in a matter of seconds.) Shade thought as he prepared to fight.

Meanwhile Toya was kneeling at Aya's side and was now holding the mana in his hands.

"Aya…this is what you…what Ceres has been looking for all this time, mana." He said as he prepared to give it to her.

Aya tried to say something to stop him, but her injury prevented her from doing so. Her hand then slowly lifted up towards Toya in an attempt to stop him.

"It's best this way." Toya said, sensing what she was trying to do. "This is what I was born to do…Also this way, you can live and give birth to our child."

(No…if you give me the mana, you'll…) Aya thought.

"I can't be one with the mana anymore, but…" Toya spoke as the mana he held in his hands began to shine and take shape. "Aya, I'm not becoming a normal human just so I can die…I just want to live with you, as a normal man."

"No matter how short a time we spend together, I don't mind." Toya continued, and as he said this the memories he shared with Aya began to flash in his mind.

(That has always been what I wished for…) Toya thought as he watched this sequence of images which ended with the one where he and Aya first met, when Aya was a little girl. (Ever since I met you…yes, always…)

Shade quickly saw what was happening with the mana and knew he couldn't waste any time.

(He's about to give her the hagoromo…!) Shade thought and then decided against wasting time fighting Riku and the others. He was about to make a dash towards where Aya and Toya were, when he suddenly felt something well up under him.

Shade looked down and then leaped back just in time as a beam of energy shot through the spot he was just standing in.

"Who the…?" Shade started and then stopped as he felt something from the power from below.

(What the hell!…this power feels just like the carrier's...) Shade thought. (But that's impossible!)

Suddenly a figure rose out of the hole created by the blast, to reveal a muscular man with black hair, war paint all over his face, and he was wearing an ancient style of clothing.

"Shiso!" Nagi exclaimed, as he recognized him.

"I've come to fulfill my promise." Shiso said simply and turned to Shade. "I won't allow you to harm Ceres or any of the other people here." Shiso then looked at Toya, and suddenly he spoke, and his voice was different.

"Toya, we'll hold this guy off, and defeat him if we have to." Aki's voice spoke. "You give Aya and Ceres the hagoromo." He paused as he noticed everyone's confused expressions. "I'll explain later…"

With that Aki/Shiso stepped forward towards Shade, and as he did Riku, Nagi, and Tot stepped forward with him.

"Stay out of this." Shiso's voice said to them. "This is my business…"

"And why would you say that?" Riku asked as he, Nagi, and Tot got ready to attack Shade. "Our job is to protect both Ceres and Aya too, you know."

"The burden of this fight should be mine." Shiso answered him. "I promised that I would use the power Ceres gave me to protect her, and now I will."

"Is this your way of atonement?" Nagi asked.

"No…" Shiso replied. "Because the sins I committed then…I can't be forgiven for what I did to the one I loved…I can't change the past, but what I can do is protect Ceres."

Riku for a moment said nothing and then shrugged.

"Fine, but we'll keep you covered." He said. "And we won't be taking no for an answer."

"Very well…" Shiso replied. "Besides, my descendant approves of this as well…"

(He must be talking about Aki…) Riku thought.

"Well, with that said, let's give this guy some cover, guys." Riku said as he turned to Nagi and Tot.

"Consider it done." Nagi replied, preparing to unleash a psychic attack on Shade.

"You got it!" Tot replied, her Muramasa drawn and ready.

"Enough talking, I don't know who you are, but get out of my way or perish!" Shade snarled as he charged at Shiso, his chakram in his right hand raised to strike.

Shiso simply stood where he was and then, just as Shade was about to reach him, his right hand shot out, firmly grabbing Shade's right wrist. Shiso immediately tightened his grip, producing sickening crunching sounds as Shade's wrist was slowly being crushed.

"Bastard! You just killed yourself!" Shade shouted as an army knife came out of the left sleeve of his trench coat and into his left hand. He then made a stab at Shiso.

Shiso lifted his left hand and swatted at the incoming knife like it was a fly, shattering the blade before it flew out of Shade's hand. Before Shade could do anything else, Shiso spun around and then flung Shade over his shoulder and slammed him into the floor.

The bones of Shade's wrists immediately reassembled themselves and the wounds Shiso inflicted on him regenerated in an instant as he immediately leaped up to his feet.

"This fight won't be like the last time or the time before that." Shiso spoke. "The hagoromo has given me more than enough strength to defeat you!"

Shiso then held out his right arm, which began to glow with a bright energy. The arm then began to change, forming into an almost metallic substance that formed into a long and curved blade.

Shade's eyes widened at this and then he looked at Shiso's face more closely and then recognized him.

"You! The Mikage family progenitor!" Shade exclaimed as he recognized him. He then grinned as he realized what else Shiso said. "I see…so you have that hagoromo from the Mikage in you. Good, then I don't need to worry about the other hagoromo, I'll take yours instead!"

"It won't be so easy!" Shiso shouted as he lunged forward at Shade, thrusting out his blade arm at his enemy.

Shade quickly dodged to the side to evade the blow, but couldn't escape being grazed in the side by the blade's edge. Shade however barely even noticed, as he got Shiso exactly where he wanted. He quickly seized the blade arm with both hands and in a great burst of strength snapped it off. Shade then kicked Shiso away with a back kick to the head.

"Genocide Prelude!" Shade then spun his body to release a rising spin kick in the form of an uppercut. "Genocide Bringer!" Shade then knocked Shiso into the ground with a double descending drop kick. "Genocide Finish!"

"Now to put you out of your misery!" Shade shouted as he raised he drew his chakram and then swung it downwards at Shiso's neck, putting enough force into the blow to slice off his head.

Just before the edge of the weapon could even touch its target, Shiso suddenly rolled over out of the way of the descending blow, causing the chakram to slice through air and into the floor below. Shiso then kicked low, knocking Shade over with a leg sweep, he then shot both his feet out in a donkey-like kick, which caught Shade in mid air and sending him flying back into the wall.

As Shiso got to his feet, Shade straightened himself up so he could reassume his fighting position. He then looked at the stump that had been the blade arm Shiso had formed.

"I'll admit you've become stronger thanks to that hagoromo, but I doubt you can keep up with me with only one arm." Shade sneered at Shiso. "Not to mention I've got plenty more strength where this came from."

"Really? Well, let's see about that." Shiso then held out the stump that had been his right arm and the blade arm suddenly regenerated back into place. "You're not the only one who can regenerate this time…"

"Heh, don't think that's going to save you!" Shade charged forward to deliver a stronger attack on Shiso.

Instead of meeting the attack head on, Shiso leaped aside, out of Shade's way, and then delivered a hard smack Shade with the flat of his blade arm, knocking the mercenary onto the floor before jumping into the air and then did a mid air spin as he brought the blade down in a heavy slashing motion, and the blade sliced deep into Shade's body.

The mercenary snarled and quickly shoved the blade out of him and pushing Shiso back a few feet. Shade then got to his feet as the wound regenerated.

"Bastard, I'm going to enjoy ripping the hagoromo out of you before killing you slowly." Shade growled.

"Don't count on it." Shiso spoke and suddenly his voice shifted to Aki's.

"That's because with our combined strengths it's more like it's two against one, Shade." Aki said.

Meanwhile, Riku, Nagi, and Tot were just standing to the side, alternating between watching the battle unfold and what was happening with Aya and Toya, as were Yuhi, Chidori, Shuro, Maya, and Alec.

"Do you think we need to back him up?" Tot asked Riku, referring to Aki and Shiso.

"Well, he seems to be handling this fight very well." Riku answered. "But I think we should be ready just in case."

"In case of what?" Tot asked in reply.

"I'm not sure…just call it a hunch." Riku replied to her.

"He may be right, Usagi." Nagi spoke. "Something feels different about Shiso and Aki's power when compared to Toya's…"

Meanwhile: Somewhere Else On The Boat:

"Well, this is quite a bit of footage…" Schuldich commented as he looked at the portable video monitor he was carrying, which showed the footage of Shiso and Shade's fight which was taken by the cypher the three Schwartz members had brought along.

"Yes, I'm sure this show of the hagoromo's power will be most impressive to the Patriots." Crawford commented in agreement, as the cipher had taken footage of not just the current battle between Shiso and Shade, but also Toya's arrival and then his fight with Shade. "However, I'm more interested in what I consider the main event…"

"Heh, you mean the demonstration of our pal Nagi's power…" Schuldich grinned as saw Crawford nod as that was what he was interested in the most as well.

"I'm uncomfortable just sitting on the sidelines and just watching a battle." Farfarello complained as he toyed with on of his knives.

"You'll get what you want when we wrap up the next part of our assignment later." Crawford replied simply. "For now, be patient…" He then turned to Schuldich. "The last time you checked with your telepathy, how are our old friends from Weiss holding up against those soldiers we brought with us?"

"Weiss is taking them out without much hindrance, albeit slowly." Schuldich replied. "They won't be interfering in the main event and they'll certainly play their part provided Nagi is able to perform up to your expectations."

"Good." Crawford then looked down and pulled out a small transparent case that held a small disc and looked at it.

(We have the Genome embryos ready for transport to give to 'that person' from the Patriots, we have our 'gift' in this disc ready for delivery, and soon we'll have the data on the Mikage's metal gear phase for C-Project.) Crawford thought to himself. (And as long as Shade remains distracted, he won't figure anything out until it's too late…Everything is going according to plan…)

AN: And that brings this chapter to a close! And another long chapter this one certainly turned out to be (48 pages long to be exact). This chapter was longer than I had originally expected it to turn out. But enough of that.

To GreyWolf4, I hope I presented the Wolf Pack characters that I introduced well enough, and I also hope you liked these fights with Shade. If you thought I had Shade kicked around too easy, then don't worry, he's going to show way more strength come next chapter and the chapter after. You'll see…

Anyway folks, sorry for taking a while to update, but college, as well as Resident Evil 4, and other stuff has kept me busy (thank God for Thanksgiving vacation!). Anyway, I'm sure you'll like the next chapter, where a lot more interesting stuff story-wise will be happening.

Oh yeah, for those of you who don't know, in Japan, the Resident Evil series is called Biohazard, which why Alec and the others called it that, just to let you know (and getting that damn Handcannon in RE4 was tough as hell!). Just felt you should know.


	33. Chapter 32: The End of a Legend

AN: Well folks here I am with the next update. I hope it's to your liking. Sorry for taking a while to update, but I had some trouble here and there with writing some scenes, that and I was preoccupied with stuff from college (a LOT of stuff from there) and other things. Anyway, let's get on with the story.

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Chapter 32: The End of a Legend

Mikage Boat:

Shade threw a shaft of dark energy at Shiso, who brushed it aside before charging forward towards Shade and then swung an energy encased fist at his opponent's head. Shade quickly defended by bringing his right hand up to defend from the blow while using his left to grab Shiso's arm. Shade then swung his enemy to the side and threw him into the wall nearby, practically shattering the wall with his enemy's body.

Shade immediately leaped back and then drew his chakram, quickly charging up an immense amount of dark energy into it. He then unleashed it onto his foe, just as he was beginning to recover.

"Blood Shower!" Shade shouted as the beam of dark energy shot out from his chakram.

The beam blasted straight through Shiso's body and through the wall behind him before causing an explosion further down. Shade narrowed his eyes as he waited for the dust to clear, not letting his guard down for a second as he had learned from his experience from fighting Toya.

A minute later, just as he was expecting, Shiso's counterattack came at him, in the form of an energy beam of his own.

"Fool, using such a predictable counterattack!" Shade shouted holding his chakram out in front of the incoming attack. He then began to spin it, putting this time a large amount of chakra into his hand and the weapon itself. "Applause for the Darkness!"

The moment the beam struck the spinning chakram it was caught and then deflected back in the direction it came. A second later there was a rumbling as the beam's explosion shook the ship.

Shade looked in the direction the beam had gone trying to see if he had gotten Shiso, when suddenly he sensed something below him, and looked down just in time to see the floor below him burst open and Shiso emerged to deliver an uppercut, which caught Shade in the chin sending the mercenary flying back in the air. Before Shade could react, Shiso delivered a powerful midair kick into Shade's side, this time sending the mercenary flying back and this time crashing through the wall near the double doors Toya had destroyed a moment ago.

For a second Shade, lay where he had landed, many of his bones broken and his flesh scraped, bruised, and shredded in many places from the impact, before leaping to his feet, the broken bones instantly resetting themselves and the wounds closing up and regenerating.

(Damn, it's been such a while since I've fought with Yukimura that I've forgotten how much of a pain it is to deal with someone who can regenerate.) Shade thought to himself. (This may take up more time than usual. It seems I need to call forth more power…)

As Shade started to call forth more of his strength, he suddenly noticed something about Shiso when he had a look at his enemy, and immediately a grin crept up on his face as he saw that he had found a possible advantage.

(If I'm correct, then going to sixty percent should be enough for me to finish this fight.) Shade thought, but then had another idea. (But just to finish things quicker, I think I'll call forth seventy percent. This way maybe I can have a little more fun before I end this fight…)

Meanwhile, Riku, Nagi, and Tot were observing the battle, all three ready to jump in if the fight started to turn bad for Shiso and Aki, which at the moment didn't appear to be the case.

"Well it looks like Aki and Shiso are going to win this." Tot commented.

"Maybe…" Riku replied simply.

"What do you mean?" Tot asked. "They're obviously beating Shade up."

"True, but I don't think this Shade is using his full strength yet." Riku answered her. "The fact that he's recovering from each attack thrown at him almost instantly shows he's got plenty more power behind what he's using now. That and there's something that's bothering me…"

"Is it about Shiso's regeneration?" Nagi spoke.

"So you noticed it too, huh Crow?" Riku replied, glancing over at his friend.

"Noticed what?" Tot asked.

"Shiso's regenerating has been slowing down ever since this fight started." Riku answered. "Meanwhile Shade's regenerating almost instantly, and can still fight without any problems."

"You mean, Shiso's losing?" Tot's eyes widened as she understood what was going on and reached for her Muramasa. "Then we have to help them, right?"

"Not just yet…" Riku said. "Let's be sure first; if things keep going as they are, then we step in."

"Okay…" Tot conceded with some reluctance. "But why are you…?"

(Nanami, I think I understand…) Nagi spoke to her. (You remember what you heard about Ceres and Shiso, and how all this started, right?)

(Yes, but…) Tot stopped as she realized what Nagi was getting at. (You mean Shiso really is fighting to try to make things up with Ceres? But didn't he say…)

(That's because his guilt is too much for him to say…no, hope for forgiveness.) Nagi replied. (But he still wants to protect Ceres, even if it's just once…)

(That's because he still loves her, right?) Tot asked and Nagi nodded. (Maybe…maybe now Shiso can tell Ceres that he's sorry so maybe she can forgive him.)

(Maybe…) Nagi's reply was simple and then he lapsed into his own thoughts. (Unfortunately, that may just be wishful thinking though…)

Meanwhile, behind the three, the moment Toya had given the mana to Aya, a pillar of light had enveloped them both momentarily before it shrank back leaving Toya kneeling outside of it. Yuhi and Chidori quickly ran over to him.

"So you gave Aya and Ceres the hagoromo…" Yuhi said as he helped Toya back to his feet. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Toya answered him.

"What about Aya?" Chidori asked.

"She's fine; right now Ceres is in control of her body and she's merging with the hagoromo." Toya replied and stood up. "But right now, there's something I need to do." He then held out his right hand and immediately his stiletto emerged out from his wrist and into his hand.

"Whoah, hold on a second, are you sure you're in any condition to fight?" Shuro spoke.

"There isn't much choice, not if I'm going to save Aki…" Toya replied as he stepped forward in the direction of the fight with Shade.

"What?" Yuhi exclaimed. "What do you mean save him? Both Aki and Shiso look like they're winning."

"Not for very long." Toya said and began to explain. "While I was giving the hagoromo to Ceres she told me something. That the hagoromo the Mikage had Chidori make is incomplete."

"Let me guess, that's a bad thing, right?" Maya spoke, and Toya nodded.

"Exactly." He replied and then continued. "Because the mana is incomplete, it will slowly destroy Aki's body, literally, and the extensive use of its power is only speeding the process up. The fact that he and Shiso are weakening as the fight with that man in black continues is a sign of it."

"Are you serious?" Yuhi practically shouted, his and everyone else's eyes widened as they heard this, though they knew the answer was yes. "Alright, then we're going to give you a hand in this."

"He's right, since you don't have the hagoromo anymore you might not be able to fight like you could last time." Shuro said in agreement.

"And we definitely can't let you get yourself killed again." Yuhi added. "Not on our watch."

"Yeah, you're going to be a father soon, right?" Chidori said. "So it's your responsibility not to die here."

"Not to mention we couldn't face Aya if we just sat back and did nothing." Maya spoke.

For a moment Toya didn't say anything, but suddenly he gave a light smile and then nodded at them.

"I understand, I'm glad to have your assistance." Toya said. "Just be careful, that man in black is powerful…probably more powerful than you can imagine…"

Meanwhile, Riku heard the sound of approaching footsteps from behind and turned to see Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Alec, and Shuro approaching them. He could tell something was up from their expressions.

"What's going on?" Riku asked as Nagi and Tot turned around to see that everyone was there.

"Drakken, there isn't much time to explain, but we have to stop the fight now." Yuhi said. "If we don't both Aki and Shiso are going to die."

That statement alone was enough to get a nod from Riku that he understood the situation.

"Alright, then consider it done." Riku replied and turned to Nagi and Tot. "Get ready…You guys know what to do right?"

The both of them nodded at Riku, who smiled and nodded in reply and quickly held out his right hand.

(Yuki, I'll need as much flame power as you can add into this one attack.) Riku said. (The only way we're going to get a powerful guy like that to direct his attention to us, is with a powerful attack of our own.)

(I won't let you down.) Yuki replied to him.

Riku waited for a moment until he could see an opening in the battle between Shade and Shiso in which he could unleash the planned attack on the mercenary alone without risking causing any damage to Shiso and Aki. Finally he saw one and with a single surge of both his and Yuki's combined power, unleashed the flame attack with a snap of his fingers.

At that moment, Nagi used his psychic powers to shove Shiso away and it was just in time, as Shade suddenly seemed to burst into flames as a gigantic ball of fire burst out from under where the mercenary was standing. At the same time, Toya ran to where Shiso had landed.

As the sudden intense burst of flame seemed to swallow Shade up, Riku immediately called out Saiha's flame blade and got into a fighting position. He could see that Nagi and Tot were also preparing for a counterattack by Shade. While this was because they all knew it would take a great deal more than a single flame attack to bring Shade down, Riku had one other reason for being cautious, and it was because of something only he and Yuki had noticed.

(Just before I snapped my fingers to unleash that attack, he sensed what I was about to do.) Riku thought, clearly remembering seeing Shade's eyes turn to his direction just as he was about to attack. (And from what I've seen of that guys skills, there's no way I could have either somehow beat him in speed or gotten lucky…which means that…)

At the last moment, Riku suddenly sensed Shade's presence and quickly turned in the direction he sensed his enemy coming from, quickly bringing up Saiha's blade in a defensive position. It had been done just in time, as Shade's right hand brought down the chakram it was holding, which clashed against the flame blade.

(If I'd only been a second off, that guy would probably have sliced me in half…) Riku thought, and as he looked into Shade's face, he could see that his previous thoughts had been correct.

A number of second-degree burns were on Shade's arms, legs, and face and they were starting to regenerate.

"Don't you know that it's rude to interrupt a duel, child ninja?" Shade asked Riku mockingly as he pressed the chakram down harder against the fire blade Riku was using in an attempt to break through his defense. "And the way you used your powers of flame on me…I was expecting better…"

(Damn it, I hate being right!) Riku thought, gritting his teeth as he put more strength into maintaining his defense and at the same time trying to figure out a way to break free of this battle of physical strength, a battle he was losing, as his thoughts just before Shade's counterattack occurred were confirmed. (This guy…he let himself get hit on purpose…either because dodging was too much of a bother to him…or because he wanted to test me…either way this isn't good, especially since that flame had enough heat intensity to burn up a normal person so much there wouldn't even be bones left…)

(Riku, jump away now!) Yuki's voice shouted to him in his mind.

Riku suddenly felt Saiha's flame blade detach itself from his wrist, and, already having an idea what Yuki was planning, quickly leaped back.

Immediately the flame blade burst out in a fireball, which enveloped Shade's face and arms in a small explosion.

"Nice one, Yuki." Riku said out loud in thanks.

(Unfortunately, that trick only bought me a way out of that predicament…) Riku thought to himself, so as not to sound ungrateful to the spirit bound to him. (It won't do any lasting damage to someone like this…)

As the smoke cleared, Riku brought out Saiha's flame blade once again, while Nagi charged up a psychic blast and Tot prepared to attack with her Muramasa katana, but what they saw shocked them.

Shade was just standing where he was, using his free left hand to dust himself off, the wounds from the large fire blast Riku had used on him, along with whatever wounds Yuki's trick had inflicted on him, were gone. Shade then looked at Riku with a disappointed sigh.

"Really, is this all you have to offer me?" He asked Riku. "Because if it is, then I must say that your ancestors of the Hokage clan must be rolling over in their graves. Are you really a ninja, or just a magician with a bunch of cheap magic tricks?"

"Oh don't worry, kenin, I have a lot more to offer you than that." Riku said calmly, knowing full well that insult was just a trick to get him to attack recklessly in anger. "One thing I should mention to you, and that's that you're mistaken about this battle…"

Riku suddenly dashed forward at Shade as if to perform his 'Dragon Claw Slash' technique.

"Mistaken? You're the one who's mistaken if you think you can…" Shade was about to counter the incoming attack when Riku suddenly surprised him by leaping to the side, just before coming into attack range for either of them. Shade looked and saw Nagi was standing exactly where Riku had been before he had charged at him.

"Psyche Shot!" Nagi shouted as he successfully fired a sphere of psychic energy, which caught Shade in the stomach, knocking the air out of the mercenary's lungs and sending him flying backwards.

"Heh, better than the last trick." Shade commented with a grin as he put his feet onto the floor to slow himself down before he struck the wall behind him. He then grabbed the ball of energy and pulled it away. "Unfortunately, that will not be…"

Suddenly, Tot seemed to just appear in front of him, and Shade, his hands full, was unable to defend against her attack.

"Mizuchi!" Tot shouted as she executed a powerful slash with her katana, the force of it combining with the moisture in the air and slashing through the ball, Shade's hands, and cutting deep into his stomach and chest.

Tot then immediately jumped back until she was standing right next to Nagi, and it was just in time, as the ball of psychic energy, having been penetrated from Tot's attack, exploded in Shade's hands.

A second later the mercenary emerged from the dust created by the explosion, his hands and arms had been completely blown off by it, and by the look on Shade's face, it was easy to tell he was pissed.

"I was going to let you two live a little longer than your leader, but…" Shade stopped as he saw Riku wasn't with them. He suddenly felt something stab him in the back from behind.

Shade turned to see Riku standing behind him holding a kunai, which was now stuck into the mercenary's back.

"Let me finish, you were mistaken in…" Riku spoke, but Shade, with a growl of annoyance, grabbed the young ninja's neck with his newly regenerated left hand.

"Now who is it that talks too much?" Shade grinned as he intensified his grip, snapping his enemy's neck as if it were a small twig. Shade's grin vanished though, the moment the corpse of his enemy suddenly turned into a puff of smoke.

Shade suddenly heard something above him, and looked up just in time to see the real Riku descend down onto him from the ceiling where he had hidden himself during the confusion caused by Nagi and Tot's attack. Before Shade could move out of the way, Riku used Saiha's blade to execute a powerful downward slash that cut into the back of Shade's head and went down all the way through his back.

"You were mistaken in thinking you were fighting an heir to the Hokage alone." Riku finished his sentence to the mercenary, who was staggering from the attack. "Unlike the last fight, you're fighting an heir of the Hokage clan and his nakama."

(Looks like your plan worked, Nagi.) Riku commented to his partner.

(Helps to have a nakama who can use telepathy to help plan attacks, doesn't it?) Nagi asked in reply.

(You've got that right.) Riku nodded with a grin in appreciation. (Anyway, let's finish this fight.)

Riku then prepared to attack Shade, who was still staggering as the wounds inflicted upon him began to regenerate. But just as he was about to make his attack, Shade suddenly stopped staggering and grinned.

"Nice try…" He said, and suddenly flipped over onto his left hand and did a powerful roundabout spinning kick, which caught Riku in the side and sent the young ninja flying to the side and crashing into the pews of the chapel.

Shade then got back onto his feet, the wounds inflicted on him by Riku, Nagi, and Tot's coordinated attack closing up and regenerating in less than a few seconds. He then turned and charged at Nagi and Tot.

Nagi quickly put up a barrier to defend against Shade's attack, but Shade had been expecting that.

"Hiding behind a barrier, such a predictable move for a psychic!" Shade was grinning as he saw this was going to be easy. He then attacked with a single yet powerful back kick. "Genocide Prelude!"

The mercenary's attack broke through the barrier, shattering it like glass. Shade then shifted into his next attack on the now defenseless psychic.

"Genocide Bri-!" Shade's attack was interrupted as Tot stepped in swinging her Muramasa down with as much force as possible at Shade's incoming right leg just before it struck Nagi, slicing off the lower part of Shade's leg.

Shade, more annoyed than infuriated at this, turned and struck Tot in the stomach with an open palm attack sending her flying back towards the wall.

(The impact should knock her out or at least injure her enough so that she won't go anywhere.) Shade thought as he regenerated his leg and was returning his attention to Nagi. (I'll make sure that girl pays me back for that injury for days before I finally kill her, though depending on how good she turns out to be as a personal whore and whipping board will…)

Shade's thoughts were interrupted as Tot suddenly froze in mid air and was deposited safely to the ground. Shade immediately saw it was Nagi's doing, and took advantage of the young psychic's vulnerability.

"You should think about yourself in battle, you fool!" Shade then swung his fist at Nagi's face only to have it stopped and held by telekinesis just before it struck the young psychic.

"I guess that's what makes us different!" Nagi replied, anger in his voice. His blue eyes then began to glow a red color as his telekinesis surged and crushed Shade's fist. He then looked into Shade's face and immediately, the mercenary felt an invisible force slam into his face with the force of a jackhammer, followed by another and another and more, each one with slightly more force than the last that mercilessly pummeled the mercenary's head.

While he was doing this, Nagi drew out his berretta with his right hand and stuck it into Shade's stomach before emptying the entire clip into his enemy at point blank range. Nagi then began to focus on intensifying the psychic pummels to Shade's head, when suddenly Shade spoke.

"Enough." He said simply, and with that Shade curled his left hand into a fist and slammed it hard into Nagi's stomach, stopping his attack and knocking the air out of the young psychic's lungs.

"Did you enjoy having that little temper tantrum?" Shade asked as he looked down at Nagi, the injuries to his face regenerating along with his crushed right fist. Before Nagi could react, Shade then swung his left fist, striking the right side of Nagi's head and hard.

Ignoring the pain of both previous blows, Nagi concentrated on his telekinesis, this time concentrating his powers on where Shade's heart was, fully intent on using his powers to stop his enemy's heart. For a moment he thought it was working when Shade suddenly froze, but…

"Using your powers to attack my heart, another typical tactic for a psychic." Shade spoke with disappointment in his voice, which was calm, and a look by Nagi into his face showed that Shade was completely unaffected by what he was doing. "It's always either the heart or the throat and windpipe. Such things…"

Nagi then intensified his psychic grip on Shade's heart until he was sure he crushed it, but Shade's expression did not change.

"You should have let me finish, then I would have told you such attacks are completely useless against me." Shade grinned and with his right hand he brought out his chakram and then held it up. "Anyway, I'm bored, time to end this…"

Shade then swung his chakram down at Nagi's head, completely intent on splitting his enemy's skull, when suddenly both of Nagi's hands shot up and grabbed Shade's wrist, barely stopping the blow from descending.

"Looks like you're not as physically weak as you look, boy." Shade commented. "Too bad that was a futile effort…" Shade suddenly stopped when he felt a strange feeling in his right arm. It was like energy was leaving it rapidly. Shade then looked at Nagi and saw some of the bruise to the young psychic's face as a result of the blow he inflicted heal and recede.

(An energy draining skill?) Shade thought, as he wasn't expecting this.

"You weren't expecting this were you?" Nagi smiled. "Soul Drive EX!"

Shade was about to counter Nagi's move when suddenly, a feedback explosion of psychic energy struck him, while only knocking Nagi away without injuring the young psychic, who landed on his feet a few meters back unharmed while Shade took the damage of the explosion.

"So you managed to pull off a couple of surprises on me after all." Shade commented as the wounds caused by the explosion regenerated. "Good, at least now this won't be an entirely disappointing kill to claim…"

Shade was about to step forward and attack, but stopped when he suddenly sensed something coming at him, but it was too late for him to dodge.

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku shouted as zipped past Shade from behind, inflicting a deep gash into Shade's back with Saiha's blade as he passed by.

Before Shade could turn around, Tot suddenly appeared behind him, and for a brief second, seemed to freeze with her sword out as she stood next to her opponent, before she executed a powerful downward slash on Shade's back. As she did, the background around her began to show falling flower petals.

"Sacred Blossom Slash!" Tot shouted as she completed the technique and returned her Muramasa to its scabbard, and then leaped back out of range of a counter attack from Shade.

Shade merely grunted at this and though the two attacks left very deep cuts into his back, Shade still stood up and the wounds regenerated. He then looked at all three of the fighters challenging him. Nagi had recovered from most of the blows Shade had inflicted on him because of that surprise he had pulled over with his 'Soul Drive EX' attack, Tot had only received minimal damage from the blow to the stomach and because Nagi had prevented her from crashing into the wall from the blow she was practically unharmed, and Riku despite a some minor cuts and bruises caused by the impact of both Shade's kick and the resulting crash, along with a few splinters from crashing into the pews, had been protected from receiving too much damage by his sneaking suit. Basically all three could still fight.

"Ready to continue?" Riku asked him as he gathered flames into his left hand, while keeping Saiha's blade in a position where depending on whatever move Shade made, he'd be able to shift to an attacking or defending position quickly.

"The three of us won't go down so easy." Nagi said as he called on more of his psychic powers so however Shade chose to attack, he'd be able to use his powers quick enough to counter it.

"So don't expect an easy battle." Tot added as she brought her Muramasa out in a position similar to Riku's so she could also switch between an attacking or defending position quickly.

Shade looked at his three opponents and started to laugh.

"Oh, this is just rich…" Shade shook his head. "You think just because you've pulled off a couple of fast ones on me that you stand a chance against my power? Ha, what a bunch of simple minded fools you are." Shade then grinned. "Would you like me to tell you a little secret? The real reason you three haven't died yet?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued.

"The reason is quite simple…it's been such a long time since I've used this much power in battle that ever since I called upon it, I've just been warming up just to get used to wielding it properly again." He continued. "Actually, I'd count the fight with the carrier and then the one with the progenitor as my warm up, the fight with you lot would count as…a nice cool down period before the real fun begins!"

Shade then suddenly seemed to vanish into thin air. For a moment, Riku's eyes widened as he had completely lost sight of his enemy, and it was the same with Nagi, Tot, and Yuhi, Chidori, Shuro, Maya, who were for the moment just watching the fight. Toya and Shiso were walking over to them, apparently Toya had informed him of what Ceres had told him about the mana. It was at that moment Riku realized what Shade was planning. Riku concentrated his vision and senses as best he could, and finally saw his enemy.

"You wish! Nadare!" Riku shouted as he drew the dragon's kanji, 'slide', and immediately multiple fireballs appeared and rapidly fired in the area between Shade was and where Toya and Shiso were.

Shade quickly halted his dash towards Toya and Shiso, and leaped back to avoid Riku's attack. He then turned and looked at Riku before suddenly vanishing from the young ninja's sight.

What happened next, Riku did not even see coming. He suddenly felt a sudden powerful impact strike him hard in the stomach, the force of it not only knocking the breath out of him but also causing extreme pain. Then came a second blow, an upper one that caught him up under the chin, the force of it was just as hard as the previous one. Before Riku could do anything else, before he could even attempt to look for his assailant, he was suddenly roughly grabbed by the throat and then his back was slammed against the wall.

Now that his enemy was standing in one place, Riku looked into Shade's face.

"Generosity, that was my first mistake." Shade said as he looked at Riku with a smirk. "I decide to let you and your group live for a few more minutes because you provided me with some entertainment and you suddenly go and make trouble for me." Shade then made a mocking sigh. "Shows you…sooner or later you must answer for every good deed…"

Shade then stopped and glanced back to see Nagi and Tot charging at him from behind, both ready to attack him and rescue Riku. Shade merely sighed.

"If you're even going to try to rescue your leader, then you should make your approach less obvious!" Shade waited until the two came in range and then, still firmly holding Riku, leaped into mid air. He then made a powerful mid air kick into Tot's side, quickly landed onto his feet, and delivered a punch to her stomach, which sent her back and colliding with Nagi.

"No need to rush things, I'll deal with you soon enough." Shade said as he returned his attention to Riku. "Now then, before I send you to join your ancestors, boy, I have a few questions regarding your clan…"

"Up yours…" Riku growled defiantly.

"I'm giving you a chance to avoid quite a bit of pain and suffering by simply answering my questions, boy." Shade replied, not the least bit phased by the young ninja's retort. "Do that, and I promise I'll give you and each of your friends a quick and painless death, including the women. There you see, I'm even making a sacrifice on my part for both our sakes, as long as you comply I won't even touch those girls before I kill…"

"You're not killing anyone today!" Yuhi's voice shouted from behind, causing Shade's eyes to widen in surprise as he looked back just in time to see Yuhi plunge his iron chopsticks deep into his back, specifically the area where the spine was. Immediately, the tennyo's symbol appeared on Yuhi's headband and the energy from within it traveled from the chopsticks into Shade, causing the mercenary extreme pain and also causing him to drop Riku, who quickly jumped away from his enemy, as did Yuhi.

"Chidori, now!" Yuhi shouted to Chidori, who nodded and then used her tennyo powers to call forth as much lightning as possible concentrating every bolt onto the metal chopsticks Yuhi had used, which attracted the bolts just like a lightning rod.

Shade screamed in pain as the electricity went directly into his body and causing intense damage to him both on the inside and outside of his body. For a moment he seemed to hang there in place as the electricity from Chidori's attack fried him from the inside, before Chidori's attack ended and Shade collapsed to the ground.

"Thanks a lot." Riku said to Yuhi and then turned to Chidori. "You too, Chidori. Nice trick you two pulled. You two certainly saved my life."

"Don't think we're just going to let you guys do all the fighting." Yuhi said in reply with a smile.

"Yeah, besides, you guys helped save me so I'm returning the favor." Chidori called over to Riku, who grinned and nodded his thanks.

Riku's attention then turned to Nagi and Tot and he went over to them.

"Are you two alright?" He asked with concern since he remembered how they had taken some injury from Shade's last attack.

"I'm fine." Nagi answered and then turned to Tot. "What about you Nana-Usagi? Are you okay? I mean…"

"I'm fine, Crow." Tot smiled at Nagi, glad that he was showing such concern for her. "I think the suit protected me from most of that guy's kick and punch, so I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Nagi asked, but wasn't answered as Tot suddenly noticed something and reached over and touched Nagi's right cheek, causing the young psychic to flinch a little as she touched the bruise caused by Shade's blow from earlier.

"Did you get that after you saved me back there?" Tot asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Well…uh…" Nagi paused when he saw Tot had a bit of a remorseful look on her face. "I-it's alright, Usagi! I mean, it's just a little bruise…and besides it's…it's really a small price to pay if it…"

Nagi didn't finish as Tot suddenly walked over to him and then leaned over and kissed him where the bruise was. Causing the young psychic to blush furiously.

"Does it feel better, Nagi?" Tot asked hopefully.

"Uh…uh…yeah, it does." Nagi answered nervously which was technically an honest answer, since he didn't feel any pain at all on his cheek at the moment, which caused Tot to smile at him.

"I'm glad, Nagi." Tot said, now cheered up by what she just heard, and then remembered. "Whoops…I mean Crow."

"I hate to break this up you two, but…" Riku finally spoke reluctantly. "We do still have the mission and all…" Riku then paused as he remembered something and then looked down a bit to avoid his friends' gaze. "One thing, though, you two did get injured trying to rescue me from that Shade guy, so I'm sorry about…"

"You don't have to apologize, Drakken." Nagi said. "You'd have done the same if either of us were in the same situation, right? Besides, we're nakama, aren't we?"

For a moment, Riku didn't say anything and then smiled in reply at his two partners.

"Yeah, nakama." He said, with a grin.

"Uh…but wasn't our attack being noticed by Shade part of the plan?" Tot spoke with a slightly confused look on her face.

"What's this?" Riku spoke.

"Well, when that mercenary grabbed you, I contacted Nagi over the codec and we worked out the best way to make a surprise attack on the guy." Yuhi spoke, answering Riku's question.

"So we were sort of expecting Shade to notice us attacking." Nagi added.

"Well, that does make sense…" Riku nodded. "Anyway, let's hurry up and make sure that…"

"A clever scheme from a bunch of insects…" Shade's voice spoke, causing everyone to turn to see the mercenary get up.

Shade still had the same injuries from Chidori's attack, yet he grinned at his enemies like he didn't have them. Suddenly, something seemed to flicker around Shade, and a moment later, the injuries around him just vanished.

"That little stunt was quite the surprise, I admit." Shade said calmly. "But far from enough to really knock me unconscious. I was simply pretending so I would have enough time to properly regenerate, and the fact that you all were so stupid as to blurt out your strategy was an added bonus. To think all I needed was to use simple genjutsu to make it look like I was still wounded."

As he heard that, Riku gritted his teeth in self-frustration.

(Damn it, I should have noticed something was wrong when those wounds didn't regenerate!) Riku thought to himself.

"Now then, since you all seem so eager to fight me, then by all means." Shade grinned as he cracked his knuckles and a large dark aura began to resonate around him. "I've cooled down enough that I can properly control the rest of my power without having to worry about accidentally killing you all before I get a chance to truly get some fun out of this!"

Shade suddenly dashed forward, almost quicker than the eye could follow, the dark aura still resonating around him.

"Don't be so sure of yourself!" Riku shouted defiantly. "Nadare!"

Immediately the dragon's fireballs appeared and fired directly at the incoming enemy.

"Charging head on was a bad idea!" Nagi added as he charged up an extremely powerful energy shot, composed of numerous smaller energy shots combined into a single sphere, and threw it at a quick speed at his enemy. "Hyper Psyche Shot!"

"Water Snake!" Tot shouted as she slashed towards Shade, sending snake-like water apparition towards him.

To help, Chidori called down a series of thunderbolts, all aimed at Shade.

For a moment it seemed like these attacks would hit Shade head on, but at the last second, Shade, with a contemptuous sneer, halted his advance and with his right hand, which was surrounded entirely by the dark aura, swatted the incoming attacks aside in a rapid succession. The look on his face showing that he had done little if any effort at all in doing this.

"Heh, pathetic and completely futile." Shade commented on the combined attack on him. He then held out his right hand and began charging up a large amount of dark energy into the palm of his hand. "Now which of you fools wishes to be the first to…"

"Everyone, get out of the way, now!" Shuro shouted, causing everyone to turn to her just in time to see what Shuro was about to do. Immediately the group ran out of her way, just in time for Shuro to unleash a powerful and condensed wave of sound created by her tennyo powers at Shade.

The moment the wave struck him, Shade was completely caught off guard as he wasn't expecting so powerful an attack from someone who had only attacked him once before (an attack which didn't do much damage), and didn't appear to be very powerful at all.

The magnitude of the sound wave not only cancelled the attack Shade had been charging but also completely ripped the flesh off his right hand before completely disintegrating the bone, along with dissipating dark aura around him. Immediately the wave began tearing flesh off from Shade's arms, legs, and face along with ripping apart anything else in its path, decorating the area around and behind Shade with his blood. Shade was suddenly finding himself being forced back.

(How in the hell can that woman wield that much power?) Shade wondered and then looked closer at Shuro to find that her face was strained as she was fighting to maintain control of the attack. Shade immediately grinned at what he saw. (I see…so she can barely control what she's doing. So once again this bunch proves to only give me small surprises. I'll just need to go up by one percent more of my power to deal with this trifle.)

Immediately Shade gave a sharp cry and the dark aura from before returned and once again resonated around him. Almost in an instant, his hand regenerated along with every single wound Shuro's attack had inflicted on him. With a triumphant grin Shade continued his advance towards his enemies, taking one step at a time since the sound wave, though now harmless to him, was still slowing him a little.

Shuro's eyes widened as she saw that her attack wasn't affecting Shade at all anymore.

(How is he…is that aura surrounding him protecting him?) She wondered. (I don't know if I can use anymore power, not without…)

"Shuro-san, please get ready to stop your attack." Maya spoke, causing Shuro to turn to her to see that the girl was standing next to her, her expression completely serious. "As soon as I transform, I'll handle this. 'It' should be enough…"

"What are you…?" Shuro began with some confusion on her face as she wasn't entirely sure what Maya was planning.

"Maya, are you sure about this?" Yuhi spoke, since he and Chidori knew what Maya was about to do.

"You don't have to if it's too…" Chidori was about to add, but Maya simply smiled at the two and nodded.

"It's alright, you guys, but thank you for your concern." Maya said sincerely, as she reached up to her face and removed her glasses and then handed them to Riku along with their case. "Would you mind holding onto these for a while?"

"Not at all." Riku replied to her as he put the glasses into their case and then the case into a pocket on his vest. "But like those two said, you sure about this? I mean I was told to some extent about…"

"And like I said, it's alright." Maya said and averted her gaze slightly from everyone. "What happened back then was my fault. Whether it happened because I couldn't control my powers or my emotions then doesn't change anything, and that's something I'll have to live with. Besides…" Her gaze then turned to Shade with a determined look on her face. "I would rather deal with all that guilt a hundred times over than let this freak hurt even one of my friends!"

Immediately a light aura began to resonate around Maya. Her hair then changed to a dark blue color as it became longer, all the way down to her waist. A moment later she stood there, her appearance looking very similar to Ceres'. She looked over at Shuro, who nodded in understanding and then stopped the wave of sound and then going back to her normal human form, this causing Shade to stop for a second in surprise. That stop was likely a mistake for Shade.

Suddenly, a large white dog shaped apparition surrounded almost entirely by light materialized in front of Maya. The light surrounding it, made it hard to see what the apparition actually looked like. Maya then looked down at the white dog with a neutral expression.

"Go. Stop him." Maya said simply, gesturing at Shade, and without making a sound, the dog charged at the mercenary in black.

"Heh, this thing again, stupid girl." Shade sneered at Maya, remembering the last time this happened. He then reached his hand up to swat away the approaching white dog just like he did with Riku and co.'s combined attack against him. "A useless effort! I'm using far more power than when I…" Shade stopped as the dog suddenly sprang towards Shade in a sudden burst of speed the mercenary was not expecting, its jaws opened fully intent on using its fangs on its target. Shade quickly swung at the incoming enemy only to receive a very nasty surprise.

Shade's hand passed straight through the dog without inflicting any sort of damage. Just before the white dogs jaws snapped at Shade's face, the mercenary did a sudden and quick sidestep, smoothly dodging the attack.

(What the hell is going on?) Shade thought in confusion. (Last time, I could touch that thing and repel it, but why can't I do that now? I know that thing isn't insubstantial; if those fangs had bitten me then the effect would have been the same as if…)

Shade's thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly felt a sudden intense pain in his right hand and forearm. He turned to it just in time to see his hand suddenly rip apart all the way up his forearm, spraying his blood everywhere. The wound looked like the tearing fangs of some sort of animal had caused it. At the same time a pain similar to the on caused by Yuhi's iron chopsticks lanced through his arm.

Shade gritted his teeth as he bore this combination of pains. Just as he was about to regenerate the wounds, Shade suddenly sensed the white dog coming back at him to make another attack and quickly dashed out of its way. As he did this, he fired a beam of dark energy from his left hand at his assailant, only to be rewarded with frustration as it simply passed through the white dog without affecting it.

Shade quickly leaped away out of the dog's attack range while regenerating his arm and hand. As the process occurred, Shade stared back at the white dog.

(How do I deal with something like this?) He wondered. (I first thought it was just a tennyo's version of a shikigami, but it seems I was wrong. There's something about it that doesn't fit, but what could it be?)

Just as Shade was about to ponder further, a distraction came to him in the form of a strange numbness that was starting to spread throughout his right arm. Shade concentrated his powers on his arm and suddenly the feeling vanished.

(What the hell was that just now?) Shade wondered, but as the feeling had passed there was no way for Shade to identify it now. (Bah, must be my imagination. Besides…) Shade's gaze then shifted to Maya. (The easiest way to deal with these things is to kill the ones controlling them. A bit of a waste though, I would have enjoyed a comely girl like that for at least one night…)

Shade then drew his chakram out and began to focus as much energy into it as he could.

(No more firing regular energy shots, time to start taking things a bit more seriously.) He thought as he prepared to unleash the attack, aiming for the white dog.

"It's over now!" Shade shouted as he fired the geyser of energy from his chakram. "Blood Shower!"

The beam quickly headed for the white dog, but, just before it struck its target, suddenly split into two separate beams, one larger and more powerful than the second one. The larger one immediately took a different direction from the other, which was still headed for the white dog, and headed straight for Maya instead.

(Damn I should have expected this!) Riku thought as he quickly prepared to call upon the dragon, Madoka, for his barrier, while Nagi prepared to create a psychic barrier. However what stopped the attack was neither of their doing.

A beam suddenly shot out from Shiso's hands, countering Shade's attack just before it reached Maya. Toya, who was standing next to him, looked at him seriously.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." He said seriously. "I know you heard what I told Shiso about the mana, Aki."

"Sorry about that." Aki replied and noticed Riku and Nagi. "I guess I should have seen what you two were about to do…I guess what I did was kind of a reflex." He then turned to Maya. "Are you okay?"

"What? Um…yes, I am. Thank you." Maya replied to Aki, blushing a little.

Meanwhile, Shade clenched his fist in frustration as he saw his attack didn't work.

(If I charge directly at them, then at least one will probably notice me and protect that girl, which would give that white dog an opening to attack me.) Shade thought to himself as he analyzed the situation. (And they can just defend from any long-range attacks I send at them, at least at this current level of power I'm using. It seems like a waste, but it appears as if I…)

Suddenly, the eye Shade was keeping on the white dog saw it shimmer and then vanish, which definitely caught the mercenary's attention.

(Did the girl call it off?) He wondered since he couldn't feel the white dog's presence anymore. His question was answered as the presence reappeared, right behind him.

Shade was about to dodge when the dog suddenly sprang at him. Shade ducked, but the dogs fangs managed to rip into his back as it passed by him. The same pain as before lanced through his back, followed by the same numbness when the wounds quickly regenerated except this time it was more intense than before, causing Shade to falter and giving the dog another chance to attack.

Shade gritted his teeth as the dog's fangs now tore into his left leg as it charged by him. As he regenerated the wound and felt the same numbness as before, Shade narrowed his eyes as he figured out what was happening to him, but he needed some confirmation first. He then began to mutter some incantations under his breath while waiting for the white dog to make its next attack.

As the dog sprang at Shade, the mercenary's arms shot up and his hands immediately closed on his attacker's muzzle. Shade grinned victoriously as he saw his theory was correct and then hurled the white dog away from him.

(So that was it…this thing isn't a shikigami at all.) Shade thought. (The only reason I was having a bit of a problem was because I was fighting it wrong. Now that I know its true nature, I can deal with both the creature and its controller.)

Shade then began pressing his hands together forming many different hand signs while muttering an incantation. Immediately a circle of various symbols began appearing around him. As Shade was continuing the incantation, the white dog leaped at him only to be repelled by a barrier that suddenly appeared in between it and Shade an threw the white dog back.

After a minute, Shade completed his incantation. As soon as he did, a bright light burst forth from his hands and struck the white dog, causing it to double over and fall to the ground with a yelp.

At the same time, Maya gave a cry of pain before falling over. Aki, despite his condition, quickly ran over to Maya and caught her before she fell while Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Shuro, Alec, and Toya ran over to her.

"Maya, are you…" Chidori began, but what happened next stopped her and everyone else's questions of concern.

With a flash of light, Maya shifted from her tennyo form back to her normal self. With a light groan she reached for her forehead as if she had headache.

"Are you alright, Maya?" Chidori asked.

"I'm fine, Chidori, that thing that guy used hurt for a second but it's gone now…" Maya looked in the direction the white dog was in, squinting slightly to get a better look since she didn't have her glasses on.

"Almost forgot…" Riku took out the case that held Maya's glasses and opened it before handing it to her. "You're probably going to need these, right?"

"Thank you." Maya replied as she took them and out them back on. She then turned her attention back to where the white dog was lying, only to see it suddenly vanish from her sight.

"Not good…" Riku mumbled as he could see that they'd now have to fight Shade again.

(There's no question about it now, this guy's got to be an immortal. That's the only way to explain how he knows about my clan, has a connection to my grandmother, and can take all this and come back for more no matter what we do.) Riku thought. (Since he was able to repel even that white dog, we're now completely outclassed, or rather we were outclassed from the very beginning, just like Michael and my grandmother warned. Just how do we fight something that can't die?) Riku's eyes narrowed as he looked at Shade, who was standing where he was, his black eyes calmly studying the group in front of him, Riku had no clue what his enemy was doing as the man's position betrayed no hint as to what he was about to do next. (Also…why hasn't he made a move yet? Is he preparing to attack?)

(I don't know either, Riku.) Yuki spoke. (I can't feel anything from Shade at all…)

(I see, and if you can't feel anything from him…) Riku glanced over at Nagi to see that his partner was obviously trying to use some telepathy to get at least a hint of what their enemy was about to do, but with no success. (…then neither can Nagi.)

While Riku was deep in thought, Maya's thoughts were on something else; something she had seen for a brief instant before the white dog vanished.

(It really is different from before…) Maya thought to herself. (Not only does it feel different like the last time I called it out to protect Aya, but it's appearance…underneath all that light surrounding it…the white dog almost looked like…no, NO! It's impossible!)

"Is something wrong?" Aki asked Maya, interrupting her thoughts, as he noticed there was something about her expression that didn't seem right.

"What…oh, it's nothing…" Maya answered quickly, Aki's voice bringing her back to reality and forcing her to push her previous thoughts aside.

(Maybe I'm just fooling myself…no matter how much I'd like it…someone who's dead can't just come back to life.) She thought. (There's no way it could have been him…)

Meanwhile Shade too was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

(So the dog's fangs had some sort of curse in them, that's why my body began to feel numb every time it bit me.) Shade thought to himself. (If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have figured out that dog was a spiritual creature and not a mere shikigami as quickly. It's been a while since I've had to use my onmyouji abilities in battle…) Shade's thoughts then shifted back to the white dog. (Still…the powers granted to me by that ancient god on that freakish island so long ago, along with the Orochi's powers should make me immune to curses…)

Immediately Shade's lips curled back in a grin as he realized what this meant.

(How interesting…the power of the tennyo must truly be formidable if its power can make me feel even the slightest effect of a curse without my having to call upon my more arcane abilities for aid. This is truly a power I must have for myself.) He thought, gleeful at the prospects before him. Suddenly his thoughts turned back to what happened with the white dog when he used his onmyouji abilities on it. (One thing seems out of place though…that spell should have not only gotten rid of that dog spirit instantly, but also have killed its controller, yet the girl is alive.) Shade's eyes narrowed as a possible answer came to mind. (Could it be…did the dog somehow protect the girl from the spell's effects? It's unlikely since most spiritual creatures that are summoned don't give a damn about their summoners, that and it would have taken a great deal of power on the creature's side to…)

Shade's thoughts were interrupted as a sensation of relief came over his body. It signaled that any effect from the white dog's fangs had been completely cleansed from his body, which was the main reason why he hadn't attacked yet. Shade probably could have fought without ridding himself of the effects and not have any trouble at all, but he wasn't in the mood to take chances.

(No matter…) He thought to himself. (Even if that girl can recall that spirit back, it will be useless against me. Now that my power knows how to deal with that thing's fangs, it won't affect me in the slightest anymore…)

Shade grinned at his enemies and then spoke out to them.

"I'll admit it, you lot have managed to prove yourselves to be quite the entertainers." He said. "It's been a while since I've seen such an array of special abilities…a pity it's all going to waste." Shade then drew his chakram and got into a fighting position. "I welcome you all to the end of your lives and I promise that it's going to hurt."

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Toya looked at one another, knowing what had to be done and quickly took a defensive position around Chidori, Maya, Shuro, Aki, and Alec.

"You know that no matter what we can't let this guy get even an inch past us." Toya said to them, his eyes on Shade and ready to give it his all to help in stopping him.

"I think we've kinda figured that part…" Riku admitted with a slight smile despite the fact that they were about to fight an immensely powerful foe. "Anyway, you can count on us to fight at your side all the way through…"

"I'm sure if we fight this guy as one, we can buy enough time for Ceres to merge with the hagoromo." Yuhi said as he took out his last pair of iron chopsticks and held them in a defensive position. "At the very least, I hope we can do that…"

"We'll find out soon enough." Nagi said as he prepared for Shade to attack. He then glanced over at Tot. "Ready…Nanami?"

"You bet, Nagi." Tot replied with a smile, all the while having her Muramasa ready and keeping her eyes on Shade. "Let's show this guy how nakama fight."

"Don't worry, we'll cover you." Chidori spoke to them from behind, indicating her and Shuro with their tennyo powers.

"How much time do you have left for the nanos?" Yuhi asked, his tone serious.

"Fifteen minutes starting now." Shuro answered him. "Don't worry, when the time limit gets close to ending, we'll change back."

Yuhi nodded and was about to return his attention to Shade when he suddenly felt someone lightly touch his arm, causing him to glance back to see that it was Chidori.

"You don't have to be worried about me this time, Yuhi…" She said in a low voice so only he could hear, and then smiled up to him. "After all, we promised right?"

"Yeah, I remember." He smiled at her in reply and nodded. "And I intend to keep my end of the promise too…"

Shade, who had been observing the exchange between his enemies smirked and then spoke to them.

"Well, I've given you more than enough time to say your last peaces to each other…" Shade then grinned, as he knew that with this single strike he'd annihilate every single one of those standing in front of him with ease no matter what they did. "Now then…are you ready for the pain?"

Without even waiting for an answer Shade suddenly dashed towards them at a speed almost too quick for the eye to follow, his chakram raised to throw. As Riku and co. prepared to counter their enemies strike, Shade suddenly vanished.

Riku's eyes widened as he and everyone else with him tried to find their enemy before he could make whatever attack he had planned. Suddenly Riku felt something just appear behind him, something that he didn't have to look to know who it was.

(I didn't even sense movement, or anything!) Riku thought as he felt a sudden fear begin to build up in his chest as he whirled around as quick as he could, though somewhere in the back of his mind he knew no matter what he did, there was no way he could prevent Shade from attacking.

As Riku's eyes fell upon the mercenary, who was calmly standing behind him, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Toya, he suddenly felt, for the first time, his enemy's power as Shade's cold black eyes seemed to stare down into his own. A feeling that seemed to squeeze his heart and paralyze him, making him unable to even speak to try to call out in warning to those around him.

(Move! Move!) He commanded his body, as he fought to break free of this feeling. (If he's still standing there, then at least I can try to…)

"Hmm…only two seemed to have the ability to sense me even if it is at the last minute." Shade spoke lowly to himself as he raised up his chakram to strike.

As Shade spoke, Riku's eyes strayed a bit to see Toya was also facing Shade. Except he didn't seem to be affected by the feeling of Shade's power at all, and looked like he was about to try to attack Shade before he could strike and at the same time call out to warn everyone else.

It all seemed to be happening in slow motion to Riku, who was amazed at Toya, and at the same time ashamed of himself for the fear that was paralyzing him. All of this immediately caused a thought to come to mind.

(What am I doing…?) He wondered. (This is just like before during my first assignment where I had to choose running away from battle or staying for my comrades…I made the right choice then, so I won't screw it up! I cannot and will not let my nakama down!)

Suddenly, Riku felt that feeling of fear vanish in an instant and a kunai shuriken came into his left hand while he brandished Saiha's blade at his right wrist. Alongside Toya, he lunged towards Shade and at the same time shouting as loud as he could.

"He's behind us!" He and Toya shouted almost in unison as they prepared to make their attack in hopes of stopping Shade from attacking their friends.

As Nagi, Tot, and Yuhi turned around, Shade smiled.

"Too late." He said simply as he was about to unleash his attack before Riku and Toya could even touch him. "Farewell, my foolish challengers…"

However, the attack never came. Shade just seemed to suddenly freeze in place, and the mercenary's eyes widened as his body didn't respond to what he wanted it to do.

(What the hell is happening?) Shade thought, gritting his teeth in frustration as even though it seemed as if he was just standing in place, Shade was literally struggling to move. Even as he called more power forth, he didn't feel whatever it was holding him lessen its hold. As he struggled, his eyes fell on his enemies, Riku, Toya, and now Nagi, Tot, and Yuhi, who had been alerted to his presence. He knew what was going to happen next.

(NO!) Shade thought as he struggled to even move. (I can't block or dodge this one!)

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku shouted as he executed the first attack.

Shade could only helplessly stand there as he felt the edge of Saiha's blade bite deep into his side as Riku made his attack. As the young ninja passed by his enemy, Riku whirled around and threw a couple of throwing star shuriken at Shade's unprotected back as hard as he could.

As the throwing stars' points plunged deep into Shade's back, Toya dashed forward and made two powerful slashes at the mercenary. The first was a heavy diagonal slash across Shade's chest, which cut deep into his flesh and bones, and the second slash cut Shade's stomach open.

(Damn, who's doing this?) Shade thought and then looked around to try to find who was holding him in place. (Is it that psychic…?)

Shade suddenly felt and impact strike his face, and he could see that the attacker was Yuhi, who then made a lower roundabout kick, knocking Shade off of his feet, followed by another kick which knocked the mercenary up into the air.

"I'll take it from here!" Tot shouted as Yuhi got out of the way so Tot could make her attack.

Tot immediately took her umbrella out before whirling around, making it that she was facing away from Shade. She then pressed the switch on its handle causing the spike to emerge from its top, before sticking it out at Shade like a spear. The pointed end immediately caught Shade in the side and Tot knew that was her cue to execute her attack.

"Deadly Umbrella Spin!" Tot shouted as she started to make the umbrella spin around like a helicopter, which juggled Shade around for a bit before Shade finally managed to break free.

(I can move again!) Shade thought and quickly prepared to make a counterattack, but stopped when he sensed something and looked up to see Nagi floating in the air above him, with an attack ready for him.

"Crow Descent!" Nagi shouted as he threw a ball of psychic energy down onto Shade in the form of a fireball.

"Heh, big mistake." Shade smirked as he simply reached out and brushed the incoming projectile attack aside. "You shouldn't have diverted your concentration away from holding me, now…"

Shade suddenly stopped as he felt his body freeze in place once again. He immediately looked at Nagi, only to find that this was not the work of the young psychic at all. Shade had battled psychic's enough to know the signs of when they were using their powers and there were no signs of it from Nagi.

(It isn't him? Then who…?) Shade wondered as he suddenly felt himself being lifted up into the air. He then looked towards his enemies only to find that they were no longer paying attention to him. In fact they were looking past him. In confusion, Shade glanced back to see a site that amazed even him.

Behind Shade, a glowing humanoid figure emerged from the light that had surrounded Aya when Toya had given her the hagoromo, and floated up in front of the cross in the practically destroyed chapel. The glow then receded to reveal an almost nude female figure, whose face resembled both Aya's and Ceres'. She was wearing some strange ropelike objects that wrapped around her and another set formed a skirt-like thing and also a headpiece with a jewel.

As everyone was looking in awe at this new life form, Yuhi finally spoke.

"Are…are you…Ceres?" He asked. "Where's Aya?"

(I am here.) Aya's voice replied in not just Yuhi's, but also Chidori, Riku, Nagi, Tot, Shuro, Maya, Aki, and Toya's mind.

"Aya is together with me." Ceres spoke.

(So this is a tennyo, huh?) Riku thought to himself as he was practically overwhelmed at what he was seeing. (Man…sure looks the part…)

"…goddess…" Alec mumbled somewhat nervously.

"Yeah, sure looks it, huh?" Chidori agreed, while everyone else just nodded in agreement.

For a moment, Shade too was looking at this new form of Ceres in complete awe, not just in the wonder at what he was seeing, a site he had never seen before in his hundreds of years of life, but also at the immense power he felt coming from her. However, he quickly shoved that feeling aside.

(This is it! This is it!) Shade could feel an intense excitement building up inside of him that he hadn't felt in a very long time. (This power…this power is far beyond what I was expecting. With this…with this I can gain power greater even than that boy of the Orochi clan who actually became the Orochi itself years ago had. And with this power, I can surpass even that old fool, Kurando…)

Shade suddenly felt himself get turned around so that he was now facing Ceres. He could tell what was going to happen next and immediately began struggling with all his might to break free of the hold Ceres had on him, but try as he might he couldn't.

(Fine, I'll call forth every ounce of my power if necessary as long as I can obtain…) Shade stopped as he didn't feel any power come forth as he called upon it. (What the hell! Don't tell me she…)

(You won't be able to move as long as I have a hold on you.) Ceres' voice spoke to him in his mind.

"Heh, we'll see about that soon enough." Shade grinned as he struggled even more to call his powers to him.

Ceres said nothing and then reached forward until her hand was touching Shade's forehead. For a moment, Shade flinched at the touch, because surprisingly the touch seemed gentle, and almost soothing. The mercenary quickly pushed the confusing emotions aside, but as he did, he realized what was happening to him.

(She's invading my mind! How?) Shade couldn't understand how this was happening as it was completely different from a psychic's way of doing it. Shade tensed up as memory after memory sped through his mind almost like a fast forward. The moment Shade's more personal memories came to him, however, was the last straw.

Almost in an instant, whatever desire for the tennyo's power vanished from Shade's mind. Only to be replaced by an uncontrollable rage and a desire to destroy the one who was seeing into his mind. As this was happening, the Orochi power that Shade had within him began to emerge.

(I see…so you are one of the Orochi's…) Ceres said to him telepathically, and for a moment was silent as she watched Shade's memories before she spoke to him again. (I see…but despite that…your soul…it is truly a very sorrowful one underneath…and perhaps not altogether evil…)

Shade only snarled in response and tried even harder to grasp the Orochi power that was only beginning to come forth to him.

(It would sadden me to kill one such as yourself, but if you insist…) Ceres paused. (I will give you this one chance…please take it, Shingen…)

Shade uttered a cry almost like an animal as he heard his old name, along with having seen so many of his old memories which he had long put behind him, which enraged him further. The intenseness of his anger proved to be a benefit as his body began to move, meaning he was beginning to break free of Ceres' hold.

(I see…so this is your answer…) Ceres' tone of voice seemed almost saddened. (Very well…)

As Ceres closed her eyes, an intense light began to radiate around her and then Shade. Everyone else, knew what was coming and immediately took cover behind the remains of the pews of the chapel, while Riku and Nagi created barriers to shield their friends and themselves.

As soon as they did all this, the whole entire room seemed to be filled with light and a loud explosion rocked not just the room, but the whole entire ship as well.

A few minutes later, which seemed like hours to Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Aki, Shuro, Alec, and Toya, the light receded to reveal that most of the room had been blown away by the explosion and Ceres was floating above a large gaping hole in the floor.

"It's a wonder this ship's still floating." Riku commented to no one in particular as he and the others walked over to Ceres.

"Your enemy is gone now." Ceres said simply to them.

"For that we thank you." Riku replied gratefully, while the others nodded in agreement.

"So now that you've got the hagoromo, what happens now?" Chidori asked Ceres.

"You will see, soon enough." Ceres answered her and then turned to Toya. "Toya, I thank you. You successfully returned the mana to me, and for Aya's sake, you gave up your immortality…Just like me in the past…I also decided to get involved with humans…"

Ceres fell silent and looked in Aki/Shiso's direction.

(…and I really did love that man from the bottom of my heart, but…) Ceres thought to herself as her memories of her life with Shiso long ago flashed in her mind. As the memories ended another suddenly came to mind.

(I can't be forgiven for what I did to the one I loved…I can't change the past, but what I can do is protect Ceres.) Shiso's words echoed in her mind.

For some reason that memory, caused a strange stir in Ceres' heart as another memory came to mind.

(When he said that…he almost looked like how he was before…) Ceres thought to herself, but shook her head as she pushed those thoughts aside.

Ceres then turned and looked at Maya.

"Maya, there is someone that wishes to see you…" She said. "I'm sure that you know who it is by now…"

For a second, Maya's eyes widened in surprise at what Ceres said to her, but she slowly looked away from Ceres, her expression remorseful.

"You can tell him that he doesn't have to force himself to see me…" Maya said, her voice low. "The fact that he protected me and my friends is…"

"You know that is not the truth." Ceres replied to her.

Maya didn't say anything at first, but a moment later, she finally spoke.

"Alright…" Maya gave a light nod.

Almost as soon as she nodded, there was a shimmering of light in front of Maya and the shining figure of the white dog reappeared in front of her. However, this time, the light surrounding it faded to reveal a plain looking dog that wasn't even white.

The dog simply looked up at Maya, who looked away from its gaze for a second before looking back at it, her expression sad.

"Even now…you still protect me, and you protected my friends too…" Maya spoke. "You've done all of this for me…even though I don't deserve it…"

Maya's eyes then began to tear up and then she suddenly bent down and hugged the dog.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you this before you died, so…I'm sorry, Mamoru." Maya said between sobs. "…And thank you…thank you so much…"

(I see…so that's the dog Maya had when she met Aya, Chidori, and Yuhi…) Riku thought as he recalled what he heard about the events in Miyagi. (I don't know how exactly this is happening, but…I'm glad things turned out well…)

Mamoru barked slightly in response and licked Maya's face in an attempt to console his owner. After a few minutes, Maya slowly let go of Mamoru and then stroked his head, causing the dog to wag his tail. As this happened the memories of when Maya was younger and when she was taking care of Mamoru as a puppy came into her mind.

After a few minutes Maya stopped and then for the first time, smiled as she looked at Mamoru.

"It's alright now, Mamoru." Maya said. "After all that's happened and all these friends I've made…I think now I understand enough to go forward…"

Mamoru barked and then seemed to nod at Maya before vanishing. Maya's expression was unreadable as she slowly stood up.

"Goodbye…" She said, her voice barely above a whisper, before turning and walking back to rejoin her friends.

As this occurred, Ceres then turned to Yuhi who was standing next to Chidori.

"Almost a year ago I asked you to show me what it is you humans called 'love'." Ceres said to Yuhi (AN: Early events of vol. 4 of the manga). "Even though I remember now, you've managed to do so, except with another…"

"Well, if you ask me, it turned out for the better that way." Yuhi replied turning to Chidori, who blushed slightly at that.

Ceres then turned to Riku, Nagi, and Tot.

"I'm sorry to admit that I do not know the three of you all that well." She said to them. "But still, the three of you and those four allies of yours have protected Aya and her friends and for that you have my gratitude."

"Uh…well, you're welcome, maam." Riku said quickly with an almost embarrassed smile. "Besides, it wasn't any trouble at all."

"Not to mention it was our duty as FOXHOUNDers and friends." Nagi added.

"Umm…there's one thing…" Tot spoke up. "Is it okay if I whisper it to you?"

Ceres nodded in reply and then brought her ear close to Tot, who leaned over and whispered something into her ear. As she listened, for a brief moment Ceres' expression showed what appeared to be surprise. Finally, she gave a light nod at Tot.

"Very well…" She said simply, and then turned and floated over to where Aki was. She then held her right hand out to him.

There seemed to be a look of hesitation on Aki's face.

"It's alright." Ceres spoke reassuringly.

A sudden pained look appeared on Aki's face, one that was a mask of anguish, shame, and deep regret, as he looked away to avoid Ceres' gaze. Finally he spoke.

"I'm sorry…" Shiso spoke, his voice now a choked sob. "I...I didn't want to…I…I never did want to…"

Ceres wordlessly moved her left hand until it touched Shiso's shoulder. The look on her face however, did not show any malice towards him as it had before, only an understanding.

"Mikagi, the time has come for us to part." She said.

A look of surprise appeared on Shiso's face, but was soon replaced by one of acceptance as he simply nodded his head.

"Very well, I will not refuse…" He said simply.

(At least I was finally able to protect Ceres…for the first and last time…) He thought to himself. (And…I can see the face of the one I love before I go…)

Ceres then turned to look back at everyone else. As she did, many memories of the past began to flash in her mind.

(Back then...after I killed Mikagi, I continued to search for the mana, crossing over the mountains, searching the oceans, and the final place I stopped at...) Ceres thought both to herself and to Aya. (But in the end, I wasn't able to find the mana. All I had left to do was die...and in death, I abandoned my children... and I prayed, with my final strength 'please give my children happiness'...and also someday, let me be with them again...)

(And afterwards, I began to reincarnate...it was long...terribly...My descendants,...the Mikage family line,...the stupid humans; I thought of just ending it all...) Ceres paused her thoughts before continuing. (But I was reborn into Aya's body...and loved Toya...Yuhi...Suzumi…Shuro…Maya...and Chidori, along with those three warriors Riku, Nagi, and Tot and their five allies. From meeting all of them, I was once again able to believe in 'the human heart'.)

"There is one important thing that I must tell you." Ceres said to Riku. "According to what I learned from Aya, you have found some way to avert the strain that kills those descended from tennyo…Is that true?"

"Y-yes, maam, we have." Riku answered quickly. "Why are you asking?"

"Then could you also do this to save both the lives of Aya's brother Aki and also Toya's?" Ceres asked in reply, getting a reaction from Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Shuro, Maya, and Alec.

"What do you mean?" Riku's expression was troubled. "Please explain…"

"My husband's mana is incomplete…it is a thing that cannot be used by humans." Ceres explained. "That is the reason that I had Toya stop the battle with the man you called Shade…otherwise the mana would have destroyed that boy's body beyond repair. Even now, though the battle has ended, it is slowly doing so and will continue even after my husband's spirit departs from him…"

"If we can get him to our headquarters, I'm sure we can save him. You have my word on that." Riku promised, his voice and expression. "Now…"

"What about Toya?" Alec spoke before Riku. "Why is he in danger?"

"Because now that he is separated from the mana…I'm afraid he will not live for very long…" Ceres replied. "Because Toya was created by the mana, he requires it to sustain him…"

"If we can save Aki, then we should be able to save Toya as well." Nagi said and turned to Riku. "Right?"

"A good friend of mine requires nanomachines in order to survive, and considering what I've heard about his condition, I'm certain we can save the both of them." Riku replied to his partner before turning back to Ceres. "You can count on us to get them to HQ."

"You've got that right." Yuhi spoke. "After we've come this far, no one here is going to die on our watch."

"Especially not Aya's brother or husband to be." Chidori commented. "After all Aya's gone through to try to save Aki, there's no way we'll let it end badly."

"My, you two certainly took the heroic lines." Shuro commented to her two friends with a smile.

Ceres nodded at Riku and co. in understanding and then went back over to where Shiso was. She then held out her hands to him.

Suddenly, there was a bright and intense flash of light, greater than the one that had been used on Shade, that filled the entire room, temporarily blinding everyone watching.

Riku rubbed his eyes for a few minutes as his vision returned, and just in time to see Ceres slowly come to the ground next to Shiso, who was lying on the ground, and she was slowly turning back into Aya. Meanwhile, Shiso's body was slowly turning back to Aki.

Just as Riku was about to go over to them, Aya came to and knelt next to her brother, gently shaking him by the shoulder. With a groan, Aki slowly came awake. He then looked at Aya and then smiled at her.

"Sorry for being so late." He said apologetically, rubbing his head slightly. Before he could say anything else, Aya suddenly threw her arms around her brother and hugged him.

Riku glanced over to see that everyone else had recovered from the flash of light. One look could tell that they had decided to give the twins some private time, and Riku had the same idea and turned to Nagi and Tot.

"Well, while we're waiting, I guess we should check the damage of the ship." Riku commented, pointing specifically at the large gaping hole that had been the place Ceres had vaporized Shade a few minutes ago.

"Is it alright if we have a look too?" Chidori spoke, indicating her and Yuhi.

"I think I'll have a look myself as well." Toya said.

"Are you alright, man?" Riku asked. "I mean, Ceres said…"

"I'm alright for now, Hanabishi-san." Toya answered.

"Still, until we get to the FOXHOUND base take it easy okay." Yuhi said to him. "With the mana gone, you can't exactly come back to life anymore…" Yuhi paused and shook his head. "I can't believe I just said that…"

"Join the club." Riku commented. "Anyway, let's just check that hole in the ship and see how much time we've got till this ship sinks."

With that the six of them walked over and looked down into the hole, which stretched down so far the bottom couldn't be seen.

"Hello down there!" Chidori called down the hole and nothing happened. "Well, I guess Ceres really did get rid of that Shade guy…"

"Chidori, if Shade had answered you, we'd be screwed." Riku commented, and then paused to think about it and shuddered at the thought of having to fight Shade again. "Actually, we'd be so far from 'screwed' that the light from 'screwed' would take one million years to reach us."

Everyone else sweatdropped at Riku's comment.

"That's…an interesting way of putting it." Yuhi said.

"Well, at least you tried to make it sound scientific." Tot commented and turned to Nagi. "It is science since it's about space, right Nagi?"

"Actually, it's mathematical since light years is a measurement." Toya spoke.

"Thanks, I'm learning something new each day." Riku said to Toya with a friendly smile.

"You mean you didn't know that?" Nagi asked as he, Yuhi, and Chidori sweatdropped.

"Hey come on, I know light years is the measurement of how far light can travel in a year, I'm not stupid." Riku replied in a slightly offended tone of voice. "I just now know I was being mathematical and not scientific."

That last comment caused Nagi, Yuhi, Chidori, and even Toya to sweatdrop.

"I can't figure you out…" Chidori said with a shake of her head. "One minute you destroy the image of a ninja, then you're the perfect picture of it, then you destroy it again…"

"Most of what you see in movies and anime sort of exaggerate us ninjas." Riku admitted with a sheepish grin.

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Yuhi said.

Chidori then turned to Tot.

"Hey Usagi, what was it you said to Ceres back there?" She asked curiously. "She kind of looked surprised by it for a second and that's something you don't usually see."

"Well…" Tot paused to think about it for a second. "Actually, all I said to her was that Shiso-san was sorry about what he did and wanted to say he was sorry."

For a second no one said anything until finally Riku broke the silence.

"Are you sure, that's all you said to her?" He asked, his eyes wide in mixture of astonishment and curiosity.

"Yeah, that's all." Tot answered simply with a nod. "I mean, if Shiso-san was really sorry and he and Ceres-san really loved each other, then they'd be able to work things out, right?"

Before Riku or Nagi could reply to that, Chidori walked over and patted Tot's shoulder.

"You have no idea how lucky those two are to have someone like you on their team." She said, causing Tot to blink in confusion.

"I just told her the truth." Tot said, and turned to Riku and Nagi. "I didn't say something wrong, did I?"

"No, Nanami, you didn't say anything wrong." Nagi replied to her with a smile, taking her hand.

"You just reminded me how great a partner and nakama you are." Riku added before turning to see Aya and Aki were now talking with Maya, Shuro, and Alec. "Well, I guess there's no point in staying here. With Shade gone, all we need to do is find Abyssinian, Balines, Siberian, and Bombay, secure Kagami and his lackeys, then wait for our transportation to arrive, all before this boat sinks." Riku then gave a sigh of relief. "Boy will we have a story to tell Venom when…" Riku stopped as he remembered the explosion that had come from the Mikage base.

Nagi seemed to sense what Riku was thinking and spoke reassuringly to his friend.

"Hey, Drakken, don't be too worried about it." He said. "If Venom's half as good as you say he is, then he's probably fine."

For a second Riku didn't say anything, but then smiled in reply.

"Yeah, he probably is." He said, looking slightly relieved. "Thanks…"

"You're welcome." Nagi replied. "Besides, it was obvious you were worried about Venom after that explosion happened, but you pushed it aside because you knew we had to focus on the mission."

"Let's just hope you've been worrying about nothing and he's alright." Yuhi said and Chidori nodded in agreement.

"I don't know who this friend of yours is that you speak of, but if he's an ally of yours whose been helping you, then I also hope that he is alright." Toya spoke.

"Thank you." Riku nodded at them gratefully.

A few minutes later, Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Aya, Toya, Maya, Shuro and Alec were about to leave the remains of the chapel, when Nagi spoke to Riku.

"You know, one thing I think Venom will be interested to hear is about is how we've pretty much written a new ending to the ancient legend about the tennyo." Nagi said.

Riku stopped to consider that, since he knew that Michael was very fascinated with literature, especially old stories and folklore from many Asian countries, particularly Japan.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will." Riku agreed. "Though I'm not entirely sure what he'll think about the tennyo being an ancient race of aliens part."

"He probably won't mind." Tot said. "Besides, we gave a sad love story a happy ending, didn't we?"

"I suppose so." Riku smiled as he considered that, and then turned to Aya. "Aya, just curious, but what was it like to have that hagoromo thing on?"

"Hey, good idea, I was wondering that too." Chidori said in agreement, turning to Aya. "Come on, tell us Aya."

"Well…" Aya stopped to think about it, trying to find some way to put her experience into words, but failed. "Sorry, but it's too complicated to explain right now."

"Oh well, there's time for that later, I guess." Riku shrugged. "For now, I think we should get going and get ready to end this little cruise."

"Yeah, that's probably the best thing right now." Aya agreed.

While, everyone was leaving a thought came to Aya. It was about all the things she had seen in Ceres' mind when she had received the mana.

Meanwhile:

In a void like place, Ceres and Shiso were alone. Ceres was sitting down while Shiso had his head on her lap.

"Mikagi…can you hear me?" She asked, looking down at him.

"Yes." Shiso answered.

"I always…wanted to ask you this…" Ceres paused for a second before finally speaking. "Did you…love me?"

For a moment, Shiso was silent, almost as if hesitating as how to answer her. For a second he seemed to mumble something, which caught Ceres' attention, prompting him to speak up.

"Maybe…" Shiso paused before continuing. "I just didn't understand you…"

Ceres' eyes widened as she understood the meaning behind Shiso's words; she then shut them as tears of happiness started to come from her eyes.

"I loved you too." Ceres replied to him as memories of the time before, when they had been together and happy, before the events that had led up to the present had occurred.

(I was just scared I might lose you.) Ceres thought (...with a feeling so strong it could destroy myself, I always deeply...deeply...loved you.)

"Rest now…Mikagi…with me." Ceres said as she embraced Shiso. "Now we can sleep…at last, this has come to an end…at last…"

Later: Mikage Boat:

Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Aya, Toya, Maya, Shuro, and Alec stood on the deck of the ship in front of the room where Kagami and Viper were being held in. The plan was to completely secure them and then Lee and Asamu so that they could be transported to FOXHOUND as prisoners without causing anymore trouble. After the prisoners were secure, Riku, being the fastest in the group would go to locate Weiss and bring them to the deck, and afterwards they would either wait for the choppers to pick them up on deck, or if the ship sank before they could arrive, get in the lifeboats and wait for the choppers.

Riku looked back to see Nagi had his beretta out and ready to use while Tot had her Muramasa ready and Yuhi and Chidori had their M9s.

(We've got you covered, Drakken.) Nagi told him telepathically and Riku nodded in reply.

(Well, here goes…) Riku thought as he pressed hands together, making the appropriate hand seal.

"KAI (release)!" Riku shouted sharply, causing the tag to burst into flames and disintegrate in almost an instant.

Riku then took out his USP and with his free left hand put his hand on the door's handle. For a second he paused as he listened for any activity inside before yanking the door open. A quick look showed Kagami was sitting at a desk inside the room, and Riku quickly pointed his gun at the man before slowly stepping into the room. As soon as he did, Riku suddenly veered to the side, dodging an ambush attack by Black Arts Viper as the man attacked him from the side of the door, but Riku had expected that.

The young ninja countered by throwing a pair of throwing star shuriken at his attacker, one aimed at Viper's neck and the second at his legs. Viper, in dodging both projectiles, lost his balance, giving Riku an opening, which he immediately took by calling forth his flames and having them encase his right fist.

"Dragon Strike!" Riku shouted as he swung a flame encased fist that struck Viper hard in the stomach, knocking him to the floor as well as burning him.

Before Viper could recover from the blow and make a counterattack, Riku's USP was pressed against his forehead. Viper then raised his hands up in defeat.

"No offense, but you suck at planning an ambush, Kagami." Riku commented to Kagami while keeping his eyes on Viper.

Kagami at first got up, but stopped as he saw that Nagi was standing behind Riku, his beretta pointed at him.

(Well, this was easier than I thought it would be.) Riku thought to himself.

A few minutes later, both men had there hands bound with some wire Riku had with him and were led out of the room and onto the deck.

"Alright, that done…" Riku began, but was interrupted.

"From what it appears with Aya, Aki, and Toya's condition, am I correct in assuming Ceres took the hagoromo and is gone along with the progenitor?" Kagami asked Riku.

"Yeah, that's right." Riku said simply with a nod. "And like I said before, I hope you enjoy prison and the multiple interrogations you'll get from our guys."

"I acknowledge the fact that your group was successful in whatever your goal happened to be in interfering with C-Project." Kagami replied without any emotion in his voice. "That is why there is something I need to give you."

"You're giving us something?" Aya asked suspiciously. "What is it?"

"Information." Kagami answered. "But before I do, I'll give you one condition. The only ones I will allow to have access to the information are Aya, Aki, Toya, Alec, and one of those of FOXHOUND."

"Fine, and that will be me." Riku said. "Lead the way."

"Hold on, why…?" Yuhi spoke.

"Aogiri, he knows there isn't much time till this boat sinks." Toya said seriously. "We can't waste time arguing…"

"Especially if it's information about the Patriots." Nagi added and looked at Kagami. "Which you hopefully have."

"Don't worry kid, I'll tell your leader all he wants to know." Kagami said.

With that, Riku, Aya, Toya, Aki, and Alec followed Kagami, Riku keeping his M9 trained on Kagami's back in case the man tried running away. Meanwhile, Nagi and Tot would guard Yuhi, Chidori, Shuro, and Maya and at the same time keep an eye on Viper.

A few minutes later Kagami stopped in front of one of the doors to one of the rooms on deck.

"These are my quarters." He said simply and stepped aside so Riku could open the door, since his hands were bound.

"Alright, what exactly are you going to show us?" Aya asked as they entered the quarters, which looked like the quarters for a typical crewmember of the ship, furnished with a desk, a small bookcase, and a bed.

"The third drawer down, it's in there." Kagami said and turned to Alec. "I was planning to give it to you in case something like this happened…"

Riku, keeping his eyes on Kagami, glanced at Toya, who nodded that he would take over watching Kagami while Riku got whatever was inside the drawer. Riku nodded in reply and then walked over and bent down in front of the desk to open the drawer. He then took out a large file full of papers.

Riku opened the file and read a few of the papers, his eyes widening in astonishment at what he read. He then handed them to Alec.

"Are these what I think they are?" Alec said as he read the papers.

"Yes, these contain the Mikage family's criminal record." Kagami replied. "One everything settles down, make it all public."

"Why the sudden generosity?" Riku asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"It's simple, if I go down then the other Mikage will go down with me." Kagami answered. "And since some of these records contains dealings with the Patriots, it will also give them a blow, which I'm certain will benefit your group."

"Heh, you certainly fit the term 'egomaniac'." Riku replied simply. "Are you loyal to anyone at all?"

"Riku, don't…" Aya spoke. "You'll only be wasting your time."

"Yeah, this is enough…" Aki said. "If all this is made public, then that's fine with all of us…Hell, I'll even testify against the Mikage myself."

"I'm not really a Mikage." Kagami spoke to both Aya and Aki. "My mother married the father I have now after she had me. It seemed like I was just...a non-important member of the Mikage family. Since we weren't really part of the Mikage family, your grandfather and several other members of the Mikage family always antagonized my mother and me." Kagami paused for a moment before continuing. "So my mother, to get the Mikage to notice me…pushed me too far…and in the end…pushed herself too far in the end…"

As he heard this, Riku felt a sudden pang of pity for the man in front of him, but a moment later pushed it aside.

"And you think that excuses you from all you and your organization have done?" Riku asked, suddenly feeling some anger towards Kagami since it seemed like he was trying to justify his actions.

"He's right about that." Aya agreed. "You…"

"I'm not looking for your sympathy, pity, or mercy I have no use for them." Kagami said and shook his head. "In any case, there is one major factor of information I must give you." Kagami then looked at Riku. "However, I will only allow the FOXHOUNDer to hear this particular information that I have." Kagami then smirked slightly. "Oh don't worry, after I finish telling the boy what I need to, I will tell you whatever else you wish to know."

"Fine, I'll listen." Riku spoke.

(I'll just tell everyone whatever Kagami tells me afterwards.) Riku thought to himself.

"I guess there's no choice." Toya said, sensing what Riku was thinking, and turned Aya, Aki, and Alec. "Let's wait outside."

All three noticed that Toya's expression said that he would tell them once they were outside the room, and followed him out, closing the door behind them.

Riku then turned to Kagami.

"Alright, what's this you need to tell me?" He asked, not trusting Kagami. "Actually, before you answer, tell me, why was I your choice to tell the big secret to?"

"Hmph, because you're the kind that I'm the most comfortable giving such valuable information to." Kagami then smirked. "After seeing the way you act and react, I could tell you were that kind of person."

"What do you mean?" Riku's eyes narrowed as he wasn't sure what Kagami was getting at.

"You're extremely loyal to your allies, yet at the same time sensible enough not to be stupid or a mere minion, like a well trained dog." Kagami replied. "And after you hear what I tell you, you'll only inform those you feel you can trust with such information, your masters."

"Hey, you shouldn't put dogs down, you know." Riku commented. "They're usually pretty nice animals and as the saying goes 'faithful, loyal, and true', qualities like that are quite admirable in a person, you know."

"Typical…" Kagami mumbled before continuing. "In any case, answer this question. What do you think the purpose of C-Project was?"

"That's obvious, at least in your case." Riku said. "You were obviously going to use the C-Genomes either to create a 'new and perfect' human race, and build some kind of Utopia in that space metal gear you were planning on building."

That last part of Riku's statement, temporarily caught Kagami by surprise, but the man quickly hid that.

"I see…so you've found out about ARK Gear." Kagami saw Riku look at him questioningly. "That's the codename for the Mikage's metal gear."

"From the name, I'm guessing this metal gear is supposed to be some kind of Noah's Ark for the C-Genomes, except it's for space." Riku assumed.

"Indeed." Kagami nodded. "However, what you told me is not completely it. You see, ARK and C-Project were designed not just to perfect humanity but also to save it."

Riku frowned slightly as he wasn't sure what Kagami meant.

"Save it? Somehow I don't think your idea of perfection is going to lead humanity anywhere close to salvation, whatever you meant by that." He said with skepticism.

"I meant it would, in the end, save humanity from destruction." Kagami replied. "Only through C-Project's methods could the next generation survive Third Impact."

"Third…Impact…" Riku then stepped towards Kagami as the first thing came to mind at what Kagami had just said. "Are you saying you know when another meteor is going to hit the Earth and you were going to use ARK to take the C-Genomes to space while the rest of humanity suffered from…"

"I see…" Kagami almost sneered at what Riku was saying. "You've only been told the cover story behind Second Impact…"

"Cover story? What the hell do you…?" Riku shook his head. "Answer that later, first what exactly is Third Impact if it's not a meteor striking the Earth?"

"It's something far more complicated than that…but to sum it up, it's the utter destruction of humanity, no, all life on this planet in general." Kagami explained to him.

"Hold on…if you know about this Third Impact, then why not try to stop it?" Riku spoke before Kagami could continue. "I mean, if you know it will occur soon, then…" Riku was interrupted by the sound of bitter laughter from Kagami.

"Stop it?" Kagami asked and shook his head. "Third Impact is inevitable. The moment Second Impact was initiated, the fate of humanity and the world was sealed. And once the Angels appear, the days of the world that you know are numbered…"

"Angels? And what do you mean Second Impact was initiated?" Riku had at the moment forgotten any hatred he had for the man in front of him as there was a feeling in the back of his mind that told him to listen to what he was being told. "Are you saying someone caused it to happen? How? Why? And how come you believe this Third Impact is inevitable when these Angels appear?"

"Because everything must return to the source." Kagami answered. "However, the tennyo are not of this world, meaning those who are pure tennyo, the C-Genomes with the mana and their offspring, would have survived."

"You're not making any sense, what do you mean 'the source'?" Riku pressed further. "And answer my question about Second Impact. What really happened? Who started Second Impact, and why? And what is its connection to Third Impact?"

"Second Impact was started in Antarctica." Kagami began. "It was started in order to prevent what Third Impact will be. It was only a delay of the inevitable, you see Third Impact was…"

Before Kagami could continue, a sudden explosion came from above, bursting open the ceiling above the two men and filling the room with dust and smoke. As Riku desperately tried to regain his vision, as the dust and smoke had gotten in his eyes and temporarily blinded him, he heard a sudden, loud, and sharp scream of pain near him. Immediately the door burst open and Toya, Aya, Aki, and Alec came in followed by an out of breath Nagi, Tot, Yuhi Chidori, Maya, and Shuro.

As Riku's vision cleared a gruesome sight greeted him. The man called Black Arts Viper was standing behind Kagami Mikage, his right hand plunged into Kagami's back and emerging out from the man's chest, stained in his blood.

"Kagami Mikage, you talk too much." Viper commented to Kagami. "Or rather, you did…"

"V-viper…" Kagami managed to get through choked gurgles as blood was seeping out of his mouth. "W-why…?"

"It appears the Patriots were right about what you and the higher ups of your family knew, though I suppose you found all that out through a leak in SEELE since your description wasn't entirely accurate in view of the Patriots' scenario." Viper said. "Oh well, I was supposed to dispose of you anyway before the FOXHOUNDers got to you…"

Kagami tried to say something, but could only cough as he began choking on his own blood, causing Viper to smirk lightly as he guessed what Kagami wanted to say.

"I suppose you're quite surprised at this; can't say I blame you." Viper said, his tone of voice taking a mocking tone. "The Patriots chose me and my team to infiltrate the Mikage because they knew I could win the trust of you, your father, and grandfather with ease. After all, I'm one of their top operatives." Viper's lips then curled in a sneer. "But honestly, all those years of sucking up to you people, I could vomit just remembering how many times I practically had to lick your boots in order to gain your trust."

Riku thought about attacking Viper while he was preoccupied and saw Nagi and Tot were considering it as well. However, he noticed something just at the last minute and held his hand out to tell his two partners to stop.

"Heh, wise decision, ninja." Viper commented to Riku.

(This guy's a lot stronger than he was pretending to be a few minutes ago…) Riku thought to himself. (Though it was hard to see, he was ready for us to attack him, that and he doesn't show any sign of being wounded by my Dragon Strike. Which means the attack barely affected him at all when I hit him.)

"Anyway, there isn't much time till this boat sinks, I'd better hurry and deal with this bunch." Viper started to pull his hand out of Kagami's back when he remembered something, and then smiled. "Oh yes, I just remembered. You haven't paid me or my late teammates yet, so I think I'll collect my fee now."

Viper then withdrew his hand back a little more and then began to move it around inside the dying man's wound as if searching for something, all the while causing Kagami to retch and cough as the blood welling up in his throat prevented him from screaming. Tot and many of the others quickly averted their gaze from the gruesome spectacle.

Suddenly Viper stopped as he found what he was looking for.

"Fee collected." Viper said simply, and suddenly there was a sudden squashing sound, as if someone had crushed a large rotten fruit, followed by a final blood soaked scream from Kagami, which caused even Riku to flinch as he could tell that what had been crushed by Viper's hand had been Kagami's heart, before his body slumped over in death.

"Well, that was interesting." Viper said before casually flinging Kagami's corpse aside like a bag of garbage. He then shook his right hand slightly to get Kagami's blood off it. He then turned to Riku and co. "Anyway, due to the fact that the late Kagami Mikage gave you such classified information, I have to kill you all now."

"Saiha!" Riku simply called out and the dragon's fire blade appeared at his right wrist. He then looked at Viper. "I'll admit I liked Kagami about as much as you obviously did, but he was our prisoner and obviously a valuable one if the information he was about to tell me was so classified that you had to kill him before he told me it." He then got into a fighting position. "But since you seem to know the information, you'll have to be the replacement."

"Like I'll allow myself to be captured by a bunch of simpletons." Viper scoffed. "Especially weak ones such as yourselves."

"Don't…" Riku began as he, Nagi, and Tot prepared to attack. But before Riku could do anything, Viper suddenly disappeared from Riku's sight only to suddenly reappear right in front of Riku before delivering a powerful punch to the young ninja's face, knocking him back.

Before Riku could react, Viper disappeared again and Riku, guessing what was coming leaped aside as quickly as he could, narrowly avoiding Viper's coming at him from behind. Viper's fist passed him by and instead plunged straight through the floor instead.

As the ninja landed on his feet, Nagi, suspecting that his enemy was expecting a psychic blast struck out at Viper using telekinesis. However, the assassin for the Patriots suddenly turned in Nagi's direction and leaped away from the young psychic's attack.

(He can sense my attacks!) Nagi thought in surprise.

Meanwhile, Tot immediately took advantage of Viper's temporary vulnerability as he jumped out of the way of Nagi's attack, and leaped at Viper, swinging her Muramasa's blade at him.

"Mizuchi!" Tot shouted, but as she swung the blade to execute the attack, Viper surprised her by suddenly twisting his body around in midair and at the same time clapping his hands over the incoming blade, stopping it from doing any damage.

As Viper's feet touched the ground, he maintained his grip on Tot's sword. Tot, being able to tell the killer's grip on the blade of her katana was to strong for her to pull it free, quickly freed her right hand and reached for her umbrella, which was strapped to her back.

Viper immediately began to make a move to prevent the upcoming attack, only to realize that the moment he had loosened his hold on the Muramasa blade, he had made a mistake. Before he could do anything, Tot quickly ran the edge of her sword across Viper's hand, slashing his palm open. Viper winced at the pain caused by the wound, which cost him any chance of defending against Tot's next attack.

Tot then swung her umbrella down at Viper as hard as she could. Viper could only swing his head aside to prevent it from being struck as the umbrella struck him in the left shoulder. The intense weight of the umbrella and the force of the impact, fracturing and dislocating Viper's shoulder.

Despite the intense pain caused by the attack, Viper quickly leaped away from Tot to avoid any further attack. He then reached for his dislocated shoulder with his right hand and then squeezed at it as hard as he could with a light grimace of pain. A series of sickening crunching and popping sounds could be heard until Viper had set the bones back in place.

"Not bad for a bunch of amateurs." Viper commented as he prepared to attack again. "But I'm afraid I don't have time to play around anymore."

Riku could see for himself that Viper was being true to his word as despite his wounds, the man obviously showed no signs of tiring. He then turned to Nagi, and made a simple gesture which the young psychic knew meant he had to talk to him.

(What is it?) Nagi asked as quickly as possible since he, Tot, and Riku could tell Viper would attack very quickly and there wasn't any time to waste.

(I'm going to try something, but in case it fails I need you and Usagi to cover me.) Riku replied.

(Alright, I'll tell her.) Nagi gave a light nod.

Riku then glanced over at the Idaten madogu which he had borrowed from his aunt Miki and was now attached to his right ankle. He then began concentrating on using the item's power.

(I was only able to unlock 25 percent of the Idaten's power thanks to Aunt Miki's training.) He thought as he called on the amount of the madogu's power he could effectively use. (Let's hope this works…)

Just as Viper was about to make his attack, Riku suddenly vanished from his sight. He quickly made to get into a defensive position to defend against whatever attack the FOXHOUND ninja was about to make, but was too late.

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku's voice seemed to come out of nowhere as the young ninja appeared to the side behind Viper and executed his signature attack on the back of Viper's leg's, severing the man's Achilles' tendons as he passed by.

However, instead of stopping after executing the slash attack, like he usually would on completing the technique, Riku only paused for a brief second before suddenly appearing, facing the opposite direction before he executed another 'Dragon Claw Slash' on Viper's unprotected back.

Viper let out a cry of pain from both wounds as the pain registered, but that cry was cut off as Nagi made an intense force of his telekinetic powers slam into his chest and stomach. The force was so much that it sent the assassin for the Patriots flying back and slamming into the wall behind him.

Viper quickly, despite his wounds, tried to get up but was stopped as Tot and Toya suddenly seemed to appear in front of them and had their blades drawn and their points were pressed at his throat.

Satisfied that their enemy was defeated, Riku and Nagi walked over to where Viper was.

"Alright, whoever you are, now what was it Kagami was about to tell me?" Riku asked Viper.

"Heh, like I'm going to tell you such valuable information." Viper replied to him.

"Thanks for admitting the information is valuable." Nagi commented. "Now I'm sure the rest of us are just as curious as to whatever it was Kagami was going to tell Drakken."

Viper then smirked at this and laughed before shaking his head at them.

"You poor simple minded fools." He said. "I told you myself that I wasn't going to allow myself to be captured by the likes of you. All I need to do is complete my final mission, which is to eliminate you and the information you have." Viper then took a switch out from his suit and held it out about to press the button on the switch. "This switch is connected to a bomb inside my body and the moment that bomb goes off, so do the bombs set all throughout this ship."

That statement got a reaction from everyone as they heard it.

"Wait, if you do that…!" Riku started in an attempt to stop him.

"I'll die?" Viper finished and simply grinned, his eyes having a fanatical light in them. "I and each one of my deceased comrades have dedicated our very bodies to the Patriots. For them, each of us was willing to give our lives." Viper then looked at Riku, Nagi, and Tot mockingly. "You FOXHOUNDers believe your organization stands a chance against the Patriots, but you couldn't be more wrong. A small organization like yours could never be a threat to them, who control almost the entire world, its money, its armies, and so much more. In that aspect they are practically gods…can you lot fight a god?"

What shocked Riku the most about that statement was that Viper wasn't speaking like one who was insane but the look in his eyes was of one who was telling the truth. Unfortunately it was that brief moment of shock that cost Riku any chance of stopping Viper from pressing the switch he was holding. Riku only had enough time to draw the kanji for 'round' and call upon the dragon Madoka's barrier to protect his friends while Nagi created a psychic barrier around everyone as well just in case the explosion was strong enough to break through Riku's.

Sure enough, the moment Viper's body exploded, a series of explosions began rocking the ship and colliding with the barrier. This lasted for a few minutes until the explosions subsided. As soon as that occurred, both Riku and Nagi brought down their barriers, and with both gone, everyone could see the damage done by the various blasts.

The walls of the room had pretty much been blown to pieces and in some the neighboring rooms the ceiling had caved in. The room itself was filled with the smell of smoke and also burnt flesh as the result of the initial blast spraying the burnt remains of Black Arts Viper and also Kagami Mikage all over the place.

"I think we should get out of here, and quick." Aya said, grimacing at the smell and Yuhi, Chidori, Tot, Shuro, Maya, Aki, and Alec readily agreed (Riku, Nagi, and Toya were sort of used to that sort of smell, but were also glad to leave).

When the group got outside and onto deck the ship was not in very good shape to say the least. Much of it had been torn up by the explosion and some parts were even on fire.

"Do you think the lifeboats are still intact?" Shuro asked Riku.

"Hopefully…" Riku answered, his mind still dwelling some on what Kagami had told him, but he quickly pushed it aside. "Anyway, I'll go and find Ran and the others. Crow, Usagi…"

"Let me guess, the two of us are to get Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec to where the lifeboats are." Nagi said and Riku nodded.

"And if they're broken we're going to have to fix them, right?" Tot guessed.

"As best as you can and as quick as you can since this boat obviously won't be staying afloat for very long." Riku replied. "Also try to find some lifejackets too in case the boats are beyond repair."

"Alright, consider it done." Nagi nodded.

"And we'll help too." Aya spoke, and Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Aki, Shuro, and Alec nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then…" Riku was interrupted by the sound of a gun going off followed by a bullet striking the floor near his feet. He turned just in time to see Brad Crawford pointing a USP at him, the laser sighting on his forehead.

"That will be far enough, Mr. Hanabish." Crawford said calmly.

"Looks like Viper did most of the harder work for us." Schuldich's voice spoke as he suddenly appeared behind the group, an FN P90 pointed at them. "Anyway boss, let's get this done with before the ship sinks."

"Of course." Crawford nodded with a light smile.

Suddenly the sound of an approaching chopper could be heard, and Crawford, noticing the group's reaction simply shook his head.

"I'm afraid that's our ride and not yours." Crawford said.

"Alright Crawford, what do you want?" Riku asked.

"You'll know soon." Crawford then turned to Nagi. "However, my business is with my dear pupil over here."

"As I remember, I resigned from that." Nagi commented to Crawford.

"You are my student until I say otherwise." Crawford replied to him. "Even now you're still learning from me, just in a different manner than before. You, I, Schuldich, and Farfarello are connected and no matter what you say, no matter what others you connect yourself with, you cannot sever your connection to us. No more than you can sever your connection to your own shadow." Crawford then smiled. "No more than you can sever the connection you have to those memories of your childhood that you try so desperately to…"

"I've put all that behind me!" Nagi shouted, interrupting his former teacher.

"Why do I find that so very hard to believe?" Crawford asked in reply and then shook his head. "But I suppose we no longer have the time to chat, so I'll make this as brief as possible. I'll let you and your friends go in exchange for one thing."

"And that is?" Nagi asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at Crawford's sudden generosity.

"The disc containing the data on the Mikage's metal gear project, which you obtained back at the base." Crawford answered simply as he fixed his glasses. "I must admit that you did quite a good job doing even a partial decoding of something with such advanced protection."

"The security cameras…" Riku said to himself as he remembered seeing some cameras in the computer room, but because no alarm went off he assumed they weren't operational.

(Damn it, I should have destroyed those things just to be safe!) Riku thought as he almost mentally kicked himself for making such a mistake.

"Hmm, perhaps you didn't make such a bad choice in partnering up with that ninja considering he's more insightful than I originally gave him credit for." Crawford observed with an amused smile as he glanced at Riku.

"Too bad he only just realized his mistake." Schuldich commented.

"And I'm guessing if I don't, you'll kill one of my friends." Nagi assumed.

"Or more than one." Crawford added indicating Schuldich. "Why do you think I'm having Farfarello conceal himself?" Crawford then looked at Nagi knowingly. "Do you think you can put up a barrier quick enough to protect these people? Quick enough to perhaps to stop the bullets from striking your friends, quick enough to stop the bullet from my gun from entering the skull of this wonderful new friend of yours who you've teamed up with?"

Crawford then glanced at Riku.

"No matter how fast you are, I'll know which direction you'll go in attempt to dodge the bullet long before you even decide." He told him. "I won't miss."

"You want to bet?" Riku asked, feeling some anger build up towards the precognitive holding him up, more because he could see how this was affecting his friend Nagi than the fact that Crawford had pretty much just insulted his ability. But he quickly pushed it aside as he knew acting rashly would have disastrous consequences.

Nagi, meanwhile, was wondering himself if he could use his powers quick enough to prevent his friends from being shot. He was already starting to feel nervousness as he knew messing up would mean their lives.

(I can sense Nagi's apprehension, boss.) Schuldich told Crawford telepathically. (I doubt he'll be willing to take a chance so big since he realizes his own weaknesses.)

(Yes, I can sense it as well.) Crawford replied. (But just to make sure…)

"You weren't able to protect the girl when you first decided to go against my wishes, what makes you so certain you'll do any better now?" Crawford asked, which got a reaction from Nagi. Crawford was about to smile in victory when something unexpected happened.

"Nagi, give the disc to him." Riku spoke, causing Crawford's attention to temporarily turn to Riku.

(I didn't foresee this…why?) Crawford thought, for the first time in a while feeling surprise. (Did I…did I just gloss over it when I saw Nagi give the disc to me?) That feeling of surprise was only temporary as Crawford pushed it aside. (That's probably it. Even if it isn't it doesn't matter. As long as the end result is the same…)

"But…" Nagi was surprised, first at what Riku told him to do and also that Riku wasn't using code names.

"Remember, our mission is to bring everyone back alive, the disc has nothing to do with the mission objective." Riku said, and then paused before continuing. "Besides, I'll make sure it goes down on record that I was the one who ordered you to give him the disc."

(Why are you really ordering me to do this?) Nagi asked him telepathically.

(Yeah, can't we do something?) Tot asked, apparently Nagi had brought her into the conversation.

(Maybe, but do you really want to take that chance and gamble our friends' lives unnecessarily?) Riku asked in reply. (What I mean is that the metal gear the Mikage were planning to build, ARK gear, will be useless in the hands of the Patriots.)

(Useless?) Nagi and Tot chorused in telepathy.

(What makes you think that?) Nagi asked.

(From what Kagami told me just before he died…) Riku answered. (The metal gear is just a giant space transport, I doubt it was even designed to carry weapons.) Riku then noticed their confused expressions. (It's too complicated to explain right now, but I promise as soon as we're back at HQ I'll tell the both you, Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, Alec, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, Michael, and even Snake and Raiden, if they want to know, everything that Kagami told me. Just trust me…)

Nagi and Tot glanced at each other before answering.

(Alright, I just hope you're right about this.) Nagi said. (I'll tell everyone else about this so there's no confusion.)

(If we're nakama, then we should trust each other, right?) Tot added her agreement.

(Thanks.) Riku replied and then remembered something. (Wait, there's one more thing.) Riku paused for a second before continuing. (Nagi, I just want to let you know that I would never ask you to sacrifice anyone just to accomplish a mission. Much less friends.)

For a second, Nagi was silent before giving his friend a light smile.

(Of course, I know that.) He replied.

A minute later Nagi, feigning reluctance, gave a sigh.

"Alright, I'll give it to him." Nagi said and then reached into his pocket and took out the disc. He then used telekinesis to float it over to Crawford, who took it and after examining it and seeing it was the right disc out it in the pocket of his white suit jacket.

"Glad to see you have some common sense." Crawford said. "And don't worry, like a good businessman I keep my end of the bargain." He then turned to Schuldich and nodded.

The German nodded in reply and looked off to the side. Immediately, Farfarello seemed to suddenly appear as he emerged from hiding and went to rejoin his two partners. A few minutes later the chopper everyone had heard appeared above them and lowered a rope ladder for the three assassins to use.

"With the disc and the C-Genome embryos, our assignment is complete." Crawford commented and made a last turn towards Riku and co. "While I doubt you're stupid enough to do so, if you attack this chopper I will have our pilot turn its guns on you."

With that the assassins went up the ladder and into the chopper, which immediately took off and was soon gone from sight.

When it was gone, Riku then gave a light sigh.

"Well, that's done." He said simply.

"Are you sure giving them the disc was a good idea?" Toya spoke.

"I can't really say for sure." Riku answered. "But there really wasn't much choice."

"Don't worry about that." Nagi spoke. "Just before I gave the disc to Crawford, I made some small cracks in the disc. Too small to be seen anyway, but enough to mess up the disc enough that whoever it is that will go over it will have to take some time to fix it."

"That's a bit of a relief." Yuhi said, and the others nodded their agreement.

"I'm more concerned about the fact that those guys got their hands on the genome embryos." Alec said, his expression troubled. He then turned to Aya, Chidori, Shuro, and Maya. "Can any of you transform into your tennyo forms?"

"Ceres is gone, so that counts me out." Aya answered while it took a moment for the other three girls to answer, and their answer was also 'no'.

"It's too bad." Chidori said with a bit of lament in her voice.

"Huh, why?" Aya asked, turning to her friend.

"That's a secret." Chidori answered with a bit of a sly smile as she glanced at Yuhi.

(I could have teased Yuhi a little more in that form.) She thought regretfully.

(Why do I suddenly feel a strange sense of relief?) Yuhi wondered to himself.

"Anyway, Alec, why are you asking them?" Nagi asked.

"It's…well, a bit complicated, to tell you the truth." Alec said as he rubbed his head. "Is it alright if I explain once we get to your headquarters?"

"No problem." Riku said. "Besides I've got something I've got to explain to you guys myself once we get to HQ."

"Not to mention it will probably be best if everyone is there to hear it." Toya spoke.

"One thing's for sure, I'm definitely looking forward to finally being someplace that isn't owned by the Mikage." Aki spoke.

"Aren't we all?" Alec said in agreement.

"One thing though." Yuhi said, turning to Riku. "Everything that's happened so far…it won't get you guys in trouble will it?"

"Hopefully not, but knowing Reese he might try to use the fact that I gave important data to the enemy as an opportunity…" Riku paused as he didn't want to worry Yuhi or Chidori since they knew how nasty Reese could be.

"An opportunity for what?" Chidori asked.

"I-it's probably nothing." Riku said quickly. "Look at it this way, it's not like things can get any worse, right?" Before either Yuhi or Chidori could reply he quickly turned to leave. "Well, I'll go and get Ran and the others and then…"

Riku was interrupted as suddenly, just a few feet from where he was standing and in the direction he was about to head, a gigantic geyser of dark energy burst through the floor, fountaining up till it reached hundreds of feet in the sky.

Riku, and everyone else for that matter, could feel the large and intense power coming from it.

(No…it…it can't be…) Riku thought though he pretty much knew the cause of this. (That guy was supposed to be…)

A few minutes later, a figure emerged from the energy and calmly stepped out of it. The figure was none other than Shade, who, aside from the fact that his hat was gone and his trenchcoat was in tatters, looked completely unharmed.

While everyone only looked in shock at the return of Shade, the mercenary said nothing and simply looked at his enemies.

(That tennyo's power…I almost can't believe it myself.) Shade thought to himself. (I had to call on the Orochi's power just to survive that blast and more of it to regenerate.) Shade could only shake his head as this was the first time in so many centuries of life, that he had come so close to dying. He then looked at Aya, then Toya, and then Aki, but could not feel anything power-wise from them like he had before. As soon as he felt this, Shade could hardly contain his rage and frustration as he knew what this meant.

(So the tennyo took her robes and departed from this world, and it seems she took the progenitor with her.) Shade thought in frustration and forced himself to calm down. (Very well…if that's how it is then I will simply complete the mission and squeeze every amount of pleasure I can out of it before it's over.)

"Well, you lot seemed to have completed your mission." Shade commented. "The tennyo Ceres is gone, and the Mikage are finished, for all intents and purposes. Now it's time to complete mine."

(After regenerating using the Orochi's power I went back to being about one step away from calling on it again.) Shade thought to himself. (Let's see if this bunch are strong enough to make me have to use that power to kill them.)

"You've managed to survive this long, so let's see how long you can actually last against me." Shade grinned as he looked at Riku, Nagi, and Tot. "Now fight me. FIGHT ME UNTIL YOU'RE TORN TO PIECES!"

Riku, Nagi, and Tot, despite knowing they were likely outmatched, immediately prepared to fight Shade.

(Riku, when you said things couldn't get any worse...) Nagi said to him telepathically.

(I know…being wrong sucks…) Riku replied. (Well, here goes nothing…)

AN: Yeah, I know, another cliffhanger, but it can't really be helped. Anyway I'm sure there's quite a bit you're wondering:

How's the fight with Shade going to turn out?

How is it that Riku knows about Third Impact, yet he, nor any of the others, doesn't seem to know anything about it?

This and more will all be answered in the next chapter. To Weiss fans, sorry for them not being in this chapter but things sort of had to focus on Riku and co.'s side for this chapter. Next chapter, they'll definitely be there.

Same as above for GreyWolf4 regarding Michael. Like I said he'll be in the next chapter and you'll all find out how things turned out on his end.

Also, please don't think Shade's being practically vaporized by Ceres was nerfing his character. Bear in mind, Ceres is over 5,000 years old, meaning she's over 10 times older than Shade is. Not to mention her power is such that even without the hagoromo she could reincarnate herself multiple times. Not sure if Shade can do that (though maybe he can).

Anyway, all that said, time to make a translation note:

As you read, Riku, Nagi, and Tot used the Japanese term 'nakama' when referring to one another. Those of you who have watched the One Piece anime (subbed) know what this term means overall, but to those of you who don't, I'll explain the term (note: This explanation is basically the one used by Kaizoku-Fansubs for One Piece, so to any of those from the subbing group who may be reading this, think of this as a mini-disclaimer: I don't own the translation (and on a side note to K-F: I love your work in translating One Piece so well, keep up the good work):

Nakama:

Translates to man 'a company, set, group, party, circle, gang, companion, fellow, mate, colleague, associate, etc.'

In One Piece, the meaning is not strict to any of the proper definitions. It is more general and it changes in emphasis according to the situation. One Piece's 'nakama' can either mean 'comrade/ally/crewmember' or 'friend/mate/partner'.

For Luffy's (the main character for One Piece) usage of the word throughout the series, to talk about a nakama is to talk about someone cared deeply for and who shares the same road in life. It has a double meaning of 'best friend' and 'partnership' and is, therefore, difficult to translate.

Understanding the deeper meaning of attachment, it is easy to understand why the characters react the way they do when the term is used in this manner. They are not simply crewmates or companions, nor are they just good friends. They are much more than this and yet not in a romantic manner. This is nakama.

As you can guess Riku and co's usage of the word applies to the last two paragraphs. Hope I helped you guys learn something new in the area of Japanese terms.

That said, this has been one long chapter (54 pages!). I hope you all enjoyed reading it.

Anyway, please R and R.


	34. Chapter 33: The Invincible Foe

AN: Well folks here we are at chapter 33 of this fic, which I'm sure many of you have been looking forward to (especially you GreyWolf4). Hope you all enjoy the final part of the fight with Shade. Now let's get on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: Same as before. I also don't own a certain anime/manga series, which will be revealed soon enough in this chapter as a surprise crossover (be patient folks you'll see soon enough). I also do not own Kenshin Mori, Kurando/Darkness, Robert Thorn, or Kicho who all belong to Greywolf4 (one thing you should know though, Kenshin's only going to be mentioned for now, but he will appear soon I promise).

Chapter 33: The Invincible Foe

FOXHOUND Chopper:

Seishiro 'Black Tiger' Takeda, Marcus 'Ice Wolf' Blackthorne, Trang Nguyen Han (code name: Black Cougar), and Kojiro "Hawkeye' Shimura looked out the window of their chopper as it landed on the island that the Mikage base had been on. The recent explosion had completely devastated the place to say the least as the blast had destroyed practically all the plants on the island, which was now littered almost all over with debris and rubble that had been the remains of the base.

"Not sure what that explosion was but it sure as hell did a number on this place." Marcus spoke.

"No kidding." Seishiro agreed. "It almost looks like the aftermath of a couple of missile showers if you ask me."

"Only this was caused by a single explosion." Trang noted. "And I'm not entirely sure I want to know what caused it."

"Giving you some bad vibes, eh?" Kojiro said as he glanced over at Trang.

"You've got that right." Trang nodded in reply and then turned to Seishiro. "You think Venom is…"

"It's hard to say, I'm afraid." Seishiro replied as he and the other three FOXHOUNDers braced themselves as the chopper finally touched down.

(An explosion of that magnitude is not something easy to survive, especially considering Venom may have been in the heart of that explosion…) Seishiro thought to himself, already starting to feel a touch of fear of what he and his team was going to find.

"But I've seen many cases where soldiers have managed to survive things even worse than this, so it's not like things are completely hopeless." He continued as the four of them got out of the chopper and then turned to the pilot. "We'll likely be back shortly as this isn't a very large island so please be ready to take off as soon as we return, and have stretcher ready since we'll probably have wounded."

"Understood, sir." The pilot replied with a nod, and then paused as if to consider what he had to say next. "Sir…should I also…just in case…"

"Yes, have a body bag ready just in case." Seishiro answered quickly. "Hopefully we won't need it…"

"As do I, sir." The pilot nodded. "Good luck to you."

"Thank you." Seishiro nodded and with that the four men headed out to begin their search.

After walking for a few minutes and they were far enough into the island, Seishiro turned to his three companions.

"Alright, from here we'll split up and begin a thorough search of the island." He said seriously. "Report in every five minutes, and if any of you find anything important contact me immediately."

"Right." The three men chorused.

Just as the four were about to split up, an idea suddenly came to Trang and he turned to Seishiro.

"Tiger, with your permission I would like to go on ahead and do a quick sweep through the island while the rest of you do a more thorough search." He spoke. "We may be able to find Venom or any other survivors quicker if I'm lucky enough to spot them."

"That sounds like a reasonable idea, you have my permission, Cougar." Seishiro replied with a nod. "If you find anyone contact me immediately."

"Understood." Trang gave a nod before suddenly vanishing into thin air.

"Well, he sure is fast on his feet." Marcus commented. "But then again I know the guy specializes in tracking and stuff like that."

"Well, he is a ninja after all, Wolf." Kojiro commented, and then stopped and turned to Seishiro. "By the way, what clan was he from again?"

"From what remember he's an Iga clan ninja, jounin level." Seishiro answered. "I don't know much about his clan myself, but I remember during a conversation between Cougar and Drakken, in which Cougar mentioned something about his mentors being directly descended from inhabitants of the Iga Tsubagakure (Hidden Hilt) Village, which I assume must have been that clan's main village." Seishiro then shook his head. "Anyway, we don't have time to talk right now, let's begin our search. Since we have no idea as to Venom's condition, he may be gravely injured, so time is of the essence."

With that the three remaining FOXHOUNDers split up and headed in their respective directions to begin their search.

Exactly five minutes later, Seishiro heard the beeping of his codec as he was beginning to search the rubble of what appeared to be the remains of the shed in which the power for the Mikage base was. Seishiro immediately answered to find that it was Marcus.

"This is Wolf, I'm currently searching what looks like the foundation of the base." Marcus spoke.

"Have you found anything or any survivors?" Seishiro asked.

"If by anything you mean anything that could tell us what exactly happened here, then no, there's just a bunch of rubble." Marcus answered. "As for survivors, no such luck, I'm sorry to say. All I've found are some of what's left of the people who were here when the explosion occurred, which isn't very much." Marcus then gave a sigh. "Whoever's going to be in charge of identifying these guys sure is going to have his work cut out for him."

"I see…" Seishiro didn't like the sound of that, but did his best to push the worry aside for the time being. "Alright, resume your search for now."

"Right, Wolf out." Marcus replied and ended his transmission, leaving Seishiro alone with his thoughts as he continued his search.

(Hawkeye and Cougar are late…) Seishiro thought as it had been a few minutes past the required time. (I'd better contact them and…)

Just then Seishiro's codec beeped and he immediately answered it to find Kojiro that Kojiro was the caller.

"This is Hawkeye, sorry for the late report. I'm with Cougar right now so I'll be reporting for both of us." Kojiro said quickly, his expression a serious one. "Tiger, we've found Venom; he and a woman are inside a storage building that collapsed. Right now we're trying to get those two out."

"I'll contact Wolf and he and I will be there shortly." Seishiro said as he turned to head for the area Kojiro was assigned to search. "What's Venom's condition? And what about the woman with him?"

"Apparently he was injured, though more by the collapse of the building than the blast." Kojiro answered. "How bad his injuries are, I don't know. As for the woman, according to Venom she's fine, but unconscious."

"Alright, continue with getting those two out of there, Wolf and I will be there as soon as possible." Seishiro then ended his transmission.

A few minutes later, both Seishiro and Marcus were at the place Kojiro and Trang were. With a nod at their companions the two men quickly began to help in clearing away the rubble and debris in their way. Finally they succeeded.

With that, the four men went in to find Michael sitting not too far from the entrance, and leaning against the wall not too far from him was an unconscious Gladys Smithson. Michael's suit was covered in dirt, which indicated that he had been desperately trying to dig a way out for himself and Gladys before Seishiro, Marcus, Trang, and Kojiro had arrived. There were also a number of cuts and bruises along his arms and shoulder.

"It's good to see that you're in one piece, Venom." Seishiro said with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." Michael replied and then glanced over at Gladys. "Anyway, I'm not hurt that bad, just a few bruises and scratches, so you don't have to worry about me. Could you please get this woman, Gladys Smithson to the chopper immediately?"

"Of course." Seishiro then turned to Trang who was the fastest of the group. "Cougar…"

"I'm on it." Trang nodded and walked over to Gladys and then carefully lifted her up. Giving a nod at Michael, he then exited the remains of the building and then took off towards where the chopper was.

"Alright, that done, let's get you to that chopper and to base so you can be treated." Kojiro said with a grin as he walked over to help Michael. "Still, you had us pretty worried for a while, Venom. I'm sure Jaguar will be relieved when she hears you made it out fine."

"Oh, so Ma…Jaguar's with you?" Michael asked in reply.

"Actually, she and a team of agents have been sent to retrieve Drakken and his team." Seishiro answered, which immediately got a reaction from Michael, which Seishiro could tell meant that something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

"Can you contact Jaguar?" Michael asked.

"Yes, but…" Seishiro started.

"I'll explain in a moment, but right now it's important that you contact her and the team she's with immediately." Michael said as he slowly got up. "You see there's…URGH!" Michael almost bent over as he felt a sudden spasm of pain from his back.

"Whoah, calm down for a…HOLY SHIT!" Kojiro exclaimed as he saw that Michael also had wounds to his back, which consisted of deeper cuts than the ones on his arms and shoulders, bruises, and a few pieces of debris that had embedded themselves into his back from the explosion. Michael had of course done some self treatment earlier on these wounds using his first aid equipment, but it had been done in haste so he could focus on getting him and Gladys out from under the collapsed building.

"If you call all of that 'just a few bruises and scratches' I do not want to know what you call a real wound." Marcus remarked and then reached for his codec. "Anyway, I'll inform Jaguar, you just talk while we bring you to the chopper."

"Alright…" Michael nodded as Kojiro and Seishiro helped him to his feet. As they headed out, he began talking. "Here's what the present situation is…"

Meanwhile: Mikage Boat:

"Well, ninja of Hokage, shall we begin?" Shade asked Riku as he prepared for Riku and co.'s next move.

"Heh, thought you'd never ask." Riku said, putting on a fake grin of confidence, though in reality he (as well as Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Toya, Aya, Aki, Maya, and Alec) could feel the intense power radiating from Shade and he knew they were completely outclassed.

Riku then glanced over at Nagi, who gave a light nod, and Tot did the same. Then as one they charged at Shade, who simply stood where he was, observing his incoming foes.

(This bunch isn't stupid, they're not going simply attack me all at once.) Shade thought as he waited for the real attack to be revealed. (They'll show their real move right about…)

Just then Shade's thoughts were interrupted as suddenly the floor around him seemed to erupt as pieces of wood and metal tore themselves up from the floor and sped at him. Shade simply made a wave of his hand and suddenly a wave of dark energy materialized in front of him shielding him from the attack.

(Obviously a diversion attack…) Shade thought as he whirled around to see Tot coming at him, swinging her umbrella down at him to strike him. Shade then simply sidestepped away from the attack and was about to attack the now vulnerable Tot, when he sensed Riku coming at him from behind, Saiha's blade out and ready.

"Dragon Claw…!" Riku began, but Shade simply disappeared only to reappear behind the ninja and made simple yet powerful slice on his enemy's unprotected back with his chakram.

(As I expected, a bunshin.) Shade thought as Riku simply turned into a puff of smoke. He then turned around. (And now…)

Though he was expecting the real Riku to attack him, Shade instead found a flurry of throwing star shuriken coming at him instead.

(So there's one more distraction…) Shade thought as he caught some of the incoming shuriken with his left hand and repelled the rest with a simple spin of his chakram. He then sensed Riku behind him and turned to see the young ninja coming at him once again, but Shade could tell it was the real one this time. (Not a bad plan, too bad I was able to figure it out…)

Shade then prepared to counter the incoming blow with an attack of his own. He was through playing around.

"Dragon Claw…" Riku then suddenly stopped and whirled around, a triumphant grin on his face. "Just kidding…" As he whirled around, Riku then threw a fistful of small fireworks right into Shade's face, which the mercenary wasn't able to block as this had caught him off guard.

Immediately Shade felt a great deal of pain as the fireworks went off and seared and burned his face as well as blinded him.

(What is…?) Shade thought, only to be interrupted as he sensed Tot come at him, and before he could dodge or defend, She swung her umbrella as hard as she could at Shade's side, cracking a few of the mercenary's ribs before sending him flying into the wall of one of the ship's compartments.

Shade simply gritted his teeth in irritation as he got to his feet, only to feel an invisible force suddenly slam into him and send him flying back further and crashing into the wall behind him. That was the final straw…

"ENOUGH!" Shade cried out, causing a massive swirl of dark energy to erupt from his body, completely destroying the part of the ship he was in.. However, he quickly leaped forward so as not to fall and landed only a few feet from where his three foes had been standing.

When the dust cleared, Shade could see that the blast had forced Riku, Nagi, and Tot back a bit, almost to the edge of the deck. All three were unharmed since both Riku and Nagi had used their powers to shield themselves from the blast.

Shade was about to make an attack when he noticed something, only Riku, Nagi, and Tot were standing before him; Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, and Alec were gone. It was then Shade figured out what was going on and then began to laugh.

"So that was your plan…I should have known." Shade simply shook his head. "Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. No matter how far you friends get on those lifeboats, I'll catch up to them. Either with my Harrier, or I can always swim."

"Which is why we're going to keep you on this boat as long as we can." Riku said. "And now that you've figured it out…"

"Psyche Shot!" Nagi suddenly formed and threw a ball of psychic energy at Shade.

"I'm not stupid enough to be distracted by talking, fools!" Shade shouted as he simply swatted the sphere aside and then charged towards the three, making Riku his first choice since he was the closest.

"Now you're through!" Shade shouted as he swung a dark energy encased fist at Riku, when suddenly a wall of flame seemed to rise up from the floor and blocked his strike as well as burning the mercenary's hand.

Shade quickly leaped back from Riku, assuming that the young ninja would follow with a counter attack (or the attack would come from Nagi or Tot), while his hand regenerated the burns. Yet as his feet touched the floor below, the wall of fire that had blocked him vanished.

(This is something new…) Shade thought. (I wonder…well, let's find out before that Hokage brat's lackeys make a move.)

Shade then made a step forward before suddenly completely vanishing.

Riku only had enough time to sense his enemy before he heard Shade's fist collide with a wall of flames that appeared behind him just in time to stop the mercenary's attack from hitting him. Riku turned, but only caught a glimpse of Shade before he vanished again.

"Genocide Prelude!" Shade's voice shouted, causing Riku to turn to his left just in time to see Shade deliver a single and powerful back kick at him. Yet the wall of flames appeared to block the attack, stopping it just an inch from hitting its target.

Before Riku, Nagi, or Tot could do anything, Shade vanished again.

"Genocide Bringer!" Riku heard the voice from his right this time and once again, he turned to see Shade deliver his attack, which was a rising spin kick in the form of an uppercut. Once again, the flames appeared, this time barely in time to block the attack.

And just before any of the three could make a counterattack, Shade once again vanished from their sight.

"Genocide Finish!" Shade's voice came from above, but this time, as Riku looked up at his incoming opponent and his attack, the attack was made too quick for the wall of flames to block, and before Riku could defend or make an attempt to dodge, the young ninja was struck by a powerful double descending drop kick, sending him crashing into the floor.

"Rabbit's Feet!" Tot hurled the Kuchibashio madogu at Shade before he could attack her fallen partner, causing the mercenary to jump back in order to dodge the attack.

"Psyche Shot!" Nagi shouted as he hurled a ball of psychic energy at where Shade was about to land, this one stronger than the last one.

Shade, however, had anticipated this and immediately did a mid air flip so his hands touched the floor, making him able to do another flip away from the energy shot's intended path.

As Shade landed on his feet, he turned to Riku with a victorious sneer.

"Not bad at all for an upstart." He commented. "That technique was quite interesting in how you used your powers combined with a significantly large amount of chakra to create a barrier of flames that reacts to any hostile intent from an attacking enemy and blocks it. I find it impressive that one so young can utilize such a large amount of chakra required for that technique and still have what it takes to keep going. Too bad that move is too slow for me."

"I see…looks you figured out my Dragon Armor technique quicker than I thought…" Riku said, his voice low as if he was admitting defeat. However, his eyes were constantly glancing at Nagi and Tot. Riku then grinned slightly. "Too bad you only figured out half of what it's capable of!"

Riku then held out both his hands wide and as he did, fire started to appear and hover around him. Soon Riku disappeared behind a large inferno of flames that was constantly building up around him. Nagi and Tot kept their distance so the flames wouldn't burn them.

"What's this, hiding in your armor and leaving your 'nakama' to fend for themselves?" Shade asked, calling out to Riku mockingly.

There was no answer from Riku, but instead a small river of fire suddenly shot out from the large flame Riku had surrounded himself in and came directly at Shade. The mercenary simply sidestepped from the incoming attack, only to receive a small surprise as the flames changed their course to follow Shade in the direction he had dodged. Shade this time leaped away as the river of fire struck at him, crashing into and burning the place he had been standing moments before.

"I see…interesting way of modifying a defensive technique…" Shade said, almost to himself, with a smirk as to him this fight was beginning to actually lose its dullness and was starting to interest him. "Too bad I've already figured out you're…"

"Water Snake!" Tot's voice called out, causing the mercenary to turn just in time to see the blue haired former assassin swing her Muramasa to send a snake like water apparition straight at him.

Shade immediately dodged, and as he did sensed the river of fire created by Riku strike at him again as he was dodging Tot's attack. The mercenary then turned and shot a beam of dark energy out of his hand at the approaching flames, only to receive a surprise, as the beam didn't destroy the incoming flames only knock them back before they came at him again. Shade once again jumped away from the attack to avoid it.

(This ninja brat has a lot more control over chakra than I've seen in anyone his age in years.) Shade thought as he landed. (The only other to show similar potential was that kid Kenshin…though his was far greater than this one.)

"Crow Rising!" Nagi shouted as he hurled a powerful charge of psychic energy at Shade, interrupting the mercenary's thoughts.

"Water Snake!" Tot shouted as she sent another one at Shade.

"Attacking a single spot at once only makes it easier to dodge, fools!" Shade said with an arrogant sneer as he leaped up into the air to dodge the two attacks. However, as he saw a both Nagi and Tot give a small smile of victory, Shade realized he had made a mistake.

Shade then sensed something coming at him from behind and saw that the psychic energy shot had changed course and was headed towards him.

(So he can guide his attacks too…) Shade thought and just as the ball of energy was about to hit him, Shade did a sudden mid air kick at it. Sending the ball flying off in a different direction.

As he landed, Shade sensed Riku's flame's coming at him from behind and turned to see them approaching. This time, however, the flames had expanded and now resembled a miniature tidal wave of flames.

"That won't work on me!" Shade shouted as he charged up dark energy in both his left hand and right hand and at the same time fired both into the approaching wave of flames.

The wave immediately receded because of this, but then suddenly began pushing forward against the twin beams.

"Heh, so you're showing a bit more resistance, eh?" Shade grinned. "Ultimately futile though. I can sense that you can barely hold out against this much power. Let's see if you can…?"

Shade then heard a crashing sound behind him and glanced behind just in time to see a large flame shaped like the head of a dragon come out of the floor behind him and then strike, its jaws opened to reveal razor sharp fangs.

Before Shade could do anything, the flame dragon's jaws closed around his middle, causing the mercenary to grunt in pain as the fangs plunged into and burned his body and the dragon's jaws began to crush him. The beams fired at the main flame wave stopped and Shade's hands went limp and fell to his sides.

Immediately the main wave fell onto and converged into a large ball around Shade, completely enveloping the mercenary. As this was happening, the flames that were around Riku began to recede as they were adding to the fireball surrounding Shade, causing the ball to expand in size.

When the flames that had covered him were gone, Riku then held out his right hand and then began to clench it as if he were trying to crush something. Immediately the fireball that held Shade began to shrink in size, but after a while it stopped and started to expand. Riku's eyes widened at the feeling he was getting from this and was already starting to sweat from the amount of effort this was requiring.

(I knew this guy was going to put up some resistance, but I didn't think it would be this much!) Riku thought as he struggled to maintain the fireball that held Shade, which the immortal mercenary was slowly beginning to break through his sheer strength. (I can't let our team effort go to waste…and if this guy breaks free…) Riku then mentally called out to Yuki. (Yuki, is there any…?)

(I'm sorry, but…I'm providing you with as much power into those flames as I can…) Yuki replied, her voice sounding strained as this was taxing even on her. (I'm sorry, Riku…)

(Don't apologize…) Riku replied, trying to sound reassuring despite the strain on both of them from the intense resistance Shade was putting up against their combined power, which Shade was slowly but definitely winning against. (I'm the flame master, meaning the only one to blame is me for my weakness…)

"Need some help, Drakken?" Nagi's voice spoke, causing Riku to turn to the side to see that both Nagi and Tot were right next to him.

"Yeah, thanks, both of you." Riku smiled at his two partners.

"You know what to do just in case, right Usagi?" Nagi asked, turning to Tot, who gave a quick nod.

"You got it, Crow." Tot replied, as she knew that if this failed she would have to do something to distract Shade so that her two partners could recover quick enough to rejoin the fight.

Nagi then smiled at her in thanks before returning his attention to the task at hand. He then closed his eyes and immediately focused every ounce of his telekinetic power on applying intense pressure onto Shade to add more force to try and crush him.

Almost immediately, Nagi could tell why this was taking its toll on Riku physically as the resistance Shade was putting up was almost more than he could handle. Nagi quickly applied more of his power to keep Shade from breaking free, but he knew that the mercenary would overwhelm him soon enough even if he kept applying the power he had on reserve. It was then that Nagi suddenly had an idea.

Nagi then turned to Riku and then began speaking to him telepathically.

(Riku, can you apply anymore pressure with that ability?) Nagi asked him.

(Well…a little bit more, but if I put it into one burst I won't have anymore strength to maintain this…) Riku answered him. (Yuki's trying her best too on this…)

(I've got some more power behind me.) Nagi replied to him. (If we apply all we've got, we might be able to overtake this guy…)

(Well, I guess it's better than slowly exhausting ourselves…) Riku then gave a light grin. (Fine, let's do this…on three…)

(One…) Nagi counted.

(Two…) Riku counted.

(THREE!) Riku, Nagi, and Yuki chorused as they applied as much as they could into this burst of power to try to finish their enemy once and for all.

The loud sound of crunching and snapping bones from within the rapidly shrinking fireball could be heard.

"Crematorium!" Riku shouted as the technique was completed as he felt the ball had completely crushed and burned Shade inside of it.

With that Riku and Nagi both gave sighs of relief as well as exhaustion as that had taken out a lot from them.

"So…did we win?" Tot asked looking at Riku and Nagi.

"Barely…" Riku answered her, but then gave a smile of gratitude, both to her and Nagi. "Still, I really owe you two on this one. If it weren't for your help there's no way that Shade would have been caught by my Dragon Armor, and that attack wouldn't have worked anyway…"

"Hey, don't give us all the credit, it was your technique that made the kill." Nagi reminded him.

"True, but it was your powers that made it possible." Riku said in reply. "That and Yuki was giving me a huge boost in power, so…"

(Thank you, Riku, but you really don't have to…) Yuki's voice began.

"You know what, I think you all deserve the credit, you know equally." Tot spoke, and then her eyes lowered slightly. "I didn't really do anything compared to you guys…"

"Are you serious?" Riku asked in reply. "You probably saved my life back when Shade beat my Dragon Armor's defenses. So looking at it that way, there's no way we could have pulled things off without you, Usagi."

"He's got a point there." Nagi agreed with a nod, and then stopped as he thought of something. "You know…most people would be trying to claim the credit for something like this but…aren't we doing kind of the reverse?"

"Didn't really think about that…" Riku admitted as he thought about it, and then turned to Tot. "What about you, Usagi?"

"Nope." Tot replied simply.

(Me neither.) Yuki said to Riku.

"Well, whatever the case, we should get going now." Riku said, finally deciding to change the subject. "I'll just put it down in the report that Shade's defeat was a result of our effort as…"

Just as Riku was about to unclench his right hand and make the fireball, which was still hovering in the air, vanish, he suddenly felt something strong surge through his arm. The young ninja's eyes widened in surprise and even fear, as he knew what this meant.

(Oh no…) Riku thought. (Don't tell me that…If that couldn't kill Shade, then…) Riku's thoughts were interrupted by what happened next.

The fireball at first contracted and began to expand slowly, like a balloon filling up with air before finally bursting apart in an explosion of dark energy, the force sending the three FOXHOUNDers flying back as this happened before they could do anything to prepare for this.

Riku managed to make draw one of his kunai and drove it into the floor of the boat to prevent from being thrown off it, and then concentrated chakra into his feet and hands to keep himself firmly attached to where he was. Nagi, meanwhile, used his powers first to grab Tot just before she fell off the boat and pull her to him and then after taking a hold of her hand used his powers to keep them both safely in place. Since both Nagi and Riku had spent a great deal of their strength just a moment ago on Shade, enduring this was tiring them out even more.

Finally the force of the explosion receded and soon the smoke cleared to reveal Shade simply standing there, looking completely unharmed by the last attack. The mercenary simply grinned at the three as he saw them.

"Sad isn't it?' Shade asked mockingly. "When you realize all that effort you put together as a team was all for nothing. Oh well, it's not like you had anything particularly special against me from the start."

Shade gave short laugh before continuing.

"You three think you actually were able to pull one over on me in battle? Ha, don't fool yourselves." Shade said with an arrogant grin. "I'll admit you gave me a few small surprises here and there with some of your skills, but in the long run I could tell how you were planning to try to defeat me. First you keep piling distraction type attacks at me until you're sure I can't tell what your main attack will be or when it will come. After that you soon reveal the 'trump card' attack and proceed to use it. Plus I could you're your psychic was using telepathy so you could coordinate your attacks. That's so overused a tactic that I'm almost disappointed."

(Almost because their skills are a bit more advanced than usual for a bunch of brats…) Shade thought to himself. (I can see why Crawford picked that psychic kid for his team, that girl's combining of weapon skills isn't half bad, and that Hokage brat's skills are decent if they weren't so unrefined…almost makes me reluctant to make the kill. Oh well, if they weren't strong enough to bring me to 100 percent of my power before calling upon the Orochi, then I guess they wouldn't have become much anyway…)

"Anyway, I'm through playing around, it's time to take the gloves off and finish this." Shade said as he cracked his knuckles and got into a fighting position, one hand holding his chakram ready and the other charging up dark energy. He then gave a grin at his three enemies. "Still, I'm generous enough to give you a choice and let you make the first move. Either you three come at me and die like warriors, or try to run away and die like cowards as I pursue and kill you one by one. Your choice and either way I get some entertainment out of it. Take as much time as you need to decide how you die…"

Riku looked over at Nagi and the psychic spoke to him via telepathy.

(Well, Riku, what do you think?) Nagi asked.

(Either way we'll have to deal with this guy.) Riku answered. (Kind of reminds me of something I heard a while back in the first episode of an anime 'To stay is death…to go is death…')

(Wait a minute, you don't mean you're giving up!) Tot spoke with disbelief.

(Let him finish, Nanami.) Nagi said to her as he could tell that their friend had a bit more to say.

(You don't have to worry, Nanami, I won't give up since giving up means giving up your lives as well as Aya's, Toya's, Yuhi's, Chidori's and everyone else's.) Riku replied. (Michael put me in charge of this and I will not fail him, upon my honor as a ninja of Hokage and as your friend.) Riku then reached over to something in his pocket. (So what say we meet Shade halfway? Tot, I'm going to need you to use one of the flash grenades you've got.)

(I see…) Nagi replied. (You're going to try to use a shadow binding jutsu to pin Shade to where he is so he can make an escape since the intense light of the flash grenade will extend Shade's shadow enough to make it a better target for the jutsu and we can escape.) Nagi's face became troubled. (However even if the plan works it probably won't last long, I figure someone like him will have a countermeasure for that.)

(Do we have any other options?) Riku asked in reply. (Our best bet is to hope that will hold him long enough for me to make barrier between us and him using Madoka's power.)

(And after that we run to where Aya and the others are, get in the lifeboats and take our chances in open water.) Nagi finished, figuring out what his partner was planning. (Unfortunately, since Shade will pursue us, we're still vulnerable, probably even more so than here.)

(Yeah, you have a point…) Riku agreed as he considered the idea of fighting Shade on open water, which made him reconsider the plan. (Still, what do we do, then?)

(Hey, why don't we just fly away?) Tot suggested.

(Huh?) Riku and Nagi both sweat dropped as they had no idea what Tot meant by that.

(Uh…Nanami…what exactly do you mean?) Nagi asked her.

(Couldn't you just use your powers to pick up the boats and then we can just fly off in them to land?) Tot asked Nagi in reply, as if this were almost an obvious idea.

There was a moment of silence and then Riku turned to Nagi.

(Can you do that?) He asked.

(Well…theoretically, yes…) Nagi answered. (But, I don't know how far we'd be able to go…I mean, during the fight we…) Nagi then paused and glanced at Tot, and was silent for a few seconds, as it seemed that he was mentally debating something. Finally he spoke again. (I can get us far enough away, and since I doubt Shade would expect us to do something like what Tot suggested we might be able to make this work.)

(Why wouldn't he expect that?) Tot asked, her expression slightly confused.

(Never mind, Tot.) Riku answered her, and then realized something. (Wait, what about Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi?)

Nagi and Tot then remembered their four missing friends.

(Okay…now we have a problem since we don't have much of a window in time to wait for them.) Nagi said.

(Can you reach them with your telepathy?) Riku asked.

(Yes, but…) Nagi began.

(Then warn them as soon as those flash grenades go off.) Riku said. (I'll hold Shade where he is with my barrier for as long as I can once he breaks free of my shadow binding jutsu.)

(But…) Tot began.

(Are you sure you can do that?) Nagi asked, as both he and Tot were concerned about Riku's safety in doing what he just proposed.

(Yeah…I think I can.) Riku answered and then his expression became serious. (Still, considering Shade's strength, I can only give you guys a window of five extra minutes, a couple more if I get lucky, so…)

(Okay, we'll get everyone to the boats before then so you can come with us safe and sound.) Tot spoke confidently and turned to Nagi. (We can do that, right Nagi?)

(Yes, I think so.) Nagi replied. (Nakama should have trust in each other, after all.)

(Alright then, I guess all we need to do is begin.) Riku said, and Nagi and Tot nodded in reply. (Well, shall we?)

And with a single unified nod the three then made a dash towards Shade, preparing to do just what they planned.

Shade simply smiled at this.

"Glad to see that you made the better choice." Shade said. "Now…"

However a surprise occurred not just for Riku and co., but for Shade as well.

Suddenly a long link whip lashed out from behind Shade and wrapped itself around Shade's right arm. A sudden and powerful tug was then made, causing the links to contract, and what followed was the loud crunching of bones as Shade's arm was crushed, causing the mercenary to growl in irritation.

Just as Shade turned around to face this new attacker, a flurry of darts followed from the direction in which the whip had come from, burying themselves in Shade's back, side, stomach, and chest. The mercenary snarled now, not from any pain from these new wounds, but because this new development was starting to annoy him even more.

Before Shade could react, a short figure appeared behind him and then buried an army knife into his back before pulling out an Uzi and then proceeded to empty its contents into the mercenary. Seconds later, when the gun was out of ammo, Shade soundlessly slumped over onto the floor of the deck in a heap.

The gunner then turned around to reveal that it was none other than Indonesian boy assassin, Asamu Bagte, who quickly reloaded his gun and pointed it at Riku and co., who were all immediately in fighting position.

"That was for what you did to Miss Smithson, mercenary filth." A voice spoke out as the whip loosened and retracted back to its wielder, Wei Fei Lee, now with his lost eye regenerated thanks to Toya. The Chinese man then turned his attention to Riku and co. "Alright, where's the rest of your group, and the Chief and Viper?"

"Back there, or what's left of them anyway." Riku answered gesturing back in the direction they had come from.

"What's left…?" Lee then realized what that meant and his expression became enraged. "You…you bastards! You'll…!"

"Now wait a minute it wasn't us, remember we needed the guy alive!" Riku said quickly. "That guy Viper was the one who killed him. He was an agent from the Patriots."

"You think we believe you lies?" Asamu asked in reply.

"Whether you believe us or not is not important right now, what you should know is…" Nagi spoke.

"You two bugs…how dare you…" Shade's voice spoke, causing Lee and Asamu to turn around to see the mercenary get up as his wounds regenerated. "I won't have this…weaklings like you have no place in this battle. I won't allow you to defile it with your pitiful weakness!"

Shade suddenly vanished only to reappear behind Asamu Bagte. The young assassin never even sensed his enemy behind him and Shade simply took out the knife that the boy had stabbed him with and plunged it hard into his shoulder. Asamu cried out in pain, but that was cut off as Shade grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.

"Pitiful…" Shade said simply and then let go of him before beginning to inflict a series of blows on the boy, beginning his 'Death Craze' technique.

"You wish!" Lee shouted as he lashed at Shade with his whip to interrupt the mercenary and stop him from killing his partner.

Lee's attack was successful in that, as the mercenary halted his technique, causing Asamu to collapse to the floor badly wounded but still alive. However, the whip didn't injure Shade as he had simply reached out and caught the descending whip between his thumb and forefinger. He then gave a simple tug, which yanked the whip out of Lee's hand, and then tossed the whip over board.

"You!" Lee shouted as he quickly went for one of his darts. However, just as his fingers touched one, Shade simply appeared right in front of him, looking down on the Chinese assassin with a sneer.

"Too slow, I'm afraid." Shade said.

With a cry Lee quickly brought out the dart and plunged it towards Shade's chest to stab his enemy, yet before he could, Shade's right hand shot out and grabbed Lee's wrist, preventing his attack.

"Hmph…I suppose I could have let you do that, it wouldn't have amounted to anything anyway." Shade said as he tightened his grip on Lee's wrist, causing him to grunt in pain. "However…an insignificant maggot such as yourself is not worthy of spilling my blood a second time."

With that Shade then slammed Lee hard into the floor, almost breaking the man's back, before stepping down hard onto Lee's chest breaking a few ribs in the process. Lee cried out in pain from this and began to cough up blood as a result of his injuries.

"Hmm, looks like you had a bit of luck there, China man, I was trying to crush your heart." Shade said with amusement in his voice and then reached out and called forth a handful of dark energy into his right hand. "Too bad that luck wasn't enough, now to put you out of your misery…"

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku's voice called out, causing Shade to turn just in time to see Riku coming at him with Saiha's blade. Shade quickly leaped aside and avoided the young ninja's attack.

"Take this!" Tot shouted as she leaped out from behind Riku and swung her sword in a powerful downward slash at Shade, which the mercenary immediately parried with his chakram.

Shade then sensed what was coming next and crossed his arms in front of his face and defended as Nagi attacked him with a powerful invisible blow of telekinesis.

"What's this…protecting your own enemies now?" Shade asked Riku and co. with a sneer. "What…don't tell me you're one of those types that want to save and protect everyone, even if they're your enemies?"

"No, I wouldn't say that." Riku answered him. "It just doesn't feel right letting those guys die at the hand of someone like you."

"True enough, Drakken." Nagi commented in agreement as he quickly used telekinesis to pick up Lee and Asamu and move them behind them and out of the way of the battle.

"I see…so you're saying you're just saving them so you can kill them?" Shade replied. "That I can understand…"

"No, we're not like you." Tot spoke.

"Heh, well whatever your reasons, let's continue where we left off then." Shade then vanished from his enemies' sight.

(Oh shit!) Riku thought as he realized that in stepping in to save Lee, the three of them had given up any chance of their plan of escape. Riku then saw Shade appear behind Tot.

"Usagi, behi-…!" Riku began to call out, but then Shade suddenly shimmered and vanished.

"Too easy." Shade's voice spoke from behind Riku.

Before Riku could even turn around, Shade then made a powerful round about kick into the young ninja's right side, causing Riku to grunt in pain as he felt a couple of his ribs break from the force of his enemy's kick. Shade then grabbed him by the neck and slammed him face first into the floor.

"So this is what a so called Jounin of Hokage can do, pathetic!" Shade said as he lashed out in a ferocious kick that caught Riku hard in the left side as the young ninja tried to get up, breaking a couple more if his ribs and sending him flying only to collide with the railing at the edge of the boat.

Shade was about to step forward to finish Riku off when he sensed Nagi about to make an attack in an attempt to rescue his partner and simply tossed his chakram behind him. Nagi was only barely able to see it coming and was barely able to move aside so the ring wouldn't slice into his neck, but not before the chakram sliced deep into the young psychic's right shoulder. Nagi grunted as he bit back crying out from the pain of the cut and was about to make a second attack when Shade suddenly vanished and reappeared right in front of him, chakram ready to strike.

"Time to join your partner!" Shade shouted as he swung his chakram at Nagi, but just as the weapon descended, it was stopped as Tot appeared between Shade and Nagi using the blade of her sword to stop the chakram's descent.

Tot then swung her sword at Shade causing the mercenary to leap back to avoid her attack. Tot then quickly gave Nagi some bandages for his cut.

(Thank you Nanami, just hold on…I'll be right there in a minute.) Nagi said to her telepathically as he quickly started to wrap the bandages around the wound from Shade's chakram as they both knew Tot couldn't fight him for long by herself.

(I know you will…) Tot replied with a quick smile before having her sword in a defensive position as she prepared to fight Shade.

(Nagi has always protected me…so it's time for me to protect him.) Tot thought to herself.

Shade merely sneered at the girl as he prepared to attack.

"What…is that skinny thing you're trying to protect your lover perhaps?" He asked, indicating Nagi. "Heh, valiant effort I suppose, but I promise that after I kill him I'll show you what you've been missing."

Shade then vanished from Tot's sight, only to suddenly reappear in front of her and then slammed his fist into the girl's stomach, causing Tot to grunt in pain but she didn't cry out. Instead she maintained her grip on her Muramasa handle with her right hand and then lashed at him with her sword.

Shade leaped back to avoid the attack, but not before receiving a slight cut on his left cheek as the edge of the sword grazed him.

(I see…) Shade thought, as he was at first a bit surprised that the blow hadn't knocked Tot out, as it was a powerful one. (That girl sensed me at the last minute and was lucky enough to bring her scabbard up with her left hand to act as a shield…Too bad for her, her luck's run out now…)

Shade then vanished again, but this time appeared behind Tot and before she could react, made a powerful backhand strike on her back, knocking her over, before whirling around as he knew what was coming next. Behind him, Nagi, who had quickly bandaged his wound, was now making his attack to help Tot.

"Psyche-!" Nagi's actions however were prevented as Shade, upon turning around had vanished only to appear in front of him.

"Genocide Bringer!" Shade shouted as he executed a rising spin kick on Nagi, stopping the young pyschic's attack. He then seized Nagi by the throat and then slammed him against the wall nearest to them and then paused to study his foe.

"Heh, so this is what Crawford picked as a student, what a joke." Shade grinned as his grip tightened on Nagi's throat, causing him to choke at the intense pressure on his neck. "I'll admit, your power is a bit high for your age, but I've seen stronger psychics in my lifetime. I guess Crawford, should have picked a better…"

Shade paused and glanced to the side as he saw Tot coming at him from the side, her Muramasa raised to strike.

"Let go of Crow!" Tot shouted as she attacked.

"Stupid move, getting emotional, but I'll grant your request." Shade commented with a smirk as he simply let Nagi go and then turned and just as the blade was about to descend, caught it between his thumb and forefinger, holding it firmly in place.

"So you have a Muramasa blade, interesting…not to mention rare too." Shade said as he looked at Tot's sword. "If I remember correct this sword seemed to have some sort of curse with the Tokugawa family, in that quite a few of them died on these blades…oh well, enough with the history lesson."

Shade then made a lower sweeping kick that knocked Tot off of her feet before performing a descending kick into Tot's stomach that sent her crashing into the floor. Tot gasped in pain, but tried to get up only to be prevented as Shade brought his foot down on her stomach and kept it pressed down to keep her from getting up. Tot then tried to kick him off, but to no avail.

"Enough of this." Shade then took a hold of the handle of Tot's Muramasa and then thrust it through her left leg and into the floor.

This time the pain was too much for Tot and she screamed as the blade bit into her leg and went through it.

"Oh yes, that reminds me, I need to pay you back properly for that leg back there." Shade spoke as he remembered how Tot had sliced his leg off in the previous battle to protect Nagi. He then smirked as he twisted the blade, causing even more pain to Tot, yet this time she didn't cry out, and did her best to bite back any cry of pain as tears started to come out of her eyes.

"Not to worry, I won't cut off your leg, not yet anyway." Shade said as he finally stopped twisting the blade and then roughly yanked the sword out, causing Tot to flinch and try not to cry out from it. "And out of respect for being so brave as to attack me directly though you knew you were outclassed, I'll let your lover live. He can watch as we have a bit of 'fun' starting now."

Shade then reached for the front of Tot's sneaking suit, but stopped as he sensed something and turned to see Nagi standing behind him, his expression unreadable.

"Well, you certainly recover quickly." Shade commented as he stepped away from Tot. "Are you really thirsty for more pain before you die?"

"Don't be so sure about who's going to die…" Nagi replied, his voice calm.

"Heh, you can see by now I cannot die, so that rules me out of that sort of thing, boy." Shade grinned arrogantly.

"Yeah, Drakken figured you were an immortal, and it looks like he was right." Nagi then looked at Shade, his expression one of intense anger and his eyes began to glow red, but this time a more intense color than before. "But immortal or not…I won't allow you to touch her or cause her anymore pain!"

Shade was suddenly surprised as he was hit by a sudden and powerful force of psychic energy, which knocked him back a couple of yards and at the same time broke his ribs and nose.

"So you have more power at your disposal, interesting." Shade grinned as his wounds regenerated. "Let's see how much more you have!"

"I'll gladly show you." Nagi said in reply and then began to focus his powers. As he did a thought suddenly came to mind.

(It looks like I'm going to have to fall back on something Crawford taught me after all if I'm going to win this.) Nagi thought to himself as he remembered it.

Flashback: Five Years Ago:

A ten year old Nagi Naoe was calmly sitting in meditation inside the star filled room that he and his fellow Schwartz members. Brad Crawford was calmly watching as his student was progressing in unlocking the potential, which Crawford had seen in him when he had found and recruited him almost a year ago.

(He's progressing very well indeed.) Crawford thought to himself. (Now let's see if he can find…)

"Crawford…this is…" Nagi spoke as his eyes opened, wide in amazement at what he had discovered at Crawford's instruction.

"Yes…you've discovered the true power within you…" Crawford smirked as he fixed his glasses. "Well, done, my student, well done…"

"But…" Nagi spoke.

"You're curious as to how this power exists within you, correct?" Crawford asked with amusement. "I can't say that I blame you, so I'll explain it as best as I can."

Crawford paused before continuing.

"Nagi, that power you feel is the product of all those years of misery that you suffered ever since you were abandoned by your own family." He explained causing Nagi's eyes to widen in amazement as well as realization. "Your anger and resentment at those who caused you pain…those who rejected you… those who betrayed you…hurt you…humiliated you…treated you as something other than human and laughed as they ground you into the dirt…all of your hatred of those things has built up to this point."

"I…I…" Nagi could barely say anything as his powers were suddenly starting to resonate around him and intensifying as those horrible memories of his childhood, which were actually fairly recent, began to creep into his mind. Memories of the loneliness at being rejected by the other street children after his abandonment, of them running away in fear of him when he naively showed them his power before returning in larger numbers to throw stones and other things at him to drive him away, of having to live in solitude while at the same time having to steal food to survive and at the same time hope his food wasn't stolen from him…all of these memories were starting to fuel the buildup of the power around him.

"Not yet…" Crawford's voice spoke out and a sudden flick at the forehead by the precognitive broke the young psychic out of his trance and back to reality.

"The time has not yet come for you to release that power." Crawford explained. "First you must come to know how to utilize it."

"You…you mean it can be controlled?" Nagi asked in amazement, as he didn't believe it was possible to control all of the power he had discovered.

"With time and training, though it's almost impossible to control it completely the first time." Crawford answered. "Once you let it out, it could swallow everything around you…yet it's an amazing feeling of release as it blows away all reason and consciousness. However with my training, you will learn to control and focus such power."

"What should I do to control it?" Nagi asked.

"For now just let your anger and hatred grow so it can feed the power within you." Crawford answered, and then noticed the boy's hesitant expression. "Don't worry, it's okay to hate them…to want to kill them…that is what you need in order to survive as an assassin."

Nagi seemed a bit hesitant at first but then nodded in reply.

"Good, now all that needs to be done is for you to find one to release all that power on." Crawford said with approval. "Make sure it is one worthy of such a death."

End Flashback…

Present:

(I didn't tell Crawford that as the years went by those memories were starting to become distant, and the hatred becoming harder to call upon.) Nagi thought to himself as he walked forward until he was standing in between Tot and Shade. (I thought maybe there was something wrong with me until I met Tot…then I started to care less and less about the hatred…)

Nagi then noticed Riku had vanished from the spot where he lay after Shade had injured him. He then quickly called out to his partner via telepathy.

(Riku, if you're planning on making a surprise attack on Shade, then don't.) Nagi instructed him.

(What? What do you mean?) Riku asked in reply.

(I'm going to try some thing…but if it doesn't work…) Nagi answered.

(No problem then, I'll back you up just in case though and if it doesn't work, we'll just have to do what we can as a team, right?) Riku replied.

(Right.) Nagi almost gave a nod. (One last thing though, take cover because I might not be able to control this…)

(Got it.) Riku said.

Nagi then returned his focus to Shade, who was calmly waiting to see what his opponent was going to do.

(I'm lucky that guy hasn't attacked yet…I guess that first blast caught his interest enough that he wants to see what I can do.) Nagi then began concentrating and focusing on his anger towards Shade as he brought out as much power as he could, which immediately began to resonate around him.

(It may not be the same…but I have more than enough hatred for this one who hurt my friends and Nanami…) Nagi thought as he struggled to keep the growing power under control. Suddenly he remembered something.

(You are my student until I say otherwise…even now you're still learning from me…) Crawford's words from before echoed in Nagi's mind, but the young psychic quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

(I don't care if I'm proving him right by doing this…as long as I can keep Nanami and Riku and the others safe even for a few minutes, then that's all that matters!) Nagi thought as he fought to grasp his power and attack. As he did another thought came to mind, and that was in how he was doing things differently from how Garland would have instructed him. (I'm sorry, Garland, but this is the only way…)

Almost as soon as he thought that there seemed to be a mental click inside Nagi's mind, like a door unlocking. Immediately, Nagi felt a tremendous surge of power flow through him and then begin to resonate around him. As this happened, a large number of small spheres of psychic energy began to form around him and the number began to grow at a quick rate until they were almost covering Nagi from view.

(Ah…now this is interesting…) Shade thought as he could feel the power coming from Nagi. (Now let's see what this one's got.)

As the amount of spheres that formed began to lessen, Nagi suddenly felt a piercing pain began to form in his head, but he quickly shook it off as he directed all his focus into sending all of those balls of energy at Shade.

As they all rushed at him, Shade immediately defended as he could tell dodging the attack would be almost impossible. However as soon as the spheres struck, Shade was in for a surprise. Each sphere, despite its small size contained a great deal more power than the mercenary anticipated and as each one struck him Shade was forced back along with feeling a great deal of pain in the areas that the spheres struck.

Within a few minutes, the spheres stopped, but they had driven Shade all the way to the back of the ship. However each one, after hitting Shade, was now simply hovering around him and the mercenary immediately knew what was coming next and called upon his powers to shield himself as all of the energy spheres exploded at once.

As the explosion caused the boat to rock slightly, Nagi suddenly felt the pain in his head again, but this time more intense than before. As he clutched his forehead in pain, the young psychic tried to stay on his feet.

"Nagi!" Tot's voice called out, causing Nagi to turn around to see Tot was limping over towards him, her left hand clutching her wounded leg, which was still bleeding.

"Tot, wait, don't!" Nagi shouted as he almost seemed to forget the pain in his head and ran over to her. He then bent down to look at her injury.

"Tot, you shouldn't move with your wound like that." Nagi said as he took out his own bandages that he had brought. He then used his powers to tear away the left leg part of Tot's sneaking suit that was covering the wound up before proceeding to bandage it.

Just as he finished, Tot suddenly wrapped her arms around Nagi and hugged him, causing him to blush some at this.

"Tot, what…?" Nagi began.

"It's nothing…Nagi is Nagi and that's all that matters." Tot replied simply.

"Um…alright…" Nagi said as he wasn't sure what this meant, but returned her embrace.

(That's right, even though Nagi looked a little scary just then when he attacked Shade, he's still my Nagi…I can tell…) Tot thought to herself.

"My how touching…" Shade's voice spoke sarcastically, causing the two to break apart to see Shade standing only a few yards away from them, completely unharmed by Nagi's attack.

"I'll admit you made a pretty impressive burst of power back there, but unfortunately that was far from enough…" Shade commented simply. "Anyway, I'm tired of this…"

Shade then vanished from where he was standing only to appear right in front of Nagi and Tot. He then brought up a fist encased in dark energy to strike at them.

"I suppose I'm gentleman enough to kill the both of you together!" Shade shouted as he made his attack.

However, the moment he did, his fist struck an invisible barrier that began to radiate as light as an intense light as Shade's dark energy fought to break through.

(What!) Shade thought in amazement and then felt a powerful force strike him and send him flying back and crashing to the ground.

(What the hell was that?) Shade thought. (There's no way that kid could create a barrier to withstand that much power…)

Shade then saw the light that had enveloped Nagi and Tot vanish and then he got a look at Nagi, who was starting to help Tot to her feet. Shade then noticed a tired look in Nagi's eyes and could not feel much power from him anymore.

(I see…) He thought. (It must have been some kind of fluke…either that kid got lucky and called a ton of power up on impulse or I just overestimated the amount of power I used. Either way, I'll finish this…)

Shade then stopped as he realized something.

(That Hokage brat, where…?) He thought as he realized that Riku had long since vanished from his sight and he knew the ninja wouldn't run away which could only mean one thing.

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku suddenly appeared in front of Shade and executed a powerful slash with Saiha's blade on Shade's chest, cutting him open. Without a moment's hesitation, he then plunged both of his hands into the open gash, using the force of that sudden and surprising move to slam Shade into the wall. Riku then quickly turned to Nagi.

"Crow, use your powers, and hold him in place!" Riku shouted.

"A-alright!" Nagi then started to call on more of his power, and, despite the fact that the pain in his head returned as he did, focused on using telekinesis to hold Shade in place.

"You, what are you planning?" Shade asked Riku. "If you think you'll win by burning me from the inside…"

"Not quite, but let's see what happens if I form a Sky Dragon Demon inside of you." Riku replied as he began focusing on his powers of flame and began the process of forming the attack.

Shade immediately felt in intense pain as the flames started to spiral around insides of him, and began to tear at and burn him on the inside. He then snarled at Riku in rage at the pain that the young ninja was causing him.

"You little…!" Shade tried to attack Riku but couldn't as Nagi's psychic powers were holding him in place. Gritting his teeth in anger, Shade managed to free his right arm, which held his chakram and immediately swung it down at Riku's head.

The young ninja sensed this and quickly moved his head aside and the blade cut deep into his left shoulder instead. Riku bit back a cry of pain and continued in forming the attack inside Shade's body.

With an enraged look, Shade brought the chakram up again, this time making sure he wouldn't miss.

However, just before the chakram could descend, the Kuchibashio madogu suddenly came at Shade's arm as Tot threw it and its beak-like head closed over Shade's hand, staying the blow.

Frustrated at this predicament, Shade finally had had enough.

"I'm sick of these childish games!" Shade shouted, and as he did a sudden wave of dark energy burst out from within him, striking all three of the FOXHOUNDers and sending them flying back.

When things settled Shade looked around for his three opponents.

(So they now brought me to 99.6 percent as of now…) Shade thought to himself and then spotted Riku first.

Riku was lying on the ground still alive and obviously trying to get up. He had escaped taking the full force of Shade's attack by calling on the dragon Madoka's power at the last minute, but he had still been injured by the blast.

Shade then turned and saw Nagi and Tot starting to get back on their feet, but Shade could tell they wouldn't be much of a threat anymore.

(That psychic looks like he'll collapse soon since he's used his powers too much.) Shade thought. (And that girl's weakened and since her leg is injured she won't be able to fight very well.) Shade then turned his attention back to Riku. (I suppose I shouldn't end this mission empty handed…)

Shade then walked over to Riku and then roughly kicked him, causing the young ninja to flinch at that.

"Get up, Hokage ninja…" Shade spoke, causing Riku to look up at him in anger, but he quickly jumped to his feet and then called out flames into his hands.

"Yes…that's it…" Shade said with a grin. "That's the exact position I want you in for this technique…"

Upon hearing that, Riku prepared to defend himself only to discover he couldn't move.

"Having trouble moving?" Shade asked. "My shadow has attached itself to you and is keeping you in place." Shade then reached for Riku and dark energy began to radiate from his hand. "With this I'll be able to see whether your technique with flames is worth my taking from you before you die…"

Riku gritted his teeth as he fought to break free from the shadow binding as Shade reached for him.

"It's useless to struggle." Shade spoke. "Now…"

"No you don't!" Nagi's voice shouted, causing Shade to glance back just in time to see Nagi throw a ball of psychic energy at him.

(He can still use his powers?) Shade thought in surprise, which ended up breaking his concentration slightly, which gave Riku the opportunity to break free.

However, just as Riku broke free, Nagi's attack struck Shade, which sent the mercenary colliding with Riku and at the same time the hand covered in dark energy touched him. Riku only had enough time to see an expression of shock appear on Shade's face before a blinding white light completely enshrouded his vision.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Shingen…" A woman's voice came into Riku's ears as his vision returned.

He was sitting in down on a tatami mat in what looked like an old Japanese house. He could feel someone brushing his hair from behind. Riku tried to say something but for some reason words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

"Today is the day you'll be fully accepted as a ninja of Koga Manji Valley." The woman's voice spoke, her voice seeming gentle and even soothing. "I truly am proud of you, my son…"

"Thank you, Mother." Riku suddenly felt his lips move and a young boy's voice that was not his own came out. "I promise, I'll become a great ninja that will protect Koga Manji Valley, and bring honor to the Koga."

There was a brief moment of silence and suddenly Riku felt the woman's arms embrace him, or rather the boy Shingen, from behind.

"As expected of my child…" She spoke a proud yet loving tone in her voice. "Just promise that no matter what, you will remain yourself."

There was a pause as Riku felt his eyes blink a little. Apparently this boy was a little confused at the question. Finally he spoke.

"Okay, I promise." Shingen replied and made a nod.

There was a brief pause, and then Shingen spoke again.

"Mother, I heard this during training but…is it true that there are going to be attempts to make peace with the Iga of Tsubagakure?" The boy asked as Riku felt the boy's lips move as if they were his own.

However, just before the woman was about to answer, the same blinding light of before enveloped Riku's vision.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Riku came to he was now lying down in what seemed like an entirely white room. As he stood up and looked around, he saw that he wasn't standing in a room at all but rather just an area of white empty space that seemed to go on forever.

"Where…am I?" Riku asked himself out loud and as he took a step forward he realized something. All the wounds that he had sustained during the fight with Shade were gone.

(I'm…okay…how? And more importantly…how did I get to wherever this is?) Riku wondered.

Just as that question came to mind, Riku suddenly felt something behind him and whirled around to find himself facing two large white double doors that looked big enough to be the gates into some sort of castle or fortress. The doors themselves though were bound up by a series of large and black chains with many different locks that seemed to bind them all together almost as if to form some sort of strange web. Closer inspection showed that something was inscribed on the surface of the doors themselves, yet the chains seemed to obscure them from view.

(This door…I wonder…could it be the way out of here?) Riku thought and reached for the door. He was at first going to touch one of the chains yet something inside him seemed to warn Riku not to touch them and the young ninja with drew his hand. Instead he decided to touch one of the areas not covered by the chains and specifically reached for where a part of the inscription appeared to be, thinking maybe if he took a closer look he might be able to at least guess what was written on the door.

But just as his hand touched the surface of the door, Riku once again found his sight completely consumed by another flash of light.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Riku's sight returned he found himself now standing in what seemed to be a garden located inside the walls of a large Japanese mansion. He was looking down at a boy dressed in what appeared to be traditional clothes from the Tensho Era. The boy appeared to in his early teens and had black hair with a portion of it tied back.

"You are…Danjo Koga, am I correct?" Riku once again felt his mouth move and this time the voice that came out of his mouth was that of an older man. A voice that sounded strangely familiar.

"Yes, I am." The boy, Danjo Koga, answered, his voice calm and betraying no sign of suspicion or fear of the one standing before him. "And you are…"

"You need not worry, boy." The man's voice spoke through Riku's mouth. "I am…one of Koga, like you."

"I see…" Danjo paused for a moment before speaking again. "Could I have your name then, sir?"

"I am afraid I cannot reveal my name to you, boy." The man replied. "It is a matter of circumstances, I'm afraid."

"Very well, I understand." Danjo nodded in reply. "So why have you come here?"

"I wish to ask you a question…" The man said. "Tell me, what do you think of the Iga of Tsubagakure and do you think a peace could be made between our two clans?"

"Why do you want to know?" Danjo asked in reply, some suspicion in his voice.

(I don't know why but…there's something familiar about this kid…) Riku thought to himself as he looked at this boy, Danjo, through the mysterious speaker's eyes.

"Do not worry, young one, I am not here on some orders from the elders." The speaker then paused. "In fact I might be in a little trouble myself if they found out about this…Anyway, the reason I want to know is simply a personal reason…I want to know what you, as the next to become leader of the Koga clan will decide to do…will you choose to go with or against old traditions?"

"Well…I…" The boy at first seemed hesitant, but finally spoke. "As long as you promise not to tell anyone about this…"

"You have my word as a Koga ninja that our conversation will not be known to any aside from you and me." The speaker promised.

"Alright…" Danjo paused before continuing. "Well…I do believe that there are some traditions that are important but some of them…some do not seem to have any base at all and I worry how they could affect the Koga in the future…"

"I see…" The speaker seemed to pause either to contemplate what he had heard or to see if what the boy was telling him was the truth. "So…are you saying that you believe that in foolishly clinging to baseless traditions such as say petty superstitions or old feuds, the Koga of Manji Valley are weakening themselves and becoming too hidebound in the process?"

For a second Danjo didn't say anything, but finally spoke.

"Yes…I'm sorry to say…" He admitted. "I'm worried that these things may result in our people's destruction, especially considering our ancient enmity with the Iga of Tsubagakure…not even the elders or any of the last few chiefs know how or why it started…"

"And yet they still have no problem with the feud continuing." The speaker finished. "And in the process of that, ninja die unnecessarily." The mysterious man then paused before speaking again. "Tell me, what do you think of the Iga?"

"The Iga? Well…" Danjo was silent for a moment and then spoke. "Actually…I've met some Iga ninja before…I've even gotten to know one…secretly…If you ask me, they do not seem so different from us Koga…"

(That's strange.) Riku thought as he noticed something about Danjo's expression. (It looks like there's more behind what this kid is saying…what could…)

"I see…" The speaker suddenly spoke, interrupting Riku's thoughts and that's when he realized that this man's silence might be because he noticed the same thing.

Riku then felt a strange tugging at the corner of his, or rather the speaker's lips, apparently this man was concealing an urge to smile. Whatever this man wanted to know from this boy, Danjo, he was obviously satisfied with the answers the boy had given him.

"Well…all those statements alone would certainly upset the elders." The speaker noted almost to himself, his voice almost sounding amused. "Well, boy, you certainly show promise, let's just hope you keep all that you said now in mind in the future…"

Riku then felt the speaker get up and then turn to leave and as he did, the familiar white light took over his vision once again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku was once again standing in front of the large white double doors that were chained shut. He then shook his head.

(Just what was all that?) He wondered. (And who was that guy talking to that kid just then? Also…why did that kid look a little familiar?)

Just as he was pondering this, the door in front of Riku suddenly disappeared. There was no sound or shimmering, the doors just vanished leaving Riku standing where he was, alone.

"This could be a problem…" Riku said to no one in particular as he looked around to see if the door had just moved off away from him, which so far didn't appear to be the case.

However, as he was looking Riku suddenly saw what looked like a small red dot in the distance. Not seeing anything else, Riku decided to head over towards it and see what it was.

As the young ninja approached it, he could see that the small dot was actually a glowing red orb with a strange red haze hovering around it. As Riku took a step closer towards this orb, he got an uneasy feeling from it but stepped closer. He then paused to ponder on whether he should touch this strange orb or not and then made another look around to see if there was anything else in the area that might be a clue to a way out, but there didn't appear to be anything else. With a sigh Riku turned back to the red orb in front of him.

(Well, I guess this is all I have to go with if I want to get out of wherever 'here' is…) Riku thought and slowly reached for the orb, and as his fingers touched it, Riku could feel a strange pulsating heat emanating from the orb before once again his vision was consumed this time by a bright red light.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Riku's sight returned this time he was standing in a forest at night. As he looked through the eyes of whomever this mysterious man was, Riku suddenly noticed out of the corner of those eyes that something was burning. Straining his own eyesight to look in the direction of whatever it was that was on fire, Riku was finally able to see that what was burning appeared to be some sort of village.

However, just as he was looking in that direction a force suddenly seemed to pull Riku's vision away to instead follow that of the mystery man as his own vision centered upon something else which was in front of him.

It took Riku a few minutes for his sight to get used to the dark so he could see what it was that the man was looking at.

Not too far away there were two small groups of people, and Riku could tell from the manner in which they were dressed along with the weapons they were carrying that both parties were ninjas. A closer look showed that the two parties also did not appear to be on friendly terms as both sides had their weapons drawn and looked ready to use them. In fact in between the two parties were two people who it seemed were the respective leaders, a man with short black hair, tied back in an old-fashioned hairstyle and wearing a brown outfit with a black coat over it, and a woman with long black hair wearing a purple kimono tied at the middle with a dark green obi and black obijime.

Both the man and the woman had a katana drawn and their blades were crossed in what appeared to be a duel.

(Does this have something to do with that village that's burning?) Riku wondered, but then noticed something about the man and the woman, prompting Riku to look harder at them.

(I…think I've seen those two somewhere before…but…why do they look so familiar?) Just as Riku was about to think deeper on the matter he noticed something else. (That's odd, there are two men dead on the woman's side, obviously from the man's side, but…why does the man seem reluctant to fight?)

Riku then mentally shook his head some.

(I'll think about that later, I should probably concentrate on what I'm seeing…it will probably answer those questions not to mention it may be important…) He thought to himself.

However, just as Riku was about to see what was going to occur he suddenly felt the mysterious man give a growl almost in disgust as he turned around, away from the sight. Suddenly, Riku then felt the man's fist lash out and strike a nearby tree.

"The fools…" The man's voice said bitterly.

Almost as soon as Riku felt those words leave the man's mouth, his vision was once again shrouded by the red light.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As Riku's vision returned, he found that he was once again standing in a forest at night. Yet this time, it seemed he, or rather the man, was not standing in the exact same place as before as the surroundings were different.

"It seems I picked the correct side after all…" The man's voice. "I suppose that's a good thing as I doubt 'he' would be very happy about me having any doubts…"

Riku then felt the man turn and look in a specific direction and then Riku could see where it was that the man was specifically looking. In the distance, Riku saw the light of a fire burning and a large column of smoke rising up into the sky. From the looks of things, it seemed that what Riku was seeing now was obviously not so long after, or very far from, what he had just seen through this man's eyes a moment ago.

"Danjo Koga…years ago…those things you said…that promise that you made…it all convinced me that perhaps you would be different from those shortsighted fools…" The man spoke again. "Yet this proves you to be as much of a liar and a fool as they are…and the same could be said of your former consort in how she fell back on suspicions stemmed from her own clans' baseless traditions…"

As Riku heard and felt the man speak out loud, Riku suddenly felt a series of strange feelings in the back of his mind that he immediately realized were not his own.

(Anger…bitterness…disappointment…and…even though I can barely feel it…sadness…) Riku thought. (Are these…this man's feelings? What could they…?)

However, just as he felt these, Riku suddenly felt the man's anger start to build up into an almost unfathomable rage, which seemed to muffle all the other feelings.

"Once again betrayed by Koga…I will not make the same mistake again…" The man said, and Riku felt the man's lips curl up in what he knew was a bitter grin.

"DANJO KOGA! OGEN OF IGA! May you both be cursed for this betrayal!" The man's voice shouted, his voice filled completely with rage and resentment. "Both you and your clans be cursed!"

As the man shouted this out, Riku suddenly felt a sudden and strange pain begin in his head, which began to grow, and suddenly a strange and intense heat that was starting to burn at him accompanied it. As this was going on, he could feel the red light start to slowly creep out and take over his vision.

As Riku's sight was taken over by the red light and the feeling of pain in his head and the heat that surrounded him started to intensify, Riku heard and felt one final word come out of them man's mouth.

"BE CURSED, TRAITORS!" The man's voice screamed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Suddenly the pain and burning vanished, and Riku's vision returned and once again he was standing in that white space, alone. Breathing heavily, Riku tried to collect his thoughts on all this.

"Just what exactly is all this I'm seeing?" Riku spoke out loud, and that was when he realized something. Not once since he had gotten into this strange area and seen these equally strange visions had Yuki spoken to him.

(Yuki? Yuki!) Riku called out mentally, but had no response. Then something else occurred to him and Riku immediately tore off the right sleeve of his sneaking suit only to find the bare skin of his arm; the tattoos for the first four of the eight dragons, Nadare, Saiha, Homura, and Setsuna were not there.

"What's going on!" Riku finally shouted out, his voice echoing out into the empty white space around him. It was the silence that got him to start calming down.

(Okay…calm yourself, Riku…you won't get anything done by panicking…just do like Kenshin would do…) Riku told himself, and then focused on clearing his mind. (Yes, that's right…just focus…like you were taught by Garland, Michael, Dad, Uncle Kurei, Aunt Miki, Kaoru, Joker, Raiha, and Genno-…)

Suddenly all those thoughts of calming down were interrupted as a sudden realization hit him.

(Why…why didn't I notice it sooner?) Riku thought as his thoughts wandered back to the vision he had just seen. More specifically focusing on the man and woman he had seen fighting.

(Those two…there are some differences, but…those two definitely looked a lot like Gennosuke-dono and Oboro-dono.) Riku thought. (Could that have just been a coincidence, or…)

Riku then gave a sigh, and shook his head.

(It's probably just that…besides I can't afford to do all this now…) Riku thought as he calmed down. (Like Michael and everyone else has shown me, a cool and clear head will get you through any situation…)

"Alright…" Riku spoke out as he was finally sure he was calm enough to effectively take in the situation around him and try to find a solution which would lead to a way out. He then began to look around.

(I found something the first time…maybe I'll get lucky again…) The young ninja thought as he began looking around for anything at all besides the plain white space that surrounded him.

After a few minutes of looking, Riku suddenly noticed something not too far away from where he was standing. It was a slight discoloration in the white space, which the young ninja immediately headed for. As he neared it, he immediately recognized what he saw as the door he had seen previously when he first arrived in this strange place. Not questioning good fortune, Riku quickened his pace until he was standing right in front of the door again.

Just like before, the large door was covered in black chains, which also hid some inscription on it. But as Riku inspected the door he noticed something different, a small patch that had previously been covered by the chains no longer was. That patch actually turned out to be part of what appeared to be a large handle of some sort. A closer inspection showed that the handle was made out of some tarnished metal.

(I wonder…can I open the door with this?) Riku thought. (Well, I guess the only way to know is to try…)

With that Riku reached out and took a hold of the handle, and the moment his hand grasped it, Riku felt a light budge from the door and his vision was instantly consumed once again, but this time by the familiar white light.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Riku's sight returned, he was now standing inside a large flower garden on a small bridge, which went over a small stream. The flowers in the garden were all in bloom, and there seemed to be a peaceful atmosphere throughout the entire garden itself.

(This is…different from before…) Riku thought. (What could…?)

"Is something wrong, Shingen-san?" A woman's voice spoke with some concern in it, interrupting Riku's thoughts.

Immediately, Riku felt the mystery man turn and his vision with it. When Riku saw the woman that the man had turned to in response, the young ninja's eyes would have widened in total surprise at what he saw.

(S-Suzumi!) Riku thought in surprise at first as he saw the woman, who was almost the mirror image of the Aogiri dance instructor, not just in looks, but even her voice sounded similar. However a closer look showed a few features that distinguished this woman from Suzumi Aogiri as the hair was slightly different as well as the style of clothes were also different.

(First I see two people who look a lot like Gennosuke-dono and Oboro-dono, and now someone who looks like Suzumi…) Riku thought to himself as he paused to gather his thoughts. (Could this…be some kind of hallucination?)

However before Riku had time to ponder on that idea, the man spoke in answer.

"It's…it's nothing, Kicho-dono." The man said politely, though his voice seemed to have something, which sounded almost like nervousness in its tone.

The woman, Kicho, then gave a sigh however it was obviously not one of disappointment. In fact the look that she was giving him was a knowing one.

"Shingen-san, I can tell there's something on your mind, it's written all over your face." Kicho pointed out.

There was a short moment of silence until the man, Shingen, spoke.

"Is it…really so obvious?" Shingen's voice almost seemed hesitant as he asked Kicho this, and she nodded in reply.

"Shingen-san…I don't know what it is that is bothering you, but it's obviously troubling you deeply." Kicho said. "If you can…please tell me. I want to help you…"

"I…I don't know…you may not want hear me say this…" Shingen replied.

"You won't know until you tell me." Kicho said, and then walked over and placed both her hands on Shingen's right hand and looked up into his face. "And Shingen-san…I trust you so…"

There was a long pause, as the two seemed to stare at one another before the man, Shingen, began to speak, still letting Kicho hold his hand.

(This is…definitely different…I don't know if this guy is the same guy from before, but if he is…) Riku thought, feeling a little embarrassed as it almost felt like he was intruding on something that should be private. (Unlike before…it seems like this Shingen…is at peace…)

Riku's thoughts were then interrupted as Shingen spoke again.

"Well, Kicho-dono…forgive me for asking you this, but…" Shingen paused before finally speaking the matter that had been troubling him straight. "Are you really alright with being with me?"

"What do you mean, Shingen-san?" Kicho asked, her voice calm, apparently she was probably expecting this question to be asked.

"You…you know all about me now, Kicho-dono." The man, Shingen answered, his voice low almost as if in shame. "About my life up to now…and everything I've done along the way…a great many of them being very horrible things." Shingen then stopped speaking for a moment and then looked away from Kicho.

"If I described even a small fraction of those deeds to you…I don't think you would be able to stand to touch or even look at me." Shingen said.

There was a long moment of silence between the two, which gave Riku a chance to think about what he had heard throughout the conversation.

(This guy…he sure sounds like he's been through a lot…) Riku thought as he considered what the man, Shingen, had been saying. It reminded him a little of things he had heard from Michael Hansen, Garland Durev, and other senior members of FOXHOUND who had told him a little about some soldiers who had a hard time getting over their war time experiences when those specific events had ended. Strangely, it made Riku even more curious to find out about this unknown person who seemed to be the main part of this series of visions that he had been seeing. (If this isn't all a hallucination and this person actually exists…then just who exactly is this man?)

Before Riku could think of any possible answer to that question, he suddenly felt a feeling in his, or rather Shingen's, right hand, which was a light squeeze from Kicho. Apparently it was to get him to return his gaze back to her so that she could speak to him.

"Shingen-san, I just told you, like I did ever since we met, that I trust you." Kicho said calmly as she looked up into Shingen's face. "I also accept you…the good and the bad. After all, if I only accepted the parts of you that I liked and rejected anything else then I could not even call myself your friend, much less someone who cares for you…" Kicho then paused as she blushed slightly and lowered her eyes a little. "Someone who cares for you…a great deal…"

Riku then felt a sudden warmth in his cheeks and then realized it was the man Shingen whose face was reddening.

"Kicho-dono…" Shingen spoke.

"Shingen-san…if you want you can just call me Kicho if you want to." Kicho said in reply.

"I…" There was a pause and then Riku seemed to feel Shingen blush even more before he spoke again. "Alright…Kicho."

Kicho's face then lit up into a smile at that and then she suddenly moved forward a little and rested her head against Shingen's chest.

"Can we…stay this way for a while?" Kicho asked, her voice seeming almost shy as she spoke.

"Yes…" Shingen answered with a light nod, and then Riku felt Shingen's lips move to form what he could tell was a smile. "For as long as you want, Kicho…"

At that moment, Riku then felt emotions that were not his own begin to well up in the back of his mind, much similar to the last vision. However, there was a very major difference.

(These feelings, they're…happiness and contentment…the complete opposites from before…) Riku thought. (If this Shingen right now and the man back there are the same…then perhaps this guy finally managed to find peace…)

As those thoughts came into his mind, the white light once again consumed Riku's vision. However, just as it all vanished from Riku's sight, something unexpected happened that shattered the calmness brought on by the vision the young ninja had just seen.

Suddenly, all of Riku's hearing was consumed by a loud and pain filled scream of a man, which seemed to suddenly come out of nowhere, and the white light suddenly turned to darkness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku's eyes then snapped open, and he found himself back on the Mikage boat and he was looking into the face of none other than Toya. Riku then realized Toya was supporting him on his shoulder and appeared to be moving him along. Yet just as the young ninja realized this, his body was suddenly afire with pain along his back, shoulder, and sides. Riku then noticed that the cut on his shoulder that he had received earlier from Shade had been bandaged.

"Be careful, your injuries are going to need tending to and we need to hurry, it looks like he's awake too." Toya spoke.

Riku then heard a man's screaming from behind him, and turned his to the side and glanced behind him to see Shade writhing on the floor of the ship not very far behind him.

"Toya…what's going on?" Riku asked, turning back and then saw that standing a few feet ahead of him and Toya were Yuhi, who was dragging along Wei Fei Lee and Asamu Bagte, both injured and unconscious, and Tot, who was supporting an obviously worn out Nagi.

"Toya and I came back to check on you three, and when we got here you and that guy in black were lying on the floor unconscious." Yuhi explained as they began walking away from where Shade was. "And according to what Nagi…I mean Crow said, both you and Shade got caught in an attack of his that he used."

"I guess that's what happened." Riku replied. "It happened pretty quick, you know."

"Hey, Drakken, are you alright?" Nagi spoke, causing Riku to turn to him. "My attack didn't…"

"Hey, there's no problems here, I'm just fine." Riku said and then gave a light grin to try and keep his friend, along with Tot, Yuhi, and Toya, from being worried. "Don't worry, if that attack did hit me, then it didn't do very much, if any damage to me, if anything I'm feeling more pain from those wounds Shade gave me." Riku's expression then became serious. "How about you? You don't exactly look like you're in top condition yourself right now, you know?"

"Nothing some rest won't cure." Nagi replied, with a light smile.

"Hey, isn't that supposed to be my line?" Riku asked jokingly in reply.

"If you want my opinion, the both of you are going to need rest." Toya spoke.

"Considering this guy was able to pass off as a doctor at one point, then you should probably take his advice." Yuhi said and then turned to Toya. "You…can actually work as one, right?"

"Yes, I was able to learn enough in the field of medicine during my time with the Mikage to be able to perform the necessary functions of a standard physician." Toya answered simply with a light nod.

"Heh, blunt as always, I see." Yuhi said to Toya with a light grin.

"He could've just said yes." Tot commented.

Suddenly Yuhi remembered something.

"Oh yeah, didn't you also work as a doctor's assistant when you and Aya were living together not too long ago?" He asked.

"Yes, and speaking of that I should probably see Dr. Kurozuka after this." Toya answered in reply. "First I should thank him…he helped Aya and me quite a bit when we started. He's a good man…"

"Well, looks like the time you and Aya spent together did good for the both of you." Yuhi noted. "You sound more sociable than before…Anyway, what's the other reason you want to see him?"

"I'm going to ask if I can have my job as his assistant back." Toya answered.

"Let me guess, so you can support Aya and your child?" Riku spoke, which got a nod from Toya.

"Maybe you'll end up becoming a real doctor this time." Yuhi said.

"I'm sure he'll make a great father then." Tot spoke. "My papa was a doctor too, you know…"

As Nagi heard what Tot said a thought came to mind.

(She still remembers that man fondly…) Nagi thought to himself as he remembered Tot's adopted father Masafumi Takatori, who had raised Tot as a daughter and also a member of his personal team of female assassins, Schriendt. (Still, I wonder just how much of the Masafumi Takatori that she knew was just how she saw him and what that man really was…)

To say the least, Nagi himself didn't think much of Masafumi (or any of the Takatori family for that matter) at all. Especially since the man had experimented on people and in the process turned them into chimeras, creatures that were part human and part beast as a result of the experiments, to try and find some way of making eternal life possible. Nagi doubted Tot knew much, if anything at all, about the experiments; Nagi himself had seen the details of quite a few when he was in Schwartz and they were too horrible for any sane person to even imagine. That had been one of the few times in the young psychic's life in which it was all he could do to keep from throwing up at the grisly details.

Nagi then decided to stop thinking on the matter as the man was dead and there was no point in dwelling on it. Just then he remembered something and mentally kicked himself for not realizing something so important.

"Usagi, are you sure you want to carry me?" Nagi asked Tot. "Isn't your wound…?"

"It's okay, Crow, it's not bleeding anymore and it doesn't hurt either." Tot answered.

"I can walk, so there isn't any…" Nagi began.

"But you're tired, so you need to rest." Tot said firmly and then her gaze softened. "And… I don't want you to just fall asleep and not wake up…like before…"

"I'll be fine once we get back to HQ and get some treatment, Usagi." Nagi said reassuringly as he could tell that his girlfriend was obviously very worried about him. He then lowered his voice so that only she could hear him. "I'm just glad that you're not badly hurt, Nanami."

Tot blushed a little as she heard this before replying, also keeping her voice down.

"And I'm glad you're going to be okay, Nagi." Tot whispered in reply before giving the young psychic a light kiss on the cheek, causing Nagi to blush, before continuing on.

Riku gave a short sigh of relief as he could see that both his partners were going to make it out just fine.

(I just hope Michael is all right.) Riku thought and then glanced back to see Shade was still writhing around on the ground and screaming almost as if he was in pain. (I don't know what Nagi's attack did to him, or me for that matter, but still, I guess we were lucky. I just hope that Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi show up soon and we can get out of here before that guy…)

Riku's thoughts were interrupted as he heard Shade cry out, this time the cries were not screams of pain.

"IT'S TOO MUCH!" Shade shouted at the top of his lungs as he clutched his head. "NO MORE! NONE OF THIS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME NOW!"

Shade then proceeded to get up, but his gaze did not turn to Riku and co. instead it seemed to be looking at something else.

"WHY DOES ALL THIS SHAKE MY SOUL AFTER SO LONG!" Shade screamed out. "WHY DO YOU SPEW SUCH A LIE!"

Shade then whirled around and looked at Riku and co. His gaze then was directed specifically to Riku and their eyes met. Immediately Riku could see that Shade's black eyes almost seemed to be afire with intense hatred. Immediately Riku knew what was coming.

"Everyone, he's going to…!" Riku shouted in warning, but it wasn't necessary as Tot, Yuhi, and Toya, together with the people they were carrying, quickly got out of the way as Shade made his attack, which was throwing a large ball of dark energy at the group.

As the ball missed its intended target, Riku turned to Toya.

"Toya, could you please let me down? I can stand…" Riku said.

For a moment Toya was about to object, but he could see that Riku obviously had a reason for doing this and slowly let the young ninja down so he could get to his feet.

Riku immediately felt pain in his sides as he stood up, but pushed that aside.

"Any ideas how we deal with this guy?" He asked.

"Well we can't really make running away an option." Yuhi commented. "That guy would follow us…"

"…And that would lead him to Aya and the others which we can't allow." Toya finished.

"How about we knock him into the water?" Tot suggested.

"The only problem with that idea is that Shade can swim, and I doubt he'll stay overboard for very long anyway." Riku said.

"So what do we…?" Nagi began.

"COWARD! COME OUT!" Shade shouted. "I can sense your presence Hokage brat, so there's no use hiding!"

(He's only calling out for me?) Riku thought in surprise.

"This is ridiculous! A Hokage ninja, scared to die…I can't believe it!" Shade remarked. "Your people before during the Tenshou era may have been despicable fools, but at least they had guts enough to face their death!"

(I can't really argue with him there, at least the first part.) Riku admitted to himself as he had heard about how some of the old Hokage ninjas from his grandmother's time, especially the clan elders, were far from being considered honorable in the ninja category. This was because the Hokage clan elders were too traditional and treated anything new that could threaten their power within the clan as evil. This was especially true in the case of the childhood of Riku's uncle Kurei, who had been born with a new and stronger type of flame than any of the previous Hokage clan chiefs. The elders had seen this as a threat to their power within the clan and declared the new flame to be a cursed flame, probably using the fact that the flame's color matched that of the kind used by those of the Orochi clan (or those who had made a pact with the Orochi) as some way of supporting their lies. As a result Kurei and his mother were both ostracized from the rest of the clan, and treated like outcasts despite the father and clan chief Ohka's attempts to make things better on their behalf, which were stopped by the elders.

All in all, Riku, and the rest of the Hokage clan in general, found the deeds of the elders to be both dishonorable and disgusting as well as a stain upon the history of the clan. In Riku's eyes those elders were no different from the typical everyday politician who would use any means necessary to remain in, or even gain, power.

(No time to dwell on that now…) Riku thought to himself. (I'm not entirely sure why, but at the moment this guy has me at the top of his 'to kill' list…There might be a way to use that to our advantage…)

"It looks like even you've noticed…that man seems to have changed his focus to you." Toya pointed out.

"Yeah…and I think I've gotten an idea…" Riku said in reply and turned to Nagi.

The young psychic nodded in reply. Even though the battle had worn him out to the point that using more of his psychic powers in battle any further would tax him greatly, using telepathy to speak was not a problem at all for him. With that Riku, Nagi, Tot, Toya, and Yuhi quickly discussed their plan of dealing with Shade via telepathy to avoid the risk of Shade, even if he was at the moment blinded by a strange and intense anger at Riku, hearing their plan.

Meanwhile Shade was carefully looking around and waiting for a surprise attack. Despite his great anger towards the young Hokage ninja, he was still in control enough to not blindly attack in a rage, at least at the moment.

(He'll show himself soon, that Hokage brat…) Shade thought to himself. (I don't care about the fight anymore…I'll make that brat's blood spray all over this ship for this…)

Suddenly, Shade sensed something from above and looked just in time to see Riku above him.

"No one insults my clan, asshole!" Riku shouted angrily and then began gathering a large amount of flames into his right hand. The flames then took the shape of the head of a dragon. Riku then swung his hand forward to send the flame dragon down upon him. "Infernal Dragon!"

"Ridiculous…" Shade growled and simply lifted his chakram up above him and began spinning it. "Applause for the Darkness!"

As the dragon struck the spinning ring, it was suddenly deflected, despite its immense size, and sent back at Riku. The dragon then struck the young ninja, its jaws closing around him, before sailing into the air and exploding in a huge fireball.

"I've seen that damn bunshin trick of yours so many times I can tell when you're making those idiotic tricks." Shade growled as he turned around to see Riku, who was simply standing a few feet behind him and clutching his wounded left shoulder.

"What's this? Aren't even going to fight back? Don't tell me that wound to your shoulder is…" Shade began as he stepped forward and then noticed something, and then gave a grin. "I see…you don't have anymore shuriken on you…at least not anymore kunai or throwing star…"

(He must be planning on using his flames the moment I let my guard down to attack.) Shade thought. (In that case I'll just kill him before he can do that. My speed and reaction time far surpasses his, after all…)

Just as Shade was about to make his move, Riku, instead of preparing an attack like the mercenary predicted, leaped back and away from him and then began to run away.

Shade's eyes almost widened in surprise, but his lips immediately curled back in disgust at this, disgust which served to further fuel his anger towards Riku.

"You…COWARD!" Shade snarled, enraged and disgusted that his opponent had chosen this option instead of fighting him.

Shade then dashed after Riku quickly catching up to the fleeing ninja. His whole intent now was to catch Riku and then proceed to kill him in the most painful way imaginable for disappointing him so.

Riku, however, could immediately sense Shade coming and new he had to make every second he had count. He then glanced at his right hand, which was tightly clutching the bandaged wound on his left shoulder.

(Just a little more…) Riku thought, at the same time fighting to keep a straight face and not show signs of the intense pain he was feeling from his shoulder. Ever since he had jumped away from Shade and then turned around and ran, Riku had been squeezing that wound as hard as he could to get blood to start coming out of it, he then proceeded to call upon the chakra inside of it and draw every single droplet of the blood to gather into his left hand. Finally, just as he sensed Shade about to close in, Riku sensed he had just enough in his hand. (Please work…)

Just as Shade closed in and prepared to make the kill, Riku suddenly made a sudden burst of speed forward before suddenly whirling around and then proceeded to hurl something in his left hand at Shade's face.

(What the…?) Shade thought as he realized that what Riku had hurled at him was his own blood. Shade then fought the urge to grin and saw this wasn't worth wasting the time to dodge. (Has that foolish youth become so desperate that…) A thought then came to Shade. (Wait…he couldn't be able to…)

What happened next confirmed Shade's suspicions, but it was too late for the mercenary to dodge.

The large glob of blood then started to change shape in midair as it went towards its target, separating and forming to take the shape of a series of razor sharp throwing star shuriken.

"Bloody Shuriken!" Riku shouted the name of the technique as the throwing star shuriken created by the chakra within the blood he had thrown ripped and shredded Shade's face and blinding the mercenary.

Shade snarled and despite his blindness, made an attempt to lash out at Riku, but the young Hokage ninja had already gotten out of his enemy's range of attack.

"You little bastard!" Shade shouted in anger as his wounds to his face and eyes began to regenerate. "You're going to regret…!"

Shade never finished as something sailed out of the air behind him and struck him in the upper back. Whatever it was had a very long and sharp point, which buried itself into Shade's back, stabbing in through his spine and before sticking out of the base of his neck.

Shade's vision then returned and he looked down and saw that what had struck him had been a thrown blade. A very specific blade, or rather stiletto…

(I forgot to take that man into account!) Shade thought in frustration at himself for not counting Toya, who was standing far behind him from the distance from which he had thrown the blade at Shade's unprotected back. Shade then tried to reach to take the blade out only to find that he was having trouble moving. (Don't tell me that man knew where he was…)

Shade's thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sound of a metal object hit the floor at his feet. His eyes then turned to see that it was a grenade and retreating to take cover was its thrower, who was none other than Yuhi Aogiri.

Just as the grenade went off, the blade suddenly seemed to pull itself out of Shade and then disappear, apparently Toya, its wielder had called it back. But it was too late for the mercenary to do anything. The explosion threw Shade back a few feet, blowing off his entire right leg and his left foot in the process and causing some splinters and shrapnel to fly up and bury themselves inside him.

As Shade tried to regenerate as his body was about to land, he then saw Riku suddenly appear where he was about to land and he seemed to be concentrating on something.

"Time to end this…" Riku said, almost to himself, mentally calling upon the names of the seven of the eight dragons inside him that he could control, making sure through intense concentration that the powers of each on was invoked as he mentally drew each of their respective kanji in his mind. Once he was sure, Riku then prepared to make his attack.

"Sacred Flame!" Riku shouted as he pressed his hands together. As he did the kanji for each dragon that was tattooed upon his right and left arms the moment each dragon had acknowledged him as worthy of wielding its power began to glow through the sleeves of the young ninja's sneaking suit. Then the attack commenced.

(Wh-what is this!) Shade thought, his eyes widening in surprise at the attack Riku was unleashing upon him.

Immediately, all seven of the dragons, Nadare, Saiha, Homura, Setsuna, Madoka, Rui, and Koku, emerged, or rather seemed to burst forth, from Riku's body. They then proceeded to coil around Shade, causing extensive damage all over his body as these dragons were made entirely of a flame with very intense heat. Shade quickly tried to break free of this, but couldn't with the amount of power he was using at the moment. Then, just before Shade could try to call on more power, the dragons then began to move and their long and serpent like bodies began to form a large six pointed star with a circle around it, with Shade still bound in their coils right in the middle section. Then, without warning it all exploded, bursting up into a large pillar of flame that seemed to light up the sky.

After a few minutes, the flames died down to reveal a large and burning hole in the floor of the boat where Shade had been. Suddenly Riku just appeared right in front of the hole. He then turned to Nagim Tot, Yuhi, and Toya.

"Alright, it looks like it our plan worked." Riku said with relief. "He may recover soon, so let's…"

Before Riku could finish though, the floor below him seemed to explode as a black figure burst out from under it, striking Riku with a powerful upper cut that sent the young ninja back sprawling and almost falling into the hole his last attack had made.

Riku looked up to see Shade standing over him. Shade's body was greatly burned but the charred flesh was all quickly regenerating, yet the mercenary remained silent and simply stared down at Riku. His black eyes showed no rage this time.

"Clever way to take advantage of my anger." Shade said calmly. "Really though, I must thank you as that trick you all pulled off brought me back to my senses."

Shade then glanced back at Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Toya.

"Come any closer and I kill this one." He said simply to stop them. He then returned his attention to Riku. "Now then…"

Shade was then interrupted as he sensed something above and glanced up, while keeping his eye on Riku and co. so they couldn't try anything. He then made a light toss to send his chakram spinning upwards. Seconds later, it returned to his hand, and a moment later a white object descended from the sky to wards Shade who simply grabbed it as it came down.

The object was none other than a cypher, the unarmed kind used for surveillance. Shade then inspected it, while Riku and the rest of the group looked in confusion at this.

(What's going on?) Riku wondered. (Just whose cypher is that?)

Meanwhile Shade could immediately tell whose it was.

(Crawford…I can tell this is his handiwork.) Shade thought. (But why did he…?)

Suddenly Shade remembered something Crawford had mentioned to him in passing.

(…after all I'm looking forward to seeing how your battle with my student goes.) Crawford's words echoed in Shade's mind.

As Shade realized what this meant, his hands clenched the cypher so hard he completely crushed it.

(Damn that bastard!) Shade thought angrily, furious at Crawford now that he realized that the American assassin and his two partners had tricked him. (He tricked me into being some sort of damned measuring tool just to see that psychic brat's abilities at their fullest. When I catch up with that bunch…)

Shade's thoughts were interrupted when he quickly noticed Riku was about to make either an attempt to escape or attack, and the mercenary responded by kicking the young ninja hard at the side of the face.

"Nice try…" Shade said with a mocking grin. "Anyway, it seems that I need to hurry things along, so I'm going to have to wrap this up and take care of some new developments. I'll start with you, Hokage brat. Any last words or requests?"

Riku then looked up at Shade and then gave a sigh before he spoke.

"Well, may I say something before the request part?" Riku asked.

"Fine, say whatever you want." Shade answered.

(I didn't expect him to actually take that seriously…) Shade thought to himself. (Come to think of it…I don't usually do this sort of thing. Oh well, I suppose the boy earned it, and a few minutes won't make any real difference…)

"Well…I just want to say that I'm sorry for mocking you for being a kenin…" Riku said, his voice low and actually seeming to have guilt in it. "Now that I think about it…it must have been a terrible experience…to be cast out from your home and people…"

That statement was far from what Shade was expecting to hear from the young ninja. For a brief second he was surprised but immediately shook that off.

"Heh, I see…don't think suddenly apologizing is going to get me to show you any mer…" Shade said.

"You're wrong there…I just…felt I should say that…" Riku replied. "Also…I'm certain that…with the clan you left…there must have been people in it that were important to you….or people that you'd promised to become a ninja for…"

Something unexpected then happened as Shade heard those words. A few of his earlier memories started to resurface

"How much did you see?" Shade asked, his voice almost shouting.

"See? What…?" Riku's confused expression and reply then answered Shade's question for him.

"I see…" Shade said. "Anyway, I have no desire for pity, least of all from one of Hokage. Now, if you have any last requests…"

"I have one…" Riku replied. "Since you seem so determined to kill me, then could you let everyone else go?"

Shade almost fought the urge to laugh as he heard that request, which he had heard from time to time from some of the people he had killed. Of course all of those pleas had been in vain.

"So it looks like you're one of those…" Shade simply shook his head with a mocking tone in his voice. "What makes you think I would even consider granting such a ridiculous last request?"

"I'm asking because I have a feeling a part of you still acknowledges yourself as a ninja, even if you no longer have a clan." Riku answered.

That answer took Shade slightly aback and the feeling of mirth at what Riku had requested of him vanished. He then started to feel a strange feeling in the back of his mind, but pushed it away.

"Oh…so do you suddenly know me so well?" Shade asked with some anger in his voice, his grip tightening on Riku's shoulders, as there was something about the young ninja that was beginning to irritate the mercenary for some reason.

Riku grunted slightly in pain, but continued.

"It's not that…" He replied. "What I mean is…if you were a ninja then at one time or another then you must have had teammates of your own. Wouldn't you…?"

At Riku's words a sudden flurry of memories started to emerge from the back of Shade's mind. Memories of his time before he was cast out by the Koga clan, of those people who he had considered his closest comrades and friends, his grief as one by one they were killed some of them by Iga ninja because of some ancient and traditional feud so old that no one in either clan knew the basis for, and finally the initial feeling of nostalgia when he was cast out of Koga Manji Valley and the Koga ninja clan itself, those feelings of despair that he wasn't either killed or ordered to commit ritual suicide. It was all so much that Shade gave a snarl and roughly kneed Riku hard in the stomach, causing the young ninja to collapse to the floor in pain. Shade then reached over and roughly grabbed Riku by the hair and lifted him up.

"Listen…I do not need to hear this from anyone, least of all you." Shade's voice was laced with complete anger now, there even seemed to be bitterness in his tone as well. "I happen to know better than anyone what it's like to witness your own comrades killed before your very eyes while you're helpless…no, powerless to do anything…"

Meanwhile Shade was also thinking of something else as he regarded Riku; he had figured out the reason this boy was irritating him.

(Not only did he see who knows how much of all those things…but this one…that look he has…it's the same childish idiocy and naiveté I had when I was practically a slave to those Koga fools…) Shade thought.

"Don't think though I'm one of those sympathetic types, brat, I've done the exact same thing many times." Shade continued to Riku. "Your dear friend Michael Hansen can attest to that." Shade then paused. "But considering there's a new matter I need to attend to, I'll consider granting your request. Just hand over the disk and we'll see…"

"Disk? What are you talking about?" Riku asked in reply.

"Don't play stupid, or I may reconsider my generous offer." Shade warned Riku. "Now give me the disk with the metal gear data, or have whichever of your comrades who's carrying it give it to me. Crawford told me one of you had the disk…"

"What do you mean? Crawford took it." Riku replied with confusion.

"What was that!" Shade shouted. He then roughly slammed Riku against the wall again. "Don't think you can lie to me!"

"What exactly do I have to gain from lying?" Riku asked in reply. "If it's to save my nakama, then I'd hand that disk over to you without a second thought."

Shade studied Riku's expression and realized he was speaking the truth. He then dropped Riku as realization dawned on him.

(Crawford…that sneaky American bastard!) Shade thought now enraged. (He wasn't just trying to use me for his own amusement, this was all just a gigantic distraction! Is he trying to claim all the credit for this operation and make me look like some kind of dupe!)

Shade, despite his anger, then forced himself to calm down. He knew that nothing Crawford did could discredit him in the eyes of the Patriots as he had been in their service far longer than the American assassin.

(Still…I won't allow that cocky bastard and his team to make a single scratch on my reputation…) Shade thought. (I'll finish this, find Crawford and his lot, and then after I've killed them I'll take the full credit for this operation…)

Shade then looked down at Riku with a smirk.

"Well, it seems you're in luck, boy." Shade said simply. "I now have no choice but to grant that request. Oh well, killing you should be satisfying enough." Shade then raised his hand to strike. "You see, because of what you saw…out of the rest of your teammates, your very existence…ANNOYS THE FREAKING HELL OUT OF ME!"

However Shade's hand never came down to deliver the killing blow as something seemed to snag onto it and hold it in place.

"What…?" Shade looked to the side and saw that what was holding his hand in place was thin yet very strong wire.

"I've got him!" A man's voice called out, causing Shade to look up to see the one who had used the wire, a blonde haired man who was standing over the railing of one of the higher levels of the ship. It was none other than Youji Kudou. "He's all yours, fearless leader."

"Fiery Damnation!" A man's voice shouted out from the side, causing Shade to turn just in time to see a red haired man dressed in black come at him with a katana raised. It was none other than Ran Fujimiya of Weiss.

Ran then swung his sword down in single and powerful slash, in which he had used his old hatred of Reiji Takatori, the man responsible for the murder of his and his sister Aya's father and mother, as a point of focus to power up the attack. The sword then cut deep into Shade's shoulder and side, causing the mercenary to stagger as he was cut open.

"Siberian, now!" Ran called.

"I'm on it." Ken said in reply as he dashed out from his hiding place and then looked to the side. "Bombay!"

"I've got you covered!" Omi's voice came out as the younger member of Weiss leaped out over the railing a level above them and then landed not too far from Ken, his bow gun aimed for Shade.

(Heh, I see what this is…) Shade thought as the wound Ran had inflicted regenerated. He then gave a powerful yank to free his arm and the wire suddenly slackened, the blonde man had obviously lost his grip on the wire, he then returned his attention to Ken and Omi. (An obvious attempt to rescue the ninja…that man with the claws is obviously the quicker so he'll be the rescuer, while the boy with the crossbow covers them from long range…)

Shade then quickly moved to counter the attempt, by preparing to intercept Ken. As Shade made his approach, Omi quickly fired a series of bolts at Shade, most of which the mercenary dodged or batted aside, however a few managed to bury themselves into Shade, but he barely felt them and just as he neared Ken, the bolts suddenly flew out of his body as the power he had simply pushed them out and regenerated the wounds. However, just as Shade was about to make his attack, something he didn't expect occurred.

Omi suddenly put in a sudden burst of speed and dashed past Ken and Shade and headed towards Riku. Immediately Shade realized what the plan really was.

(That kid is the rescuer?) Shade thought in surprise, as he quickly dodged a powerful lunge Ken made at him with his claws in an attempt to attack while this new development distracted him. Shade quickly prepared to throw his chakram. (I'll take this kid out before he can…)

However, Omi suddenly whirled around with his bow gun raised to fire, apparently he had been expecting Shade to make an attack. He then fired three bolts from in at the mercenary, each one scoring a hit. The first two each striking Shade in his legs, hampering his movement and the next bolt striking his right forearm, which prevented him from throwing his chakram.

Omi then quickly used his free hand to break his fall before quickly getting back to his feet and then turned and ran towards where Riku was. He soon reached the downed ninja and helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" Omi asked Riku as he got up.

"I can at least stand." Riku answered with a light smile, despite his injuries as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, but it looks like running wouldn't be recommended in your condition." Omi said. "Come on, let's get you to safety."

Omi then proceeded to help his ninja friend over to where Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Toya were.

(Clever little bastard.) Shade thought as the bolts Omi fired came out of him and the wounds regenerated. He was about to go after them, but unfortunately for Shade, Omi's attack that had impeded the mercenary's attack that upon him had also given Ken a very convenient opening in his enemy's defense. By the time Shade noticed this it was too late.

"Hyper Dash Cut!" Ken shouted as he rushed Shade, executing a single dash cut, which connected with the mercenary as he had been caught off guard. Ken then executed three more powerful slashes, side by side, at Shade, the end result of the attack forming giant claw marks in the shape of an 'X' on Shade's body.

"You!" Shade said, now angered that these newcomers were interfering and actually doing a good job at it. He then lashed out at Ken with a powerful back kick. "Genocide Prelude!"

Ken predicted the attack and quickly brought his arms up in a defensive position to block the incoming kick. The claw-wielding assassin grunted slightly as he barely managed to block the blow, as it was a very powerful one. In fact Ken was sure that if it wasn't for the protective gear and if his defensive position had been even a little bit weaker, his arms would probably be broken. However, Ken also knew that he only had a window of a few seconds as his blocking Shade's kick had made an opening in the mercenary's defenses.

Ken then grabbed Shade's legs and in a burst of strength managed to knock his enemy off balance. Ken then made a rough tackle to knock Shade over and then jumped on top of the fallen mercenary like he was a springboard to perform his next attack.

"Fatal Impale!" Ken shouted as he suddenly began to spin over Shade like a top and then thrust his right claws into Shade, his spinning causing the claws to drill deep into the mercenary.

Shade for a moment seemed to be held down by the attack, but with an angry shout broke free and threw Ken off of him. The mercenary then leaped to his feet as the wounds that Ken had inflicted upon him quickly began to regenerate. He was then about to make a counterattack at Ken with his chakram, when he suddenly felt something on his arm and then realized what it was. The wire the blonde man had used on him was still tied, loosely, around his forearm. The moment, Shade realized this however, the wire suddenly tightened.

"Siberian get back, quick!" Youji shouted as he came up from his hiding place above them.

Ken immediately knew what his partner Youji was about to do and quickly leaped back to where Ran was standing. The red haired assassin had, after making his attack gotten out of the way so Ken and Omi could distract Shade and successfully rescue Riku. Ran meanwhile had his blade ready the whole time just in case the mercenary managed to see through their plan. The moment Ken joined him, the two assassins nodded at one another as a sign they were both ready to deal with whatever their enemy had for them.

Meanwhile Shade simply looked at Youji and decided to calmly assess the situation before doing anything. These four newcomers had managed to catch him off guard, which meant they might be even more of a nuisance to deal with than Riku, Nagi, and Tot.

(These four I should be able to deal with without too much trouble, but I'm running short on time…) Shade thought and then returned his gaze to Youji. (Still why did that guy save his wire by letting it go slack when I tried to yank it off? Hold on…)

Just as Shade figured that, he quickly made to cut the wire off, but it was too late.

"Hangman's Snare!" Youji shouted as he sent an explosive charge down the wire he was holding at Shade. Just as the charge detonated, Youji cut off that long strand of wire before leaping off the side of the railing, away from the explosion, to join up with Omi.

"Let me guess, that didn't get him." Youji spoke as he got to Omi and they, along with Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Toya watched the smoke clear from their side, while Ran and Ken did the same on their side.

"I seriously doubt it would, considering whatever wounds we just gave him regenerated." Omi said.

"Man, you guys sure managed to pick a fight with a real monster." Youji commented to Riku, Nagi, and Tot as he got into a fighting position.

"Tell us something we don't know." Riku replied with some sarcasm.

Soon the smoke cleared to reveal Shade standing where he was when the explosion occurred, but there were no signs of injuries to him at all. The mercenary however, didn't say anything, as he seemed to be calmly studying his enemies who now had him in a pincer like position. However what was going through Shade's mind was frustration.

(Perhaps I should have just called on the Orochi the moment I started fighting, it may not have been as enjoyable because the fight would have been too easy, but…) Shade then realized he had a very limited amount of options at this point. (If I continue fighting this lot as I am now, there's no question that I'd kill them all, but who knows how long that will take, which will give Crawford and his cronies more time to escape. If I use the Orochi's power I could win this in an instant, but there's no telling how much damage to the ship I'll do.) Shade then paused to glance around at the now wrecked Mikage boat. (My guess is this ship will be at the bottom of the ocean within a matter of minutes, so it seems there's no choice. I'll need to get to my harrier and hope it's still in one piece and then go after Crawford. I hate having to abandon a fight, but it seems I'll have to put business over pleasure this time…damn it!)

Shade then turned and looked at Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuhi, and Toya. He then gave a sneer as he then spoke to them.

"It seems you all are in luck, circumstances have made me have to put our fight on hold for the time being." He said as he began making a series of hand signs to perform a jutsu. "But make no mistake, whenever we cross paths again, which I know we will, I will be the one to take your lives. Until then…" Shade then paused and looked at Riku. "Oh one more thing, Hokage brat, when you return to your clan, do give my regards to Kagero and Yukimura."

As Shade finished speaking a swirl of dark energy appeared around his feet and began to spin around the mercenary like a tornado. When it completely enveloped Shade, the dark energy suddenly burst out in a wave, which almost knocked all the observers over. As their gaze returned to where Shade was, they found that the mercenary was gone.

"It looks like he's actually gone." Riku said after pausing to try to sense where Shade was. "I can't sense his presence, at least it's nowhere near where we are." He then turned to the others. "What about you guys?"

"He's probably still on the boat, but he's nowhere near us or Aya, Chidori, Maya, Aki, and Alec." Toya spoke.

"True, but that doesn't mean we should let down our guard." Ran said. "Let's get to the others for now." He then turned to Yuhi. "Are there any lifeboats we can use?"

"Yeah, thankfully we managed to find a few that were still intact." Yuhi answered. "Now all we need to do is wait for those rescue choppers to find us." He then gave a sigh. "Still, I'm glad the plan worked out. I mean considering that mercenary had us being unable to attack him with Riku as a hostage, Nagi using his telepathy to find you guys and plan a sneak attack was a great idea."

"True enough, if Nagi hadn't reached us with his telepathy when he did and then directed us to where you guys were…" Omi said and then gave a shudder. "Let's just be glad you did."

"True, not to mention that cypher's arrival was a real stroke of good luck." Nagi said in agreement. "It bought us some time…" He then turned to Riku. "Still…what did you say to Shade anyway that made him react like that?"

"Just some things…" Riku answered, and then he frowned slightly as he thought back on that conversation with Shade. "Actually, I'm not all together sure why I said them, for some reason it just felt like I should…maybe all those weird things I saw got to me…"

"Weird things?" Tot asked. "What do you mean?"

"When Crow used his attack on Shade to try and break me free of his shadow binding, I think I somehow got caught in it." Riku explained. "When I was unconscious I saw a bunch of strange visions, I guess it was either some weird dream or hallucination."

"What exactly did you see, Drakken?" Nagi asked, his expression serious.

(Both Riku and Shade were unconscious, and it seems they both had reactions to seeing something during that period of time; Shade's obviously being the strongest.) Nagi thought to himself as an idea came to mind. (I wonder… could they have…)

"It's a little bit too complicated to explain right now." Riku's answer interrupted Nagi's thoughts. "I'll explain in full detail later, but if you want me to explain it in a nutshell…" Riku then saw his friend give a nod and continued. "It was like watching someone else's dream…or something like that…"

"I see…" Nagi said. "Alright, I guess it probably is best that we wait."

"That's probably a good idea." Youji spoke in agreement. "You guys look like you really wore yourselves out in that fight. Not to mention it's a good idea to get you to a doctor or something."

"True enough." Riku agreed and then yawned. "I think I'll enjoy catching up on some lost sleep in the medical ward. I think I could sleep a whole week."

"It sounds like you'll have a lot to talk about when you wake up, though." Tot noted.

"What does she mean?" Ken asked, turning to Riku.

"Well, there's something really important that I need to tell everyone regarding something Kagami told me just before he died." Riku answered. "That and it looks like I need to explain those things I saw when I was unconscious."

"So that old bastard bit the dust, huh?" Youji said and then noticed Lee and Asamu, who were still unconscious from the injuries Shade had inflicted on them. "I guess we're taking these guys with us then…" He then remembered something. "Wasn't there another guy with them?"

"It turns out he was an agent for the Patriots." Nagi spoke. "And he was also the one who killed Kagami. I guess he was trying to protect the information Kagami was trying to tell Drakken."

"Well, I guess that explains why we didn't run into Crawford or any of the other members of Schwartz." Ken said. "The reason we couldn't get to you guys sooner was because we were bogged down fighting patrol after patrol of those soldiers they brought with them."

"Yeah, they just kept coming at us one after another." Omi said with a nod. "And the fact that they were all specialists didn't make things any easier."

"Actually, we ran into those three guys not too long ago." Yuhi spoke, which got a reaction from Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi. "If you want an explanation…"

"That's alright, there will be time for that once we get to the others." Ran said and then glanced over at Riku, Nagi, and Tot. "We should probably see about your injuries too, just in case it takes a while for rescue to arrive."

"Thanks." All three chorused.

"Well, that said, we should get going." Yuhi said. "Also, I'm sure Chidori, Aya, and the others are probably worried, so…"

Yuhi was interrupted as the codec he was wearing started to beep. He then answered it to find that the caller was Chidori.

"Are you guys alright?" Chidori asked, concern obvious on her face.

"We're fine, Chidori." Yuhi answered. "Well, most of us are…"

"What do you mean?" Chidori asked in reply, and then paused almost afraid to ask the next question that came to mind. "Don't tell me…"

"Don't worry, everyone's made it out alive, thankfully." Yuhi said in reassurance. "It's just Riku, Nagi, and Tot got injured while they were fighting that mercenary called Shade…don't worry about him though, it looks like he retreated for some reason."

"Well, that's definitely good news." Chidori said with a sigh of relief. "Anyway, I've got some real good news for everyone. Tell them to get their codecs on; I'm sure they'll all want to hear this…"

"Alright." Yuhi replied.

A moment later, Riku, Nagi, Tot, Ran, Ken, Youji, Omi, and Toya's faces registered on the codec screen.

"Well, it looks like the codecs are working again." Riku commented. "I guess whatever was interfering with the transmissions was destroyed sometime during that whole fight with Shade. I'd say that's pretty convenient."

"Yeah, that's true." Chidori agreed. "Still, Yuhi said you, Nagi, and Tot got injured while fighting that mercenary in black. Are you…?"

"As long as we get the right treatment, we'll be fine." Nagi answered for the three. "Actually, it's more that we're worn out and glad to be alive."

"You said it." Riku said with a nod and Tot also nodded her agreement.

"That's a relief to hear, and I'll be sure to tell Aya and the others that." Chidori then noticed that the four members of Weiss were no present. "By the way, where were you guys? You sure missed a lot of stuff…"

"That's kind of a long story." Omi answered. "Let's just say we were pretty preoccupied with something."

"We'll tell you later, so for now what is it that you need to tell us?" Ran spoke, serious as always.

"Actually, Shuro will be telling you." Chidori answered. "I need to help Aya, Maya, Aki, and Alec in finding these guys a place to land."

"Land?" Ken asked. "Hey, wait!"

But Chidori had already ended her transmission and a second later Shuro's face appeared in her place.

"It's good to see that you're all alright." Shuro said. "Anyway, the choppers from FOXHOUND as well as the Aogiri one are both about to pick us up." Shuro then seemed to remember something. "Actually, a moment ago we were contacted by this girl who said her codename was Crimson Jaguar, and she was asking for you, Drakken, and she seemed pretty concerned."

"Ah, that would be Mana." Riku said with a smile as he realized one of his own FOXHOUND comrades and friends had come to rescue them. "I guess we shouldn't keep any of them waiting…"

Suddenly Riku's codec screen seemed to shake as he stumbled slightly due to his injuries, but Toya caught him.

"You're in no condition to move around like that, I'll carry you the rest of the way." Toya said.

"Thanks." Riku said with a sheepish grin.

"One last thing." Yuhi spoke. "Should we draw straws to see who flies in which chopper if Mrs. Q is piloting the Aogiri one?"

Meanwhile:

(Crawford may have gotten far, but I know where he's headed.) Shade thought to himself, as he got inside the cockpit of his Harrier 2, which he had put on the Mikage boat not too long after his arrival at the Mikage base; Schuldich had simply brainwashed the Mikage guards stationed on board the ship into not recalling the event. Fortunately the plane was intact when he found it. (Even if those three get to Thorn first, I'm sure that one will tell me where they went.)

As Shade started the Harrier and it began lifting off, a thought then came to Shade as he calmed down from the frustration at having to abandon a fight and his anger towards Crawford.

(Wait…Schuldich was there when I put the Harrier on this boat, which means Crawford knew where to find it.) Shade thought and realization dawned on him. (Then that means…)

As Shade realized this he didn't bother to try pressing the eject button, as he had a feeling it was either disabled or rigged, and instead opted to smash his hand through the cockpit glass to get out of the Harrier. However, the moment he did, the jet exploded in a ball of fire.

Meanwhile: Somewhere Offshore:

From a small boat not even in viewing distance from the Mikage boat, two figures stood on the deck. None of the boat lights were on, so the features of both figures were hidden in the darkness. However, they had seen everything that had transpired on the Mikage boat.

"Well, that certainly was an interesting conclusion." One of the figures, a male voice, remarked. "And so the ancient legend of the tennyo is brought to a close…by the tennyo, her descendants, their diverse bunch of allies, a number of assassins, and also by the child of one of the few survivors of the Hokage clan…"

"I must admit, master, I was surprised upon finding out there would be any of that meddling clan still alive." The other figure, also male, spoke, his vice while speaking calmly obviously had some distaste in it.

"Do you say that because they did their best to limit skirmishes between the Koga and the Iga, especially in the time shortly before Nobunaga made his attempt to exterminate the ninja?" The first figure asked with some amusement. "You really shouldn't carry such a silly grudge, after all they were doing what any clan with common sense would do. They had ties to both Koga and Iga, and not wanting to be dragged into the feud, naturally they would try to make the situation as peaceful as possible. After all, who do you think helped to convince the first Hattori Hanzo to create that covenant of peace between those two clans?"

"That covenant is one of the reasons I was never fond of that clan." The other replied simply. "Still, it seems all those rumors I had heard about the bloodline abilities of the Hokage chiefs were true. They truly do have the power of dragons…"

"Even taking that into account, I find it interesting that the Hokage boy and his allies all managed to survive fighting Shingen." The first noted. "Also, I wonder just what it was that one psychic did…"

"What else can you expect from Koga trash?" The other said. "In any of the event, the Hokage do not concern us at the moment anyway…"

"True enough…" The first agreed. "Anyway, there's some urgent business I need to take care of. You know what you need to do in the meantime…"

"Of course, Master Kurando." The other replied.

"There is one last thing." The first spoke. "I need you to deliver a message to Shingen for me." The figure then seemed to give a light chuckle. "Oh yes, and when you deliver it do try not to antagonize him too much. Considering dear Shingen's current state of mind, he might actually use the Orochi on you if you do that, and that wouldn't be very good for your own personal health now would it, Tenzen."

Meanwhile: FOXHOUND Chopper:

Riku lay back in the stretcher of the FOXHOUND chopper as it headed for the FOXHOUND base. Nagi was also lying in one while Tot was sitting at his side rather than lying down in a stretcher, her concern for Nagi overriding any fatigue she had from the battle. Yuhi, Chidori, Aya, Toya, Aki, Maya, and Alec were also on board the chopper as they felt that they should accompany their friends. Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi meanwhile were on the Aogiri chopper, which was headed to the Aogiri main house along with Wei Fei Lee and Asamu Bagte as prisoners. The two would be treated and then securely held until FOXHOUND decided what would be done with them. The four members of Weiss were to act as guards and would also inform the Aogiri family what had happened.

"Well, Riku, it's good to see you again, even though this isn't exactly the best place for a reunion." Mana Kirishima spoke as she walked over to Riku's side. "Anyway, I'm glad that you and your friends are going to be alright. Michael was almost frantic when he called and told me about what was going on."

"So Michael's alright." Riku then smiled with relief. "So how exactly are he and Gladys-san?"

"Seishiro, Marcus, Trang, and Kojiro found them." Mana answered. "They said Michael was wounded during that explosion but not too badly, as for that woman who was with him who I guess must be this Gladys-san you're talking about…" Mana then paused to think. "Actually, Michael said she wasn't hurt in the blast, but…he seemed to be a little worried…"

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"I'm not sure…maybe it was just my imagination." Mana answered, as she thought some on it, but she seemed doubtful. "Anyway, what's important right now is that you get some rest so you can recover."

"Are those doctor's orders?" Riku asked jokingly with a light smile.

"That as well as advice from a concerned friend." Mana answered seriously, as she didn't see Riku's injuries as a joking matter.

Riku realized this and his smile went from a joking one to one of deep gratitude.

"Sorry about that…" Riku said sincerely as he realized his friend's concern for him. "And the latter is greatly appreciated, really."

"It's alright, I know you were just trying to lighten the mood up so I wouldn't be too worried." Mana replied and then gave a light smile. "Besides, I should sort of know better than to be ordering someone like you to sleep."

"Actually, now that you mention it, I think I could sleep through the next week." Riku said as he gave a yawn. "Well, I'm turning in. Good night, Mana."

"You know by the time we get to base, it will be 'good afternoon'." Mana replied with a smile, only to discover Riku had already fallen asleep. She then fought the urge to laugh, as it would awaken the sleeping ninja.

(Same old Riku…) She thought. (But if he can fall asleep like usual, I guess that's definite proof he'll be okay.)

Mana then paused to look around at the many newcomers who she knew were friends of Riku's.

(Looks like there's a lot of new people I'm going to meet.) Mana thought to herself and then her eyes went over to Shuro and they widened in surprise as she recognized her. (Hold on, that couldn't be…!)

Meanwhile:

"Well, Mr. Thorn, here are the C-genome embryos as promised." Brad Crawford spoke as he handed a large cooling container over to man of medium build with short brown hair and blue eyes who appeared to be in his thirties. He was about medium build and had a hairline scar.

Crawford, Schuldich, Farfarello, and this man were meeting at the scheduled rendezvous point at which they were to deliver their objective as per the Patriots' orders.

"Excellent work as always, Crawford." Robert Thorn said as he inspected the container, though he still had an eye on Crawford, Schuldich, and Farfarello. This wasn't because he had any actual fear of these men attacking him, rather it was so he could do another inspection.

(Hmm, nothing different about them as usual…) Thorn thought as he used his telepathic powers to read their emotions for anything suspicious that would prompt him to scan their minds. He then noticed something.

"Alright, Crawford what are you about to give me?" Thorn asked as he sensed that Crawford regarded this as important.

"Only this…" Crawford answered as he took out a disk and handed it to Thorn. "Shade will be coming here soon, and I'd like you to give this to him along with our most sincerest apologies. Please tell him for us that this was done out of necessity. There was no malicious intent at all."

"I know what this is…" Thorn said simply as he pocketed the disk. "I'll do that, simply because the Patriots don't want to loose anymore valuable people now that Viper's gone and gotten himself killed." He then paused before giving an interested smile. "It's a pretty dangerous game you and your lot are playing, stealing Shade's objective from under his nose and playing so many tricks on him all the while. I hope whatever you did all this for is worth it."

"Trust me, Mr. Thorn, it is." Crawford replied as he fixed his glasses.

"Whatever you say, it's of no interest to me." Thorn said as he waved him off to dismiss the three assassins.

As the three left, Crawford lapsed into his own thoughts.

(My dear student passed the test, so I couldn't allow Shade to kill him.) He thought. (Still, there's something about the footage that's bothering me. I need to have a look at it as soon as possible…)

Meanwhile, Thorn watched the three assassins leave before lapsing into his own thoughts as well.

(I know you and your two partners had something to do with Viper's demise, Crawford, someone like that doesn't get himself killed so easily.) Thorn thought. (Oh well, I suppose a replacement will take Viper's place soon enough. Anyway, I'd better get to work, my part in this little assignment has finally begun…)

Meanwhile:

Yuki stood inside the desert, which was the space in which the fire dragon spirits resided. She was watching as Nadare, Saiha, Homura, Setsuna, Madoka, Rui, Koku, and Resshin, all in their human forms each carefully bound a single small scroll tight.

"It is done." Resshin spoke.

"Was this really necessary?" Yuki asked as she was sure the dragons were finished. "I mean, if this Third Impact is what Riku heard it was then isn't it better that he knows about it?"

"He will in good time, young lady." Koku spoke, his tone a serious one, which was unusual with this short old man.

"The reason Riku cannot know of Third Impact yet is because right now the information will do him more harm then good." Nadare answered Yuki, and then she gave her an understanding look. "I know you care for him, but consider this, if Riku were to know of even a bit about Third Impact now, then what do you think he would do?"

"Well, I'm sure he'd tell someone he trusts." Yuki answered.

"That is exactly why he can't know of it yet, nor can any of those around him, it's too soon." Madoka spoke.

"You see, Third Impact is one of the most closely guarded of secrets and not just by the Patriots." Rui said, her expression a serious one. "There are other organizations…"

"And if Riku or any close to him were to know of it, there's no telling what could befall them, or what could happen either." Resshin spoke. "There are many things that must happen first beforehand, because trust me the time will come when Riku will have to know all this as well as many others. Some connected to Riku or will be, and many others who aren't; Riku is only a small part of this after all."

"I see…" Yuki said. "Then could you grant me two requests?"

"What are they?" Resshin asked.

"First tell me what this Third Impact really is." Yuki answered her expression determined. "I'll tell you my second request after."

"Very well." Resshin replied. "And I think I know what your second request may be…"

Meanwhile: Docks:

To say that Shade was in a bad mood when he finally reached land through having to swim was an understatement. That bomb planted in his Harrier, had intensified his anger towards Brad Crawford who he was already fantasizing the multiple ways he would kill the man, bring him back to life using the forbidden arts he knew, and kill him again in a very long and satisfying cycle.

Shade's thoughts were then interrupted as he sensed a familiar presence and whirled around in irritation as he sensed who it was.

"Well, dog, what exactly brings you out of your kennel?" Shade spoke out into the darkness.

"I was simply wondering why it is you're in such a hurry, Shingen Koga." A man's voice spoke in reply, and a figure stepped out from the shadows to reveal a man with long black hair wearing dark colored suit similar to that of the Arsenal Tengus except it was far stronger. The man's face was a grim and serious looking one, but Shade had seen it smile in a cruel sort of mirth in battle at the kills he made or was about to make.

"It's no business of yours, now get out of my way, I have no time for you." Shade growled. He did not want to waste any time talking with this man whom he greatly hated, almost as much as the man's master.

"Not even to listen to an important message from Kurando-sama?" The man asked.

Shade paused as he heard this and began to laugh.

"It's 'Kurando-sama' now?" Shade shook his head as he continued laughing. "You truly have sunk low. I thought that 'master' garbage was humiliating enough…don't tell me you actually believe it? Or do you just happen to like the way it tastes in your mouth?"

"It's still far better than being Koga garbage like yourself." Tenzen remarked coolly. "Deny your connections as much as you want but you're still…"

"I was starting to get to a better mood just now, so you'd do best to keep it that way." Shade replied. "Otherwise I'll consider risking that old fool Kurando's displeasure…Now tell me what your 'master' wants, Tenzen Yakushiji…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku Hanabishi's eyes slowly opened as he awoke to find himself in what looked like a hospital room and he was lying in a hospital bed.

(Well, that was a good bit of rest.) Riku thought as he slowly got up and looked around. (It looks like I'm back at headquarters now. I guess I should get up and ask what's…)

As Riku thought this, the door to the room he was in opened and as he saw whom it was that was coming in, the young ninja spoke.

"Well, I guess I should begin with a good morning." Riku said with a friendly smile. "Anyway, with that said, could you tell me what's happened while I was asleep?"

AN: And finally this chapter is complete! Man this was one long update. 63 pages in all! Anyway, sorry for the long wait, but things happen and I've been doing quite a lot this summer. But enough about me;

I bet this chapter left you with quite a few questions especially the surprise crossover of the anime/manga series Basilisk: Koga Ninpuchou. I bet those of you who have seen it are wondering quite a bit about how Tenzen is still alive also how does Riku know Gennosuke and Oboro? All I can say is those will be answered soon enough. And to those who haven't seen it, you can pick up some subs for the series online, or you can just wait for the Funimation release, trust me it's a must for a fan of the Ninja Scroll series or any other ninja anime (don't expect this to be like Naruto though).

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this update, especially you GreyWolf4 as I know you've wanted to see this for quite some time. I hope I did the fight well enough without screwing up Shade's character.

Also, I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. All I can say is expect some surprises in that one.

Well, please read and review.


	35. Chapter 34: The Closing Curtain: Part 1:

AN: Alright everyone, here's the next chapter in which we start to bring this story arc to a close, I won't spoil anything, but read and enjoy.

Oh yeah, something I need to clear up so readers will not be confused. The Flame of Recca crossover into this fic is based on the anime and not the manga. To fans who like the manga more, I'm sorry, but there isn't much I can do to change that unless I do a complete rewrite of this as when I began this fic I had only seen the anime, and besides, though I like the manga's extra story and such, I liked the anime's ending better. Good news for manga fans though, I will include some elements from the manga that weren't in the anime, though that's all going to be a surprise for the time being. One example would be back in an earlier chapter the appearance of manga only character J-Keeper (yeah I know he's a very minor character, but hey that's my only example so far). Anyway, let's get on with the fic.

Disclaimer: Same as before. I also don't own Richard Steiner or Carter Drake, who both belong to GreyWolf4. Nor do I own a couple of certain anime series, which I'm going to reference in this chapter (I won't spoil the surprise, folks, read and find out).

Chapter 34: The Closing Curtain: Part 1: After the Battle

Nagi Naoe stood alone in the streets of what appeared to be an empty city; the sky above was a deep red as if it were late evening, causing the shadows of the buildings to lengthen giving making the city seem somewhere in between being completely day and completely night, and so far it's time didn't seem to be changing.

The city in a way was deserted save for the lone psychic, as well as a few shadowy and faceless figures that seemed to move around, ignoring Nagi completely. The young psychic wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but already it seemed long enough. Just the simple emptiness and unchanging of this place was starting to get to him, and he had tried numerous times to speak with the figures, without receiving a single response from them.

(Just what is this place?) Nagi wondered.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted as a strong breeze suddenly seemed to come out of nowhere and blow at Nagi. Yet this breeze instead of bringing a calm and cooling wind, for some reason instead brought a harsh and cold one that immediately caused the young psychic to shiver from the intense cold of it. As the cold wind continued around him, Nagi then heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"They cast us out simply for being born." Brad Crawford's voice spoke to him from out of nowhere. "It's ridiculous enough to make you laugh, isn't it?"

"Crawford?" Nagi spoke looking around to try to find the American.

For some reason, something in the back of the young psychic's mind seemed to be warning him not to do this, but Nagi could not place what exactly this reason was. A part of him felt he should know, but for some reason he couldn't remember it. Pushing the feeling of unease aside, the young psychic then continued his search finally determining the direction in which the voice had come from, down a an alleyway, which was darkened by the shadows of the many buildings of the empty city.

As Nagi walked down the alleyway, Crawford's voice spoke out to him once again, confirming that the young psychic had heard correct.

"You seem afraid to have learned the truth…" The American assassin's voice continued.

(Why…does it feel like I've heard this somewhere before?) Nagi wondered as he followed the voice. As he continued on though, the cold wind seemed to follow him and it continued to assail him, the shadows that darkened the alleyway seeming to increase the cold. It was so much that Nagi almost stumbled and fell over. (This wind…it feels so cold, I'm going to freeze…)

As Nagi thought this, Brad Crawford suddenly seemed to materialize out of the shadows a few yards away from where he was standing. He then regarded Nagi with that same clever smile he always had.

"You're different, Nagi, different from the rest of them…" Crawford said to him and then held his right hand out to Nagi. "Let's go…come with me, and let us create a world in which we can truly be free."

Again that same uneasy feeling from before was returning in the back of Nagi's mind, but the intense cold around him and his desire to be free of it and also to not have to remain alone in this empty and cold city drove him to push the feeling aside once again.

(It's so cold…and empty here…) Nagi thought as he stepped forward, his hand reaching to Crawford's outstretched one. (If I take his hand…will I feel better?)

But just as the young psychic was about to take the hand offered to him, something prevented him from doing so.

(Don't do it, Nagi-kun…) A familiar girl's voice spoke to him from behind.

Before Nagi could turn around a pair of arms then gently wrapped around him, and he then felt someone draw up close to him from behind in an embrace. He then felt a strange yet comforting warmth envelope him and the feeling of cold vanished almost instantly. As he felt all this, the young psychic's gaze then went away from Crawford.

"Yeah, you're right…" Nagi said as he now entrusted himself to the warmth of this familiar presence behind him. He then began to turn around.

(This soothing warmth…) Nagi thought as he turned around to see the girl who had called out to him, though he now knew who it was. (This is…)

"Nanam-." Nagi began but stopped as suddenly everything around him suddenly vanished, leaving him standing alone in a seemingly endless blackness.

(What…?) Nagi thought in surprise as he looked around. (What's going on? I could have sworn I…)

"Nagi-kun, open your eyes, please!" Tot's voice suddenly called out to him in a tearful sob.

"Nanami, where…where are you!" Nagi called out as he whirled around all the while looking and trying to find where his girlfriend was. He could tell by feeling her emotions that she was close, but he didn't see her anywhere.

(I can't see her anywhere, but I can tell …she's crying…) Nagi thought.

"Why do you cry?" A young boy's voice asked from behind, causing Nagi to turn around.

The sight that greeted him was a younger version of himself and a younger version of Tot. They were standing back to back, facing in opposite directions, both seeming oblivious to Nagi.

The child version of Nagi seemed almost expressionless, except his eyes seemed to be straying back as if he were trying to see the one behind him. Meanwhile, the child version of Tot's expression was a sad one as she clutched the stuffed white rabbit that she always used to carry around with her, yet her eyes were also glancing back to try to see the one behind her.

"Why do you cry?" The younger Nagi repeated his question.

"Because I'm sad." The younger Tot answered.

"Why are you sad?" The younger Nagi asked in reply.

"Because…because you're dying." The younger Tot answered.

"Why is death sad?" The younger Nagi asked her in reply.

As Nagi heard this last question, he suddenly felt himself answer at the same time as the younger Tot.

"Because you lose everything you care about forever." They both answered in almost perfect unison.

As Nagi said that, he felt himself close his eyes as he suddenly reflected back on a memory that wasn't too distant. It was of when he had snuck into the field of flowers near the mansion in which Tot had lived when she was a member of Schriendt; he had come specifically to see her as the two rarely had opportunities to see one another then. When he found Tot in the field, she was mourning for the death of her friend and fellow Schriendt member, Neu, in her own way. Nagi had tried to somehow cheer her up, which at first seemed to work until Tot had asked him if he could use his power to bring Neu back to life. When he explained to her that he couldn't, Tot tearfully shouted at him before running away and leaving him where he was.

(I was so stupid then…all I did that day was try to get her to forget her friend's death, and only ended up causing her more pain…) Nagi thought to himself. (That's why…on that day, I promised that I wouldn't make Nanami cry like that again…and that she would never have to lose someone she cares about…ever again…)

As the young psychic thought this, he suddenly felt a sudden tug in the back of his mind. A few minutes later, he felt it again, and it seemed to want to pull him in some sort of direction, but Nagi couldn't tell which it meant to take him in. He wasn't sure what this was, but decided to take a chance and then proceeded to close his eyes and concentrate his telepathic focus on this tugging feeling. However, the moment he did, this light tug suddenly became a sudden snag, and Nagi's vision was consumed by light.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Nagi suddenly felt his eyes snap open and found himself lying in a bed inside a hospital room, The young psychic slowly raised his head to look around, he then noticed there was someone standing to the side of the bed, facing away from him, that he was lying in and immediately knew who it was almost without having to see her light blue hair and the frilly white and pink dress she loved to wear.

Nagi was about to call out to Tot, when she suddenly seemed to sense him and her head turned to face him. As their eyes met, Tot's widened some in surprise as she saw that Nagi was awake, but her expression also contained relief. Nagi also noticed that Tot's eyes had a bit of a redness to them, which indicated she had been crying recently.

"Nagi-kun…" Tot said almost in a whisper as if to confirm the one she loved was awake. Her eyes then began to tear up before she suddenly flung her arms around him, and lay her head against his chest as she started to cry. "Nagi-kun, you're awake….you're alright…"

"Nanami…" Nagi spoke, for some reason he wasn't blushing or feeling any nervousness or anything like that at all, instead he slowly put his arms around his crying girlfriend to try to do something to comfort her. "Nanami, it's alright, you don't need to cry. I'm okay, so…"

"B-baka…I'm crying because I'm happy…" Tot said as she looked up at him, smiling even though tears were still coming down her face. "Tot…Nanami…is happy…that you're okay and woke up…very happy…"

"Nanami, you're…" Nagi began, as he hadn't heard Tot refer to herself in third person ever since they had reunited, she'd only done that before, when they were both still assassins for their respective groups.

(When she was crying before…it was definitely because she was worried…) Nagi thought. (Was the condition I was in that bad that it caused her that much distress?)

Nagi had a feeling that was it and then remembered something.

(And… I don't want you to just fall asleep and not wake up…like before…) Tot's voice echoed in his mind as he remembered what she had told him back on the Mikage boat.

Nagi then understood and slowly drew Tot closer to him.

"I'm sorry, Nanami…" Nagi said softly. "I didn't mean to…frighten you or anything like that…"

"Nagi-kun, it…it's not that…" Tot then paused for a second before speaking again. "Could you promise me something?"

"Whatever you want, Nanami." Nagi answered.

"Just promise, that…no matter what…you won't ever leave your Tot…your Nanami…" Tot said.

"Nanami…" Nagi then felt a warm dampness along Tot's cheek as he tried to turn to her and then decided. "I promise, Nanami…"

(I know I shouldn't make a promise I can't keep…) Nagi thought to himself as he knew how dangerous missions could be. (But…I WILL keep this promise…no matter what, I will stay alive, for her…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Brad Crawford, Schuldich, and Farfarello were regarding a screen that was playing a recording of the battle that had taken place between Riku, Nagi, and Tot and their opponent Shade. More specifically they were looking at only one part of the battle, which was when Nagi had called upon a massive amount of his psychic powers to attack Shade.

"Well, you can't deny that the kid doesn't disappoint when it comes to talent." Schuldich noted with a grin.

"Yes, I'll admit Nagi has indeed managed to exceed my expectations; he has always been quite the apt pupil after all." Crawford agreed and then paused as he regarded the screen as it continued. "However, this new development is quite unexpected…"

"Are you talking about that sudden power boost Nagi had when that mercenary was attacking him?" Farfarello asked. "Feh. It looks like it just happened on impulse because that girl was with him. That's nothing new…"

"True, but there's one thing more that makes these 'impulses' more interesting." Crawford replied with a smirk as he saw what he and Schuldich had been suspecting the moment the two of them had seen the events of the battle with Shade through the cypher's camera. "It basically proves that the events that occurred when we eliminated Schriendt were not a fluke at all." Crawford then turned to Schuldich. "Rewind and replay it…"

"Sure thing." Schudlcih replied as he did so.

"I still don't see…" Farfarello stopped as he noticed what was occurring in the corner of the screen as Nagi repelled the attack Shade was making. "Does this mean…"

"Yes, perhaps I was in a bit of an error when I believed that girl to be a mere nuisance and a distraction to Nagi." Crawford replied and then smiled. "Still, this makes things far more interesting, wouldn't you say? After all, my dear student has shown a new and unexpected development in his abilities."

"The unexpected part's right." Schuldich agreed. "I mean, who would have thought Nagi's little pet would turn out to be an enhancer instead of a limiter?"

"Yes…unfortunately her way of enhancing his abilities doesn't fall in line with the way his power should truly manifest." Crawford said as he fixed his glasses.

(For now, I suppose we can leave you to your own devices and see how you choose to develop your power, Nagi.) Crawford thought towards his student. (When we meet again…I wonder what you will have to show me…)

"Oh yes, that reminds me…is our little 'good will gift' ready?" Crawford asked.

"Yeah, though it took a while to make sure that the information was accurate." Schuldich answered. "Still…are you sure this will work? I know we've been given the clear and all to give 'him' the information on Ragnarek, but…you think he'll take it?"

"Solidus is no doubt seeking any form of information regarding the Patriots for his ambitions, and each member of Ragnarek has just enough information on them. Enough to give some satisfaction in his hunt, but still not enough for what he's truly looking for." Crawford replied. "Still, quite a few world leaders are going to suddenly vanish, a good thing the Patriots have replacements for them ready…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I've only been out for three days?" Riku asked as he regarded a medium set man in his late thirties who was wearing a doctor's uniform and had short black hair and blue eyes, over which he wore a pair of horn rimmed glasses.

This was the man who had come in to check on Riku and found him as he woke up. As the man informed the young ninja about what had happened while he had been recovering from the battle he, Nagi, and Tot had with Shade, Riku had quickly changed into his usual clothes, which was a jacket over a red t-shirt and dark jeans.

"Yes, and I have to admit, Riku, you have quite a knack for recovering quickly considering your injuries when you were brought in." The man answered.

"If I remember right, I told you about that a while ago, Dr. Steiner." Riku said. "It's a bit of my Mom's healing ability which I must have inherited from her. For some reason my body heals itself quickly while I'm resting…"

"Yes, I remember." Dr. Richard Steiner replied. "But even considering that, if you hadn't gotten the proper treatment when you did from us, then I doubt you'd have recovered as quickly as you did if you recovered at all. You had quite a few injuries; for instance, most of your ribs were broken and you even had some internal injuries…"

"Well, I guess that explains why it was hard for me to even stand back there." Riku said, almost to himself, however Richard had heard him.

"In that condition you shouldn't have been standing, or for that matter continuing a battle." Richard told him, with sternness in his voice, causing Riku to stiffen up slightly in nervousness as he had been through this before and as a result knew of the doctor's stern attitude towards his patients when it came to their health. It wasn't that Riku didn't appreciate this, as he knew the good doctor meant well and was acting out of the most genuine of concern, it was just that he knew Richard was really good at laying things on thick when it came to these things. "To be honest, I'm surprised that you didn't make your condition worse. In fact I've had a word with one of the people who came with you who seems to have some medical experience of his own, a young man named Toya Mizuki, and after I told him my diagnosis even he agrees you should take better care of your body."

"Well…I guess I should thank him then…" Riku said as he rubbed his head with a sheepish grin. "Especially since he was the one who carried me all the way to the chopper…"

"Now hold on a second, Mr. Hanabishi, I'm not through with you yet." Richard said, his voice still having its stern tone as he prevented the young ninja from getting up and leaving. "I still need to make a quick check up to make sure that you're well enough…"

"Alright, Doctor…" Riku replied, mentally giving up as he could see there was no escaping the lecture Richard Steiner would give him all throughout the check up regarding the care of his own personal health.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shade gave a last glance at the rendezvous point where he dropped off the disk containing the Mikage metal gear data for appointed agents for the Patriots to take and deliver. Despite the fact that the assignment was complete, the mercenary was not in the best of moods.

(That damned American assassin and his lackeys tricked me and due to specific orders I was given not to pursue the matter, I have to let them get away with it for now…) Shade thought as he remembered how he had met with Robert Thorn who had given him the data that Crawford had stolen from under his nose along with some sort of 'apology' from the American. Shade was planning to hunt the three assassins down as soon as the delivery was complete, but Thorn had then given him a specific order from the Patriots not to do anything to harm Crawford or his other two partners until further notice and Shade knew he had to obey those orders for the time being. To say this frustrated the mercenary would be an understatement.

(Patience…patience…) Shade thought to himself to calm down. (Those three can't hide behind the Patriots forever…I'll deal with them then…)

Shade's thoughts then moved to the conversation he had with Tenzen Yakushiji, who had delivered him a message from his master, Kurando also known by his codename, 'Darkness'.

(What exactly does that old fool want with me this time?) Shade wondered. (Oh well, I suppose there's no choice, I'll have to meet with him at the time he had Tenzen tell me when he delivered it in his message if I want answers. But if he's calling to meet me just because he wants me to do something for him better reserved for that fool weakling Tenzen…)

Shade then paused and shook it off as he had a feeling that wouldn't be the case. His thoughts then drifted to something else.

(Still, I never thought the tennyo legends were all true or that they'd be brought to such a conclusion…) The mercenary thought to himself and then a strange feeling came, which caused him to frown. (Nostalgia…? Heh, this is almost funny…I suppose it's from seeing something even older than I am be brought to an end…oh well, my part in this is over. Now all that remains is for Thorn to close the curtain on the loose ends…at least before NESTS does. With Kagami gone, I'm certain that organization will rush to get something out of it before the Patriots…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you feeling better now, Nanami?" Nagi asked Tot, who was now sitting in a chair next to the bed he was sitting up in.

"Hai, I'm fine." Tot answered with her typical smile. "Now that I know that my Nagi-kun is up and okay."

For a moment the two didn't say anything to one another as they were trying to think of what else to talk about while waiting for one of the FOXHOUND doctors to arrive and do a quick check up on Nagi before releasing him and then they could go and see everyone else to see how they were doing.

"So…all your wounds from that battle we had with Shade have healed, right?" Nagi spoke.

"Yep, I'm all better." Tot replied, but then paused as she suddenly remembered something. "Actually, there was something the doctors said was really strange…"

"What was it?" Nagi asked.

"Well, when they were going to make this better…" Tot answered as she pointed to her left leg to indicate where Shade had stabbed her during the battle. "…there wasn't anything under the bandage. It had gotten all better by itself."

"You mean your injury was completely healed?" Nagi asked with some amazement and Tot nodded. "And there aren't any signs of the wound at all, no scars or anything like that?"

"Nope." Tot said with a simple shake of her head.

(That is a bit unusual…) Nagi thought to himself. (Ordinarily I'd think the nanomachines healed the injury, but I doubt they work that fast. So what could have…)

"Is something wrong, Nagi-kun?" Tot spoke, interrupting the psychic's thoughts.

"Oh…it's nothing." Nagi replied, finally deciding to drop the matter since Tot was all right and to him that was all that mattered. Then he remembered something. "So Tot…how long was I out?"

"Three days." Tot answered holding up three fingers.

"Three days, huh…" Nagi said as he paused to consider something before speaking. "Tot, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I need to ask you something…Did anything happen while I was out? I mean, it usually does take a few days for people to recover, and I was out longer the last time, so…"

"Yes, something did happen…" Tot answered as she lowered her eyes for a moment before continuing. "It was this morning, a nice man named Dr. Steiner was arguing with Lt. Reese…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few hours earlier…

Tot was sitting at Nagi's side as she had been for the past couple of days as she waited for her boyfriend to wake up. At the moment, she was cutting up an apple for Nagi to eat when he woke up and had so far cut the slices into various kinds of weird looking shapes, which to Tot's eyes looked like a rabbit, a cat, and other animals. It was then that she heard some voices coming from outside the room.

"Lieutenant, I thought I made myself clear the last time, you'll just have to wait if you want a report on…" Richard Steiner's voice began.

"I'm not in the mood for waiting, doctor." Reese cut him off angrily. "Those damned civilians that those three brought with them are being too damned close mouthed about all this, and Campbell's actually allowing it so, saying that we can wait for our own recruits' report! Well, one of them is conscious, have her make the report at once!"

"And I told you before that she is not in any condition to…" Richard began.

"Bullshit!" Reese now raised his voice. "All that stupid girl is doing is wasting time sitting next to a damned kid rookie that probably isn't going to wake up any time soon anyway! Probably served him right, as I gather he must have done something stupid that made him get into that condition…"

Tot stiffened up as she heard that, feeling anger coming up at what Reese had just said.

"Lieutenant…" Richard began, his voice now having a great deal of irritation in it.

"You're a doctor, so you know it takes people years to come out of comas, they taught you that at whatever medical school you went to, didn't they?" Reese asked. "In any case, if that girl wants to sit around for the next few years then she can after she makes her report. What's a few hours when…"

"Lieutenant, that's enough!" Richard finally shouted, as he had had enough of listening to Reese's prattle.

Reese was about to make a retort, but Richard's stern gaze stopped him.

"Now see here, Lieutenant, unlike yourself, I take my responsibilities seriously." Richard said. "And my responsibility as a doctor is to help ensure my patients' health, both physical and mental. I also know that any report that you're in charge of will be more like an interrogation and that is the last thing that poor child needs. She does a good job of hiding it, but I can tell she's under quite a bit of mental stress from the condition her partner Nagi Naoe is in and also worry for both him and her other partner, Riku Hanabishi. Any added stress would…"

"Is there a point to this?" Reese asked. "I'm not interested in hearing drivel from some damn psychology textbook. If I want that I can talk to a shrink…"

"In words that even 'you' can understand, you are banned from this section of the medical ward until further notice for the sake of the mental health of one of the patients." Richard answered. "That said…"

"You do not have the authority for that." Reese interrupted him. "I'm a Lieutenant, so…"

"Lt. Reese, you're welcome to take this up with Colonel Campbell…his opinion will probably be the same as mine." Richard said, now getting sick of having to talk to Reese and at the same time deal with the man's constant interruptions. "Now either remove yourself from here, or I will have you removed…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"After that, I started to really worry…if what Reese said about you not waking up for a long time was true…" Tot said. "Dr. Steiner didn't say it wasn't true and…and I was starting to get afraid that…you might stay asleep forever…and if you never woke up, I…"

Nagi then reached over and took Tot's hand and then looked at her seriously.

"That won't happen." He said. "I promised you, didn't I? And also, there's something you should know." Nagi then smiled at Tot. "I think you were the one who woke me up."

"Eh…what do you mean?' Tot asked.

"When I was out, I…I heard your voice somehow and…I guess you could say I followed it, and that's when I woke up." Nagi answered. "I don't know how that happened but…"

"I know how." Tot said with a smile. "It's the power of love."

For a moment, Nagi didn't say anything, not because he found Tot's answer to be strange. In fact it was quite the opposite.

(That might actually be true…) Nagi thought. (Nanami's voice, along with her feelings reached me, and when I followed them it pulled me out of that empty darkness.)

"Yeah…" Nagi said with a light nod. "Anyway…"

The door to the room then opened and Richard Steiner came in. When he saw that Nagi was awake, he then smiled almost in relief.

"Well, you're awake too, that's definitely a relief to see." Richard said to Nagi and then turned to Tot. "I take it he woke up just recently."

"Yep, and he's completely better." Tot replied with a nod.

"Maybe, but I'll have to make a quick check up just to make sure." Richard said.

"Wait a second, you said I was awake 'too'." Nagi spoke. "Does that mean…?"

"Yes, your partner Riku got up just a short while ago, in fact I just delivered my report that his condition was fine." Richard answered with a light smile. "You should be able to see him once I'm done checking to make sure you're well enough…"

Meanwhile: Riku's Hospital Room:

(Well, I guess I'll put off breakfast for now…) Riku thought to himself as he had a look at what was on the food menu for the patients, which didn't sound all that appetizing.

"Alright, I guess the first thing to do is go see how Nagi and Tot are doing." Riku said to himself as he headed for the door.

(I really hope those two are okay…that battle we had with Shade was a nasty one…) Riku thought, feeling immediate and great concern for the current condition that his two partners and friends were in.

Just as he neared the door, though, it opened and two new people came in. One of which Riku was sort of expecting to see sooner or later, the other he was also sort of expecting to see, but this was one person that the young definitely had no desire to see. They were Colonel Roy Campbell and Lieutenant Matthew Reese.

"Drakken, it's good to see that you've made a complete recovery." Roy spoke.

"Thank you, Colonel." Riku replied politely with a light smile, meanwhile ignoring Reese. "And I'm glad to see that you're in good health as well. Anyway, sir, I…"

"Yes, yes, we received the report from Steiner that you're healthy enough." Reese said quickly. "With that out of the way, Hanabishi, I think it's time you told us what happened during your mission. We've been waiting for days. Now hurry it up and…"

"Excuse me, but I'm sure there's plenty of time for me to write up a formal written report, sir." Riku said. "I'm sorry for seeming hasty, but I'd like to have a check on the condition of my partners, if…"

" 'That' can wait." Reese cut him off with some irritation in his voice. "Now, we'd like you to start with…"

"Pardon my interruption, but hasn't Michael already provided a report?" Riku asked.

"Yes, he submitted his yesterday shortly after he was allowed to leave the medical ward, but we only received a report on his side of the mission." Campbell answered. "We need to hear what happened on your end so that way we can have a full understanding of what happened."

"I understand that, Colonel, but…" Riku began.

"Ugh…listen Hanabishi, those two kids you somehow convinced Campbell to let into this group aren't going anywhere." Resse said with disgust. "It's really your fault anyway that we're going through this. If you hadn't let the team split up, we'd only have to deal with one report instead of multiple ones."

"Lieutenant, if you're referring to when Michael distracted those RAY units, then that could not have been avoided." Riku replied, now trying to keep his cool at Reese's talking down to him. "In fact, we would have stayed to wait, but Michael ordered us as the team's leader to continue on and complete the mission, which is what we did."

"So you didn't even think to leave someone behind to aid Hansen and instead opted to leave everything at the base to him? Sounds to me like you just wanted your team to claim better credit." Reese asked in reply. "Also, it seems from Hansen's report the reason the situation with the RAYs occurred was because one of you was spotted by someone. You lot are supposed to be trained to avoid that sort of thing…"

"Now wait, that was…" Riku just shook his head as he felt Reese was barely listening to him and instead was opting to twist his explanations against him. The young ninja then turned to Campbell. "Colonel, please, if you just let me write a formal report, I'll submit it to you as soon as possible. If you ask me you'll get a better report that way. Just let me see how everyone's doing and I'll have that report in within the next couple of hours."

"You may have a point." Roy agreed, as even he could see that Reese wasn't doing anything that was helping the situation.

"Fine, if you really want to do it that way then get to work on it now." Reese growled. "Now hurry up and get to work so we can read your team's…"

"Wait…" Riku spoke and looked at Reese. "Are you really going to be going through the report?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Reese asked in reply. "Of course I'll be looking at your report of the mission, it's standard procedure since I'm one of your superiors, which you always seem to forget. Also you can bet I'll have plenty of questions for you and your teammates to answer. I'd also like statements from those civilians you brought with you as well; they're being closemouthed about what happened but I'm certain you can persuade them to do other…"

"Is what the Lieutenant saying true, will he be given access to the information contained in my report?" Riku asked, turning to Campbell.

"Yes, and it is standard procedure." Campbell said with a nod, though he seemed a little reluctant to admit it.

"I see…then in that case…" Riku said with a sigh as he made his decision. "Then I'm afraid that you'll have to be satisfied with just Michael's report."

"What do you mean?" Reese asked. "What about your report?"

"Since you're going to have access to it, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse to make one." Riku answered simply, his tone now a calm and serious one, which was almost unusual considering Riku's typical laid back and cheerful manner.

(There's no way in hell I'm going to let someone like you know about what happened on that ship.) Riku thought mentally at Reese. (With how you do things, God knows what would happen to Aya, Toya, Aki, Chidori, Shuro, Maya, and Suzumi as result.)

"What…did…you…say?" Reese asked as Riku's words registered in his mind. He was almost grinding his teeth in anger at what he had just heard. "Why won't you make the report?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Riku asked, now deciding to drop any pretense of politeness towards Reese as he saw that wasn't going to do much anymore. "I trust the Colonel with such information, but I do not trust you." Riku then turned to Roy. "Colonel, I apologize, but I cannot give you any report about what happened on that ship unless you can guarantee that Lieutenant Reese will be denied access to it."

"Drakken, that's…" Roy began.

"That does it!" Reese finally exploded, Riku's words angering the man almost to the point that he wished he could throttle the young ninja with his own hands. "I have had enough of your God damned insolence towards me, Hanabishi! Time and time again you've either gone against my orders or not shown the proper respect towards me, one of your superior officers and managed to get away with it, but not this time. The consequences of insubordination to a superior officer are not a joke. If you insist on this nonsense about keeping the details of your report secret I can have you court-martialed!"

Riku for a second considered making a retort at that to say how empty a threat that really was, as the worst Reese could do was get him thrown out of FOXHOUND and if that happened Riku could always go back to his clan, but decided against it. As much as he hated Reese, Riku would not demean himself and act arrogantly while hiding behind his clan's name as some form of immunity. This was because Riku was essentially the Hokage clan's representative to FOXHOUND, which despite his lighthearted manner, the young ninja took very seriously. In other words, Riku would not do anything to tarnish the good name of his clan. As he saw it, the elders of the old Hokage clan had done more than enough of that.

"If that is the case, then so be it." Riku said simply.

Roy sensed the seriousness of the situation though, and he could tell Riku was doing his best to remain calm and cool towards Reese given the current situation.

"Alright, calm down, Reese." Roy said and then turned to Riku. "Drakken, I understand that you're saying this out of concern for those you're protecting, but please be reasonable. Would a compromise do?"

"Perhaps, but that would depend on the terms, Colonel." Riku replied.

"You may submit your report on the mission to me alone and I'll look over it." Roy suggested. "Reese will have to be allowed to see only whatever parts that I feel he needs to see though."

For a second Riku considered that, and for a moment it seemed like a reasonable idea and the young ninja was about to agree to it. However, as he glanced at Reese, a shadow of a doubt concerning Campbell's judgment came to mind.

(He has made mistakes concerning this guy before…) Riku thought to himself with some reluctance, as he really did trust Campbell. Riku also remembered the aftermath of a certain group operation a couple of years ago with his FOXHOUND friends and comrades Gregory Kinezono, Linn Aramaki, James Masterson, Michael Hansen, and Garland Durev in which Garland was more or less the team leader ; he was supposed to be an observer, but was forced to take over along with Michael when things went wrong due to bad intel from Reese. It had been a rough mission to say the least, and in the end Garland had had to call upon the power of the dark personality inside of him, the reason for his FOXHOUND codename 'Berserker Demon', the powerful entity known as 'D', in order to get everyone out alive. That had been the first time any of the group had seen it, but aftermath had ended up strengthening the group's bond instead of severing it as Riku, Greg, Linn, James, and Michael had all completely excepted Garland despite the carnage 'D' had caused. However, once the group returned to base, things went downhill from there when Garland had been punished for disobeying orders to be simply an observer during the mission, and Reese had only received a slap on the wrist for the bad intel that got them in that situation in the first place. (AN: Read the last chapter of TempestDynasty's 'Bloody Hands' to get a better idea of what happened)

When Riku had heard that, he quickly went to Campbell's office to object to this. Even if he couldn't convince Campbell to change his mind, he was determined to at least try to get Garland's punishment reduced. Riku felt he owed his friend as well as the man who had probably saved his life, and the lives of their other friends, at the very least that. However, he had run into Garland along the way when he had been heading to the training area to assist in the whole day's training exercises, which had been part of his punishment, that was to go on for the rest of the month.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Why not?" Riku asked Garland. "You weren't at any fault, Reese was! He's the one who deserves to be punished!"

Riku had been on his way to Campbell's office to try to talk with the Colonel about Garland's punishment, but he had run into Garland Durev along the way, and Garland had sensed what Riku was trying and stopped him.

"Riku, I know you mean well." Garland said with a grateful smile. "But I did disobey direct orders and I can't really expect to go unpunished for it. Also, I greatly appreciate the thought and that's enough, really. Besides, I don't want you to end up getting in trouble because of me…"

"But still…it isn't fair." Riku said. He wasn't going to go against his friend's request now, but he felt he had to say this. "I mean…you being punished like this while Reese gets away with a slap on the wrist when it was his bad intel that almost got us killed…it just isn't fair…"

"Riku…" Garland paused for a moment; he was about to say that these sorts of things happened from time to time in military groups, but decided not to. Instead he gave Riku a warm clap on the shoulder. "You have a good heart, don't lose it…Anyway, I'm afraid I'm not allowed extensive interaction with other operatives. I'll talk to you when the month is over, so take care for now…"

Riku was about to say something, but stopped, as he didn't want to get his friend into any more trouble and suddenly an idea came to him. He then turned around with his gaze away from Garland.

"Well, since I don't see anyone in the hallway then that means that I must be alone, therefore I'm simply going to be talking to myself. If anyone happens to hear me talking to myself then it's just a coincidence." Riku said, his voice raised almost to yelling so Garland could hear, however he kept his gaze in the opposite direction to keep up the pretense, though the fact that he could no longer hear the mercenary's steps proved he had stopped to listen. "Not too long ago a friend of mine saved both my life, as well as the lives of those who were both my friends and his friends. To do this took a great deal of courage as he was risking not just getting into trouble, but also that he might lose his friends as a result. If I were to talk to him now, I would say that he has my eternal gratitude for doing this, and is my friend for life for doing so, and I'm also certain that the others feel the same way. I also would promise him this…that I will become a strong and reliable comrade and friend so he won't have to take such a risk again, upon my honor as a ninja of Hokage!"

Though Riku couldn't see, Garland had of course heard it all and had made a brief stop to glance back at his friend.

(Thank you…) Garland thought to Riku. (Riku Hanabishi, shinobi of Hokage…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the end Riku had felt some irritation towards Campbell, but decided to let it slide and give the man the benefit of the doubt. So far nothing that bad had happened again, at least not yet anyway. Reese was the main focus of the blame in Riku's eyes.

While Riku trusted Campbell still, this bit of doubt was enough to convince him not to take the compromise.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't accept those terms." Riku said to Campbell with a shake of his head. "The only terms that I'll accept in order to give you this information are if Reese is permanently barred from accessing all parts of it. Otherwise, I'm prepared to take the secret of what went on onboard that ship to my grave if necessary, and I know that Crow and Usagi would give you the same response."

As Roy heard this he knew Riku was serious in what he had said, which definitely put things in a predicament for him as even though he knew Riku probably had sound reasons for his refusal, Roy did not want to make it look like he was showing favoritism towards any of the recruits and go against procedure simply on the whim of a recruit. However, since Roy did have a feeling Riku had good enough reasons for making this request he decided on trying to make a different compromise that would hopefully be more acceptable to the young ninja in order to handle this, but before Campbell could say anything to try to reason further with Riku, Reese butted in.

"Look here, kid, you're a member of this group so act like it and report your mission now or I will see to it that you answer these questions under an interrogation!" Reese shouted. "Do you understand what I'm saying to you, grunt?"

"Yes." Riku replied simply, meaning that he had simply understood what Reese had just said.

"Yes, sir." Reese corrected.

"There's no need for you to call me 'sir', lieutenant." Riku replied simply, as he kept himself from showing as much as a hint of a smirk at that. He figured that at the very least he could get away with that and say he had just misunderstood Reese's English, which would be a lie as Riku spoke English fluently.

That comment, however, was the last straw for Reese as the man's face quickly turned into a dark shade of red, almost bordering on purple, at how Riku was seemingly unfazed by his threats and had even turned his own comment around on him.

"You, little…" Reese snarled, almost spraying Riku with spit.

At that moment, the door to the hospital room slammed open and the stocky figure of an American man in his late fifties strode in. The man had thin gray hair, brown eyes, and a beard, and was wearing a military uniform, which clearly indicated his rank, which was that of a general.

"Alright, that's enough." The man said, his tone as well as expression serious.

Campbell, Reese, and Riku immediately recognized the man and saluted him.

"General Drake, sir." Roy respectfully addressed Carter Drake as he came into the room.

"At ease…" Drake said to them. "I've been informed of what's going on and I also heard what was being said in this room. It seems I have arrived just in time…"

"You couldn't be more correct, General." Reese spoke and then indicated Riku. "As you heard this recruit has…"

"Lieutenant, I do not remember giving you permission to speak." Drake said in a warning tone of voice as he glanced over at Reese, his intense expression obviously telling Reese to be quiet. He then turned to Riku. "Drakken, if I recall correctly the reason that you do not wish to submit your report on the events of the mission is because you do not wish for Lieutenant Reese to have access to the information that will be in the report. Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir." Riku answered.

"May I have an explanation as to why?" Drake asked in reply, and his gaze softened as he spoke to the young ninja reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm also giving you permission to say whatever you believe is necessary regarding this. In other words it will not be held against you, and if any try to…" Drake paused and glanced at Reese in order to indicate whom he was specifically referring to, his expression the same grave and serious one it had been when he entered the room, before continuing. "Actions will be taken, I can assure you of that."

"Very well, General." Riku replied respectfully before beginning his explanation. "My main reason is because I do not believe Reese can be trusted with that information. All that took place on that boat is far from what one would anticipate of any sort of operation, and as such I believe this information is very valuable to say the least and should not be allowed for the eyes of one who cannot be trusted."

"I see…" Drake gave a nod. "You of course have an explanation as to why you believe this, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir." Riku answered with a nod. "To begin with, throughout this mission, Lt. Reese has only caused hindrances to it rather than any form of support whatsoever. In fact, shortly after the start of the operation, one of those that my team and I were in charge of protecting, as well as one of those we were to rescue at the time, Chidori Kuruma, may very well have died as a result of the lieutenant's actions if I had not had…another option available, an option which I would normally have reserved just for an emergency."

"Yes, I've heard about that." Drake nodded. "Please go on."

"My second reason would be that given the way that Lt. Reese handles information as well as intel, as has been demonstrated many times in the past…" Riku paused. "I believe that giving such information to someone like that would cause too many unnecessary problems. In fact, the idea of giving the lieutenant access to the information of the report has me greatly concerned for the future safety of those who my team and I have been assigned to protect." Riku paused before finishing. "That is all, sir."

"I see…" Drake paused for a moment as if to consider what he had heard from Riku before speaking again. "In light of all of this, I'm afraid I must agree with what Drakken has said. Therefore I will allow his request." Drake then turned to Reese. "Lieutenant Reese, as of this moment you are relieved of any part in this specific mission. All information pertaining to this specific operation are hereby barred from your access, and any that you already possess must be immediately turned over to Colonel Campbell by the end of the day."

Reese for a moment was speechless, but quickly pushed that aside to voice his objections.

"But…but, General!" Reese objected. "Regardless, of whatever small mistakes may have happened on my end, I think I need to point out that you're overlooking some of Hanabishi's actions. If you have a look at some of my files on the events of this mission, you'll see that Hanabishi completely broke the rules of confidentiality by divulging information about FOXHOUND without permission as well as bringing outsiders directly to this base without any permission either."

"Lieutenant…" Drake said with an exhausted sigh. "I have already received a report from Campbell about these two occurrences. In fact Campbell already cleared Drakken of the first one, and I quite agree with him on his assessment of it." Drake then paused and looked at Reese with some suspicion. "It seems that you may be losing your memory, Reese, as according to what Campbell told me, you were there when Drakken was cleared of that. I do hope you try to do a better job of remembering such things from now on, as one could end up thinking that you were trying to falsely incriminate Drakken by using charges that have already been dropped. A charge like that has very serious consequences, you know…"

Reese gave nervous gulp as he knew what Drake was implying.

"Of…of course, sir…I…I don't know how it slipped my mind." He replied quickly with a touch of nervousness in his voice. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"I should hope so…" Drake nodded. "As for your second charge, I've had a look at the situation, as well as received a report from Dr. Naomi Hunter concerning the matter. As I see it, there was no choice in the matter, as such any wrongdoing or record of wrongdoing on Drakken's part concerning that I will personally clear."

Reese quickly bit back any complaint on the matter as he didn't want to get into further trouble with Drake, but suddenly he remembered something and fought the urge to smirk as he spoke.

"But sir, surely you cannot ignore the fact that Drakken has shown outright insubordination to a superior officer." Reese spoke. "I can personally testify to that. As you know that shows fault in conduct as well as…"

"Oh quite frankly I can, considering this insubordination was provoked." Drake replied. And his eyes then narrowed at Reese in glare. "Which brings to mind something I've been meaning to discuss concerning 'your' conduct." Drake paused to take a file out of his briefcase. "Lieutenant Reese, I received a testimony from one of our men about how you acted when Drakken brought Chidori Kuruma to this base for emergency treatment. Having read his testimony myself, I must agree that such behavior is more than enough to have you charged with 'conduct unbecoming of an officer'. A charge that, in case you didn't know, is far more serious of an offense than insubordination towards a superior officer. I also intend to ask for a testimony from another witness to this, a young man named Yuhi Aogiri, on this matter as well."

Before Reese could make an objection, Drake continued. Meanwhile, Riku heard a sound at the door and glanced to the side. He then fought the urge to smile at what he saw.

"Furthermore, I have heard about your behavior both during the time in which Drakken's two partners joined along with a report from Dr. Richard Steiner on your behavior in the medical facility of this base earlier today." Drake said, his tone a harsh one; at least as harsh as the glare he was giving Reese. "According to Dr. Steiner, not only did you just barge into the medical facility unannounced but also insisted upon seeing a recruit that was not in any condition, according to Steiner, to meet or for that matter speak with you. These alone could add up to support the charge of conduct unbecoming of an officer."

"Sir…permission to speak." Reese said slowly, trying his best not to glare at Riku as he could tell the young ninja was enjoying every minute of seeing Drake chew him out like that.

"Very well, go on." Drake nodded.

"May we continue this discussion later?" Reese asked. "If…you want me to return those documents on this mission…"

"Very well, however there are still a couple more things I need to discuss with both you and Campbell." Drake then turned to Riku. "Drakken, you are dismissed for now. Since you said that you wished to check on the condition of your teammates and those who you brought to base with you…" Drake then gave him a light smile. "Why don't you do so now?"

"Thank you, sir." Riku replied gratefully. "And I'll have the mission's report ready as soon as…"

"Now, now…take as much time as you need." Drake said reassuringly. "You obviously went through a very tough mission, so you shouldn't stress yourself too much, especially since you just recovered." Drake then paused before continuing. "In fact, as your superior I am ordering you to take the remainder of the day off, you may submit your report on the mission tomorrow. In fact, I will personally take your report and go over it myself, that way we can avoid any possible problems of…" Drake glanced over at Reese. "Unnecessary viewings of the details of your mission."

"Th-thank you, sir." Riku said and gave a quick salute before exiting the room.

As he closed the door behind him, Riku then gave a light grin as he looked forward to see none other than Nagi and Tot waiting for him outside.

"Well, I'm really relieved to see that you guys are okay." Riku said. "Given how thorough Dr. Steiner is, you must be in good health."

"Well, Nanami and I are glad to see you've recovered too, Riku." Nagi replied to his friend with a light smile.

"Yeah, we were both pretty worried about you when we got into the helicopter." Tot agreed.

"Thanks." Riku said. "I was also pretty worried about you two myself, since you both got injured during that fight too."

"Yeah, we could tell since you seemed to be in a hurry to leave the room." Nagi replied. "Also, when we were on our way to see you after Dr. Steiner told us that you had recovered as well, we met that man, General Carter Drake on the way. He seemed to understand what was going on and told us to wait outside for you."

"Oh, so you've met the general, huh?" Riku said as he heard this. "What do you think of him?"

"Well, I can understand why you were being so respectful and formal around him." Nagi answered. "He came across as a solid leader, and it looks like he's one who can be trusted."

"Yeah, and he's a nice man too." Tot added.

"All true, to tell you the truth it's a bit of relief to have someone like General Drake at the top." Riku admitted. "Otherwise Reese would have more free reign around here." Riku then smiled a little before continuing. "I can't tell you how many times General Drake's helped to clean up the botches Reese has made as a commanding lieutenant; I guess that goes to show that the general's not some distant 'desk job' leader, he's one of us…just really high up in rank."

"We could sort of tell that by what was being said in there." Nagi pointed out as he gestured at the door to the room Riku had just come out from. "Sorry, but we couldn't help but hear…"

"Heh, like anyone could resist a chance to hear that deadweight old fool get chewed out like he deserves." Riku replied with a light laugh. "So there's no problems there…Anyway, I guess I should thank the general later for showing you guys the way around."

"Actually, Riku, somebody else did that." Tot spoke. "We just ran into Drake-san just before we got right here."

"Oh really, who was it then?" Riku asked in reply.

"That would be me." A girl's voice spoke out and none other than Mana Kirishima stepped out from the corridor adjacent to the one they were in. She then smiled at Riku. "So, did you have a good rest, Riku?"

"I certainly did, Mana, and as you can see I'm fully recovered." Riku replied, and then gave a friendly grin as he was glad to see her. "So, I take it you've met Nagi and Tot."

"Kind of…I saw them on the chopper while we were heading here, but I didn't get a chance to speak with them." Mana said. "But I was able to properly introduce myself when I ran into them in the medical area, since they were trying to find your room, and as luck would have it I was going there to check on you anyway."

"Oh yeah, thanks for that, Kirishima-san." Tot spoke.

"You're welcome, and you two can just call me Mana if you want." Mana replied. "Any friend of Riku's and also Michael's is a friend of mine."

"Okay, Mana." Tot replied happily, glad to have made a new friend.

"By the way, Mana, since you and Riku obviously know each other, could you tell us how?" Nagi asked. "I'm just curious."

"Me too." Tot added. "And could you also tell us how you know Michael too?"

"Well…" Mana began, her face flushing a little in embarrassment. "Is it okay if we talk in one of the lounges? Since most everyone is out on a mission, the lounges won't be very crowded."

"Sounds like a good idea." Riku agreed and then remembered something. "Oh by the way, Mana, do you know where we can find Michael? I'd like to see how he's doing and also find out what exactly happened on his end."

"Michael's currently seeing to a few things regarding what happened with your mission right now, at least the last time I checked." Mana answered and then paused as a thought came to her before continuing. "Actually he was the one who saw to those people you brought with you…" Mana then remembered something. "Oh yeah, now that I remember…is that woman who came with you REALLY Shuro Tsukasa?"

"Oh…I see you recognized her." Riku said with a grin as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Riku, anyone who's familiar with her music from GESANG would." Mana replied. "Hard to believe someone that famous was involved in one of our group's missions, though."

"It seems you're a fan too." Riku noted. "I just recently became one myself actually, since I started listening to a few of the CDs after meeting her. I can see why she's popular."

"After going with Tot to that concert so can I." Nagi said in agreement, before turning to Tot. "Looks like that date of ours made me a fan too."

"Well, I'm glad about that, Nagi-kun…" Tot replied with a smile, and then took Nagi's hand, blushing a little bit, and moved a little closer to him. "…But I liked how we were able to be there together at the concert a lot more…just the two of us…"

"Nanami…" Nagi blushed but moved his head closer to her. "…I…"

"A-ano…" Riku and Mana both said at the same time, which got the couple's attention and they immediately broke apart, both blushing furiously as they suddenly remembered the two were right there.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt." Riku said apologetically. "If the two of you need some private time…"

"I-it's not like that!" Nagi almost shouted.

"Yeah, we…we just sort of forgot you two were there!" Tot added.

"That's comforting…" Riku said as he hung his head at that.

"Well, at least they were honest." Mana admitted with a sweatdrop, before turning to Nagi and Tot. "Still you guys were real lucky to be able to go to that concert. I heard it was sold out weeks in advance."

"Well, I guess that's an upside to having a music star as a friend." Riku said and then remembered something. "Hey Mana, since you're a fan of Shuro's I bet you were pretty surprised when you found out Shuro was actually a woman masquerading as a man."

"Well, of course, when she announced it out of the blue like that, who wouldn't…?" Mana then paused as she considered something. "Let me guess, you guys somehow knew that before she made that announcement, right?"

"Hai." Riku, Nagi, and Tot said in comical unison, and even nodded at the same time, causing Mana to sweatdrop at that strange spectacle.

"Oh yeah, Aya, Yuhi, Chidori, Toya, Suzumi, and Mrs. Q knew too." Tot added. "And they knew way before we did."

"You three are going to have a lot to tell me…" Mana said with a light sigh. "To tell you the truth, I guess it may not have been to much of a surprise…Shuro always did look a little too pretty to be a guy, for one." Mana then stopped as she thought about what she just said and flushed with embarrassment and then turned to Riku and co. "Now don't think I meant anything weird by that!"

"Well…actually most would agree with you on that subject." Riku said, not sure what Mana meant by her last statement. "There are some things that can't be disguised, you know. I should know, I'm a ninja after all."

"But weren't you also surprised that Shuro was a woman when Yuhi and Chidori told us?" Tot spoke.

"Uh…" Riku wasn't sure what to say, as he couldn't deny that.

"In other words even a ninja can be fooled like the rest of us." Mana concluded matter of fact-ly.

"You don't have to rub it in like that." Riku said gloomily as his head hung in defeat.

"I hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we head to the lounge, now?" Nagi spoke and then remembered something. "Actually, we should probably see Aya, Toya, and the others first. I'm sure they'd want to know how we're doing now."

As Riku heard that an idea then came to him.

"Actually…" Riku spoke as he began to tell Nagi, Tot, and Mana his idea.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Robert Thorn was sitting on a bench at a bus stop only a few yards away from the front gate to a road that led to a large and private mansion owned by the Mikage family. Reports had confirmed that it was in this mansion that the higher ups of the Mikage family who had been in charge of C-Project, which included Kagami Mikage's father, were hiding, either to try to find a way to reconcile with the Patriots or to try to appease NESTS. Either way didn't matter to Thorn, as he knew what his assignment in this was.

The psychic scientist was currently pretending to read a newspaper while waiting for the next bus to arrive, but in reality he was calmly observing the area around the mansion. Using his telepathy, he had located every guard that was patrolling the area, and had easily read their minds to know where security cameras and other attempts to secure the mansion were located. Thorn could tell from their emotions that every one of those guards was nervous, as they all knew what had transpired three days ago at the Mikage base and knew that it was only a matter of time before an attack came from FOXHOUND, the Patriots, or NESTS.

Just then, Thorn heard a beeping from the miniature radio attached to his right ear and answered the call.

"Dr. Thorn, we have confirmed it." A soldier's voice spoke from the other end. "NESTS has made its move. It was actually sometime late last night when it happened. Men from the NESTS cartel raided the Mikage main house and did quite a thorough search of the place."

"So they took the bait after all." Thorn said with a satisfied grin. "Whatever they happen to find should keep them satisfied until they find out we were one step ahead and got the real meat of the Mikage's C-Project data, while all the data that they obtained from that raid of theirs was nothing more than mere tidbits in comparison." Thorn then paused as he remembered something. "You and your men have gotten out of sight by now, I hope."

"Yes sir, we have, and by this time the mansion's staff will be returning and they'll find the house ransacked and the occupants murdered." The soldier replied. "This will probably be in the newspapers soon."

"Yes, but I doubt many will hold interest in it since I'm certain the appropriate measures will be taken to tone all news of this down." Thorn said. "Which reminds me, is the clean up crew on standby?"

"Yes sir, they'll deal with things once you are finished." The soldier replied. "One thing, are you certain that…"

"The B.O.W.s would have attracted too much unnecessary attention, which is why I didn't bring them." Thorn answered. "Besides, this little C-Project that the Mikage came up with interests me enough that I wish to handle this personally. There's no problem in that, is there?"

"No, not at all, sir." The soldier answered quickly as he did not want Thorn for a second to think he was questioning orders. "I was just curious, that's all."

"Of course you were." Thorn smiled pleasantly. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, curiosity, at least constructively, is what has made science progress as it has."

"Th-thank you…sir." The soldier said hesitantly, who was just glad that Thorn was in a good mood. "Anyway, I'd best make sure everything's going as planned. If you'll excuse me…"

"At least he was respectful." Thorn commented to no one in particular after the soldier ended his transmission. He then put down the newspaper he was holding. "Now, time to get to work…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku, Nagi, Tot, and Mana were sitting in one of the larger lounges usually used by the FOXHOUNDers, but since most were off on their own respective missions the lounge had been unoccupied. However, with the four FOXHOUNDers were some extra occupants, who were none other than Yuhi, Chidori, Aya, Toya, Aki, Alec, Maya, and Shuro.

"Well, as you can all see, the three of us are just fine." Riku said. "Anyway, I'd like to introduce you all to a good friend of mine from FOXHOUND. Everyone, this is Mana Kirishima, an excellent colleague and friend of mine as well as one of the members of the retrieval team that got us off that boat."

"Well, uh…it's a pleasure to meet all of you." Mana spoke as she introduced herself, a little nervous as she wasn't expecting to be introduced to this many people at once.

"Hey, the pleasure's all ours." Aya spoke. "And any friend of Riku's is our friend too."

"Not to mention we need to thank you for finding us and getting us to safety." Yuhi added.

"Along with making sure these guys got healed ASAP." Chidori said as she gestured at Riku, Nagi, and Tot.

"Still, it's hard to believe someone as young as yourself is an active member of FOXHOUND." Shuro noted.

"I get that a lot." Mana replied with a smile. "Actually, when compared to Riku, I'm a new recruit, since he's been in this group longer than I have."

"Oh yeah, weren't you going to tell us how you and Riku know each other, Mana?" Tot asked.

"Okay, I guess I'll start now." Mana replied and then turned to Aya and co. "If that's alright with all of you…"

"It's not a problem, I'm actually kind of curious myself." Aya admitted.

"Same here." Aki spoke, agreeing with his twin. "Especially since I haven't had as much chance as everyone else to get to know you all."

"Alright." Mana said. "Well, I guess we should start shortly after I just joined FOXHOUND…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2011…

It had only been a couple of days since Mana Kirishima had joined FOXHOUND under recommendation from her guardian and teacher Michael Hansen. During that time she had met some recruits through Michael after the whole initiation process, and had even tried out the VR mission simulations. A few minutes ago, she had just finished the first few stages of the elimination mode, and was currently taking a break from the training.

Mana walked over to a vending machine, put in some coins and then selected drink. After it came out, she then sat at a bench to have her drink. As she was finishing it, Mana then noticed that someone was coming down the hallway. She looked to see a Japanese boy in his late teens, slightly older than she was, with long black hair and dressed in casual clothing.

The boy immediately noticed her and then walked up to her.

"Excuse me, miss, but I don't believe we've met before." The boy spoke in a friendly yet polite tone of voice. "I'm just guessing, but could you be the new recruit that joined a couple of days ago?"

"Yes, I am." Mana replied with a nod. "My name is Mana Kirishima, codename 'Crimson Jaguar'."

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kirishima-san. My name is Riku Hanabishi, codename 'Drakken'." Riku then held his right hand out, which Mana took and shook. Riku then gave a slightly embarrassed smile and rubbed the back of his head with his free left hand. "Sorry for the late introduction though, I just got back from a mission late last night and I've been out like a light until just a while ago which is why I only just heard about you earlier today from a good friend of mine."

"Hey, no problem at all, Riku, and you can call me Mana if you like." Mana then gave her fellow recruit a friendly smile as she could tell that this one was pretty much a good guy. "Anyway, it's good to meet you too." She then paused as she thought of something. "You know, you're actually the first not to say you're surprised at how young a recruit I am or anything like that…not that it bothers me or anything, I just noticed that."

"Well, first there's a recruit about your age already in this group." Riku replied. "Second, I had a feeling you were probably very skilled in some way or another for your age, otherwise I doubt you'd be here."

"Well, you're right about that, kind of." Mana said. "I'm not like a protégée or anything like that. It's just…" Mana then paused and her expression seemed a little somber. "…well, let's just say I've had training…and experience…"

Riku could tell that the subject that the girl was starting to approach obviously wasn't a comfortable one for her.

"Here now, if it's something personal and you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to." He said to Mana reassuringly. "I wouldn't want to do anything like stir up bad memories or pry into your personal life. That wouldn't be very considerate to you, and I seriously doubt that's a good way to start a new friendship."

"Thanks." Mana said gratefully, as she could tell Riku was trying to lighten things up for her. "Still, I'm a little surprised that you don't find the fact that I apply to your second reason to be, well…unusual."

"Well, I guess being a ninja has that effect on one's perspective." Riku admitted. "In the world of the ninja it's not that surprising to run into kids who are younger than you, and stronger than me."

"Hold on, you're a ninja?" Mana asked, surprised at this. "For real?"

"I suppose I'm close enough to the real thing." Riku answered. "Though there are a few more ninja in this group, most being far more skilled and experienced than me."

"Really…gosh, I didn't think very many real ninjas still existed." Mana said.

"There are still quite a few of us left." Riku admitted. "We just prefer to keep a low profile like always. That and we don't have any official secret villages nowadays."

"I can understand why that would be pretty impossible." Mana agreed. "By the way, are you headed for the VR training room, by any chance?"

"Yeah, I was going to do a bit of training before heading to the mess hall for lunch." Riku answered. "One does have to keep one's skills sharpened, and it also helps to work up an appetite." Riku then paused. "Still, how did you guess?"

"I actually just came from there from some training." Mana said. "Anyway, would it be alright if I had a look at your training? I'm kind of curious to see an actual ninja in action."

"Well…if you like…" Riku replied blushing a bit, as he was a bit flattered that someone was interested in seeing his skills. "Still, you might be a little disappointed…I mean, what you see about ninja in anime and movies are mostly exaggerations. That and though I'm a jounin, I'm far from the best in that rank around here. For instance, there's a recruit named Trang Nguyen Hang…"

"I doubt I'll be disappointed." Mana said. "Besides, this way we can get to know each other better." She then smiled. "If you ask me 'that' is a good way to start a new friendship, don't you agree?"

Riku then smiled back as he knew what Mana meant and then gave a light and friendly laugh.

"Yeah, I think so too." He said, and the young ninja paused as he thought of something. "Actually, Mana, if you like, how about after the training we both go to the mess hall for lunch? I'm sure I can introduce you to some more recruits you haven't met yet; in fact that one recruit I mentioned who's about your age, James Masterson, just came back from a mission some hours ago. If we run into him I'm sure you two would get along great."

"Sounds like a good idea." Mana agreed. "I'll take you up on that offer."

"Alright then." Riku nodded. "Anyway, I'll show you what techniques I'm allowed to show, but though they might look impressive to you, once you see the ninja techniques used by Garland Durev, Trang Nguyen Hang, and others, you'll see that aside from a few things I'm pretty much an ordinary ninja compared to them."

"Is there anything 'ordinary' about being a ninja?" Mana asked, sweatdropping at the last part of Riku's statement.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"She had a point about that." Aya said in agreement, after Mana had finished speaking, and turned to Riku. "Is there really anything ordinary about being a ninja?"

"Well, to me, yes." Riku answered matter of fact-ly before pausing to consider it. "Though I guess it would depend on your definition of ordinary."

"In other words you can take that as no." Chidori spoke. "Though if you think about it, we're not in any position to talk."

"So what happened after that?" Yuhi asked.

"Well, afterwards we had lunch and that was when I found out that Mana had joined under recommendation from her guardian, who's also a member of FOXHOUND." Riku answered.

"And who is it?" Maya asked, turning to Riku, Nagi, and Tot. "Is it someone you guys know?"

"Oh come on, you all know him too." Mana said and then stopped to consider something. "Though considering it was a mission, I guess neither he or Riku would have had the chance to tell you then."

"Hold on, your guardian wouldn't happen to be…" Shuro said as she had a feeling as to whom they were talking about.

"Yep, her guardian is none other than our top tactician, Michael Hansen." Riku said with a grin.

There was a brief pause as it took a few seconds for that to sink into everyone else, except Nagi and Tot, who knew this already from their meeting Mana earlier.

"NANI?!" Aya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, and Alec exclaimed at the same time.

"Well, they're pretty surprised, aren't they?" Riku said to Mana with a light smile.

"You were pretty surprised yourself a year ago when we ran into Michael after lunch and he told you." Mana reminded him.

"True enough." Riku admitted. "In fact after seeing the two of you, I was starting to wonder if you were his daughter, or niece, or something like that, before Michael told me otherwise."

"Hold on, you mean you and Michael aren't related?" Aki asked.

"No, we're not, as much as I'd be proud to say otherwise." Mana answered.

Aya then noticed the look on Mana's face as she said this, and then spoke.

"I can tell from the looks of it that you're pretty close to this Michael." She said. "Like the two of you are family in all but blood, right?"

Mana was a little surprised at this statement, but nodded in reply.

"Yeah, that's one way I'd put it." Mana admitted, feeling some curiosity as to how Aya could see that.

"Actually, I'm kind of curious, how did you and Michael meet?" Chidori spoke. "Most of us met him through Riku and we thought he was a pretty great guy."

"Yeah, he really helped us out in pulling through what happened recently without losing anyone." Yuhi said in agreement. "That and he gave me some training and advice that really helped."

"I met him during one of his missions years ago." Mana explained. "He saved my life and really helped me out all throughout that time period." Mana then paused for a moment, as if to reflect on the memories of that time before continuing. "Anyway, a lot happened, and after that I didn't have any place to go or family to go to. Michael offered to take me with him and I did. He's been my guardian, teacher, and friend ever since."

Just as Mana finished, one of the doors into the lounge opened and four men dressed in casual clothing came into the room. Riku immediately recognized all four of them and quickly got up to speak with them, the first being a tall Japanese male with shoulder length black hair who was wearing an eye patch over where his left eye would have been. Mana, who also knew who they were simply smiled and gave a casual wave in greeting as she had been expecting them to show up sooner or later.

"Seishiro-san, it's good to see you." Riku said with a friendly smile as the two shook hands in greeting. "Mana told me you, Marcus, Kojiro, and Trang were assigned to help in retrieving us, and were the ones who picked up Michael and Gladys-san."

"It's good to see you again too, Riku." Seishiro replied. "We'd heard a little about what happened on your end, and it's a relief to see you and your partners made it out in one piece."

"Hearing that makes one feel glad to be alive." Riku said with a light grin and then remembered something. "Oh yeah, I can't believe I almost forgot, sorry about that…" Riku then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Nagi, Tot, everyone, I'd like you to meet some more friends and colleagues of mine from FOXHOUND. To start, this man is Seishiro Takeda, codename 'Black Tiger'. He's one of our more experienced members and not to mention a reliable friend too. Seishiro-san is also pretty close to a good friend of mine but, I'll tell you about that later."

"So the two of you are Riku's partners, huh? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you." Seishiro said with a friendly smile as he shook both Nagi and Tot's hands. "I heard about the two of you from Michael as well as Garland. It looks like they were right that you're quite the team now."

"Well, thank you, Seishiro-san." Nagi replied. "Riku has mentioned quite a few of his FOXHOUND comrades to us, when Tot and I were starting as members, and you were one of them. It's an honor to meet you."

"Yeah, any friend of Riku's is our friend too." Tot agreed.

"Thank you." Seishiro said. "Actually, why not meet everyone else first?"

With that Marcus, Trang, and Kojiro introduced themselves to Nagi, Tot, Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec. As they were speaking, Seishiro then remembered something and turned to Riku.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Riku, I talked with Michael earlier and he said that he wanted to speak with you and your two partners." Seishiro paused for a moment before continuing. "It's mainly about the mission you guys completed and…something important you need to know about someone. He said he'd meet you in the library."

Riku could sense whatever the latter was, it was something serious and he quickly turned to Nagi and Tot.

"I hate to interrupt, but if there's something important that Michael needs to tell us about we should go and see him about it as soon as possible." Riku said. "Still, on the bright side of things, all our friends here can have some time to get to know each other better."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Nagi agreed.

"I guess we'll get to know Seishiro-san and the others later." Tot said. "Oh well, we're going to see how Michael is now."

Riku then stopped as he remembered something and turned to Seishiro.

"Excuse me, Seishiro-san, there's a favor I need to ask you." The young ninja said.

"I'll do it if I can, what is it?" Seishiro asked in reply.

"Could you contact my family for me and tell them Nagi, Tot, and I are alright and we'll be returning to Japan shortly?" Riku asked and Seishiro nodded. With that, Riku took out a piece of paper and wrote down a number. "Here's the codec frequency, and thank you."

"You're welcome." Seishiro replied as he took the paper.

With that the three left the room, leaving Yuhi, Chidori, Aya, Toya, Aki, Alec, Maya, and Shuro with the FOXHOUNDers Mana, Seishiro, Trang, Marcus, and Kojiro.

Mana was the first to speak and it was to Shuro.

"Well…Shuro-san…it's still hard to believe a famous singer was involved in one of our operations." Mana admitted.

"That's alright." Shuro replied with a light smile. "Actually, you should hear about some of the things that happened before your group got involved. Those are probably going to be even harder to believe."

"You never know." Kojiro spoke. "When you're in our line of work…"

"Anyway, Shuro-san, I know you probably get this a lot, but…" Mana paused and then took out a GESANG music CD from her pocket. "Could you autograph this, please?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku, Nagi, and Tot walked into the FOXHOUNd library to find Michael Hansen was sitting at one of the tables, quietly reading a book to pass the time while waiting for them. Michael then turned as he heard them come in.

"Well, it's good to see that you're looking well, Michael." Riku said with a relieved smile. "You really had us worried back at the mission."

"Yeah, when that explosion happened we almost feared the worst." Nagi said in agreement and Tot nodded.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry if I worried you." Michael replied to them. "Though I must admit you all had me worried too when I found out Shade was on the boat with all of you. You have no idea what relief it was when I received word that you'd all made it out both alive and more or less in one piece."

"To be honest I'm still surprised we're still alive when I think back on that fight." Riku said with a light shudder. "Anyway, from what I can gather you and this Shade seem to know each other."

"Yes, that is the case." Michael said, his expression obviously a sorrowful one, indicating that whatever had happened during at least their first meeting wasn't a pleasant experience.

For a moment there was silence among the FOXHOUNDers, but Riku finally broke it.

"It looks like we're all going to have a lot to talk about." He said. "Us about what happened on our end of the mission, and vice versa." Riku then paused. "If you don't want to talk about how you know Shade, then that's alright. I mean…"

"It's alright, Riku." Michael said reassuringly. "It happened long before you and I met, and you, Nagi, and Tot should know this. Perhaps this will help you in the future should you ever meet Shade again."

Just as Michael was about to begin speaking, Nagi spoke up.

"May I say something first?" He asked, his expression and tone obviously indicating that what he had to say was important.

"You're more than welcome." Michael answered.

"Well, first I have to say that throughout this mission, you've proven to be a good and reliable leader and I can understand why Riku respects you so, and it's been an honor working with you." Nagi said and paused before continuing. "What I mean to say is that I trust you, so…there's something I need to tell you. It's about this mission and also before that. Before I met Riku and joined this group…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, Aya and Aki had begun talking with Kojiro and had found the man to be very friendly and likable with a very good sense of humor. The three of them had become friends almost instantly.

"Well, it sure sounds like you guys have been through a lot." Kojiro said after hearing a little of what had happened to both Aya and Aki during the events before Riku and co. had become involved in it all and then after. "Still, you all managed to live through it and to be honest that's the best thing." Kojiro then considered something, and his expression for a second became a somber one. "Actually, the best thing in both your cases is that neither of you ended up losing the other. The death of a brother or sister, especially a twin…it's not something you ever get over…"

Aya and Aki were silent for a moment before Aki spoke.

"It sounds like you've…been through that…" He said. "I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, me too." Aya said sincerely, as she still remembered how it felt after she had seen Aki taken over by the progenitor and the time after and all the while there had always been that lingering fear in the back of her mind that she would end up having to kill her brother in the end.

"Heh, thanks." Kojiro replied with a grateful grin. "Anyway, you don't have to worry…it was a long time ago. But enough about me, I have to say that after hearing all that happened with you two and your friends, you've won my respect. The stuff you went through…that would be tough even for guys who have been in the Foreign Legion, believe you me."

"You mean you were actually part of the French Foreign Legion?" Aki asked in amazement.

"Yeah, that was some years before I joined this group, though." Kojiro answered. "Pretty good memories for the most part, but…after my unit was massacred, I left and struck out on my own as a mercenary, and after that I joined FOXHOUND."

"I see…" Aki said. "Man, it looks like this new FOXHOUND has a wide variety of people in it."

"Aki, this group has recruited people like ninjas, psychics, and, from what Yuhi and Chidori told me that they heard from Riku, someone who can actually speak with the dead." Aya said with a sweatdrop. "A 'wide variety' is an understatement."

"Excuse me, Aya-san…" A voice spoke from behind, causing Aya, Aki, and Kojiro to turn to see that the speaker was Mana Kirishima.

"Yes, and you can just call me Aya if you want." Aya replied. "So what is it?"

"Could I talk with you for a moment?" Mana asked. "That is, if you're not…"

"Sure, there's no problem." Aya answered, and then gave a light smile. "Besides, considering we're friends with the same FOXHOUNDers, we should get better acquainted, right?"

"Sure, why not?" Mana replied with a friendly smile.

As the two went off to talk to one another, Aki then turned to Kojiro.

"You know, throughout that whole time, she never gave up on trying to save me." Aki said. "After I was taken over by the progenitor, I had given up any hope…I even thought that if I lost, it would be best that Aya was the one who killed me. In fact I even told her that in what I thought was my last letter to her..." He was silent for a moment, while Kojiro simply regarded him with a neutral expression, not one of judgment, just one of waiting to see what Aki had to say before making any decision about what he was hearing.

"Now that I've had time to think about it that was a really cruel request to bring on my own sister and I'm sorry for it." Aki continued. "I hope she can forgive me for that."

"If you ask me she already has." Kojiro said. "That's how family, and especially siblings, are. They forgive one another." Kojiro then smiled as he spoke reassuringly. "Anyway, on the bright side, it seems this whole thing helped you both mature some."

"You have no idea how big of a surprise that was when we saw each other again." Aki admitted. "To be honest, it's still a bit of a surprise to see how Aya's changed from the carefree, tomboyish, little sister I used to tease. Not to mention the fact that I'm going to be an uncle soon, though I guess I should have been expecting that."

"Oi, oi, that's the reason it's good that you grew up too from this." Kojiro said. "Since, like you said, you're going to be an uncle soon, it's best that you've got what's necessary to be a good one." He then patted Aki's shoulder. "And if you ask me, you've got that."

"Thanks." Aki said gratefully.

"You're welcome." Kojiro replied.

For a while the two men were silent. During that time, Kojiro absently reached into his pocket and took out a wallet and opened it to look at a specific picture. It was an old picture of him at age sixteen along with a girl of the same age who had features that resembled his.

(I wonder…if that accident hadn't happened…would I be in the same position as Aki is right now?) Kojiro thought to himself, and then closed his eyes to shake that thought off. (I guess there's no point in thinking of that now, but still…I can't help but wonder. I guess I'll always miss you, Minako…)

Aki then glanced over at Kojiro and for a brief moment, saw what appeared to be a pained and sorrowful look on the normally cheerful man's face. He then caught a glimpse of the picture in the wallet just before Kojiro closed it and put it away, and the FOXHOUNDer's expression returned to normal. Kojiro then glanced over at Aki, knowing what the boy had seen, and Aki, remembering the conversation he and Aya had just had with him, nodded in understanding.

Meanwhile, Yuhi and Chidori had just finished talking with one another about what they were going to do once they got back to Japan, when Seishiro approached them.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything important." Seishiro said.

"You don't have to worry about that, we just finished talking anyway." Yuhi replied.

"Yeah, and we wanted to speak with you anyway." Chidori added.

"Oh?" Seishiro said in reply. "What about?"

"We just wanted to thank you and the rest of your team for rescuing Michael." Yuhi said.

"You guys are going to be getting a lot of 'thank you's from everyone else too." Chidori said.

"Well, you're all quite welcome, but thanks really aren't necessary." Seishiro replied with a humble smile. "Michael is a good friend of ours too as well as a comrade. It's our duty to look out for one another." Seishiro then stopped as he remembered something and turned to Yuhi. "Your surname is Aogiri, isn't it? You wouldn't happen to be related to the Aogiri family, would you?"

Yuhi seemed a little surprised at this question before answering.

"I am…though I'm not completely happy to admit it." He answered and then something came to mind. "Hold on…your surname is Takeda right? Are you…?"

"Yes, I'm related to 'the' Takeda family." Seishiro admitted. "Though I'm about as happy to admit it as it appears to be in your case."

"I remember that the Aogiri's had some business meeting with the Takeda's some time back so that's how I recognized the name." Yuhi said, and stopped to consider something. "You said you were about as happy to admit you were related to the Takedas as I probably was with the Aogiri family…What did you mean by that?"

"Well…let's just say that being the son of a CEO isn't as pleasant as you'd think." Seishiro answered.

That answer surprised Yuhi, who wasn't expecting that.

"I think I understand where you're coming from better than you'd think." Yuhi said. "Being the son of the head of a wealthy family isn't a very great thing either. Especially if you're not his 'legitimate' son, at least not by the rest of the family's standards..."

"I see…that's perfectly understandable." Seishiro nodded. "That sort of thing does happen, and it's not that uncommon either…" Seishiro then paused. "Are you sure that you're comfortable with telling me this? I'll tell you right now that our situations might not be as similar as you might have thought, so you don't need to continue if you don't want to."

"Maybe so, but…to tell you the truth the whole thing with the Aogiris isn't as bad as it used to be." Yuhi said. "I've even made some peace with my father and surviving half brother."

"I see." Seishiro nodded in reply. "Well, I'm glad for you with that."

"Thank you." Yuhi said. "But I'm curious, what exactly happened with you and the Takeda family?" He then stopped as he considered something. "But if you're not comfortable either…"

"It's alright, I don't mind." Seishiro replied, and then paused to gather everything before continuing. "Well, as you know, the Takeda family owns a large corporation, which my father, Eizan Takeda was the CEO of…"

Both Yuhi and Chidori listened as Seishiro as he told them about his childhood, in which his father was constantly pressuring him into being the one to take over the family business without any consideration for what Seishiro wanted. Yet despite these constant pressures, Eizan was almost never home and when he was, he was always distant and cold, especially towards his wife and Seishiro's mother, Kikuno. However, Kikuno, unlike her husband, cared for her son and always offered Seishiro encouragement and support in pursuing his own interests, especially when Seishiro had taken an interest in martial arts at age five when she not only encouraged him, but helped him to find good instructors.

"Well, your mother sounds like a real great person, Seishiro-san." Yuhi commented as he heard this. "With how she helped you and all…"

"Yeah, and while having to go through an unhappy marriage like that too." Chidori said in agreement.

"Unfortunately, she didn't really have much choice but to put up with the marriage, otherwise if she had tried to divorce that man she would have ended up losing custody of me since any divorce case would have been in his favor." Seishiro replied bitterly, then his eyes took on a slightly distant and sad look in them as he continued. "Still…you're right, she was an amazing woman, and an equally amazing mother too.

"Was?..." Yuhi then realized what Seishiro meant, as did Chidori. "I'm sorry…"

"Me too." Chidori said sincerely knowing full well what it was like to lose family members.

"It's alright, you two, it happened many years ago, but thank you." Seishiro replied, and was silent for a moment before speaking again, his expression now a bitter one. "Though to be honest, what happened shortly after that was what gave me the final push to the path to where I am today…"

Seishiro then told the two about how shortly after his mother's death, Eizan had completely and publicly showed disrespect for Kikuno's memory by snubbing her funeral. That had been the last straw for Seishiro, who promptly left the family house and joined the French Foreign Legion.

"I don't blame you for doing that." Yuhi commented. "No offense, but that Eizan sounds like a right bastard for doing something that despicable…and to his own wife no less…"

"Yeah, no kidding..." Chidori agreed. "If it was me I'd have dropped off a few stories to the press on the guy that he'd have preferred to keep secret."

"Like you said you were going to do with that photo of Aya back when we first met?" Yuhi asked her jokingly.

"Hey, come on, you know I was just kidding then!" Chidori smiled bashfully. "Besides, I had my reasons…"

"Yeah, so Shota could see Ceres fly so he could get better, of course." Yuhi said.

"That, and one more reason." Chidori gave a sly smile as she suddenly threw her arms around Yuhi and hugged him, causing the young cook in training and martial artist to blush. "I wanted to spend some more time with a certain someone…"

"Uh…well…" Yuhi stammered not sure what to say.

"Um…excuse me…" Seishiro spoke, not wanting to interrupt. "But if you want, we can continue the conversation later…"

"Oh no, you don't have to do that." Chidori said quickly, blushing as the two of them broke apart. "Sorry about that, so please continue."

"Well, to be honest, Chidori-san, that part that you just mentioned wasn't that far off, though I didn't have a part in it." Seishiro said. "You see, the old man's exploits at my mother's funeral didn't sit well with both the family and soon after the public eye once word of it reached the press. Soon his position in the company crumbled and a cousin of mine took over."

"So the family made him the 'fall guy' and had him retire in disgrace to avoid a scandal, right?" Yuhi asked. "If you ask me, that's karma if I ever heard of it."

"There's more, the old man soon contracted a severe case of cancer in both the lungs and throat and died alone in a badly managed hospital." Seishiro added. "From what I heard, since I wasn't there at the time, it was a while before anyone in the family bothered to claim the body and the funeral afterwards was a cheap one with the only attendants being a couple of old employees and the people who were in charge of burying him." Seishiro paused to give a sigh. "To be honest, I don't even know where they buried him, nor do I care to know."

"I can't say I blame you." Yuhi said in agreement. "If you ask me that Eizan guy got more than what he deserved." Yuhi then paused as he thought of something. "What about the rest of your family? You mentioned you had at least a cousin, so…"

"I'm afraid, I can't say that we're close." Seishiro replied, and paused for a moment before continuing. "It's not so much a matter of 'like and dislike', it's just that…we haven't spoken to one another in years and considering how matters were before…let's just say we're not on speaking terms."

"I see…" Yuhi said. "Well, I guess, I should tell you my story…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"…and that was when Tot and I decided to join FOXHOUND as Riku's partners." Nagi finished.

For a moment Michael was silent as he fully took in all that the young psychic had told him about his past as a member of the assassin group, Schwarz. From his being recruited by Brad Crawford at a young age, to his time among the four man team, to when he met Tot, and finally to when he met and ended up joining Riku along with Tot.

"Well…that certainly does explain some things." Michael finally spoke, and turned to Riku. "When I heard about Nagi and Tot being accepted into FOXHOUND under your recommendation I figured that they must have been from your clan since that would explain why they were allowed in so quickly."

"Well, you were technically right, Tot and I are members of the Hokage clan now." Nagi said, and then paused for a moment before continuing. "Still, now that you know about us…are you…?"

"I'm a little surprised, but you don't have to worry, my opinion of you and Tot has not changed." Michael replied. "If anything, Nagi, what you've told me has improved my opinion of you."

"What? How so?" Nagi asked, his eyes widening a little in surprise at what Michael told him. "I mean…"

"If it's about you're being an assassin, then I have no problems with that." Michael said. "The circumstances by which you joined Schwarz are understandable, considering…" Michael then paused before speaking again. "Well, to answer your question, your willingness to protect Tot back then really shows what kind of person you truly are. Protecting the one you love is a noble thing, but there is more."

Michael paused for a moment before continuing.

"Nagi, your choosing to protect Tot despite what that man, Brad Crawford, ordered you to do proves two things." He continued. "First, it proved that you were yourself and not one of them. Second, you showed quite a bit of courage in willing to go against the one who practically raised you. That's no easy matter to deal with."

"You're right about that." Nagi agreed and glanced over at Tot before continuing. "But I don't regret my decision. I know I made the right choice…"

"Nagi-kun…" Tot blushed as she heard this.

Michael glanced over at Riku who gave light shrug and grin that plainly said, 'This is how it usually is'.

"Anyway, to sum things up, I trust you, Nagi, and I can see why Riku trusts you so much." Michael said to Nagi. "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me as long as you wish it to remain a secret."

"Thank you." Nagi replied.

"And I have the same to say to you too, Tot." Michael said, turning to Tot. "Also, though I don't know what happened between your old team and Weiss, your being able to put that old enmity aside to help your friends is commendable. Not very many can do that…"

"Yeah, it was, but…I forgave them. It's not like hating them, or even just Youji, would have brought Neu back, and in a way…we were both victims when that happened." Tot's expression grew somber as she paused for a moment before she seemed to shake that sadness off and her typical innocent smile returned. "Besides Ran, Omi, Ken, and Youji are my friends now, so it's okay."

"I see…" Michael nodded. "That's actually quite mature of you, Tot."

"Hai, arigato, Michael." Tot replied and then paused and looked over at Nagi. "Besides, I need to get mature so I can be Nagi-kun's wife."

This statement caused Nagi to blush furiously, while Riku and Michael sweatdropped, at that.

"Well…I suppose I should hear the details of what happened on your end of the mission now, Riku." Michael spoke.

"Good idea." Riku agreed, but then paused and turned to Nagi. "Oh yeah, I offer you both my congratulations."

"Go ahead then…make the rest of your jokes." Nagi hung his head as he knew his friend wasn't going to let him hear the end of this for a while.

Riku was silent for a few seconds and sighed.

"Man oh man, when you put it like that, it's just no fun." The ninja said dejectedly. "It almost makes me look like the bad guy…"

"Well, Nagi, it seems you discovered an effective way to counter Riku, congratulations." Michael spoke with an amused smile. "It looks like you'll have to devise some new tactics, Riku."

"Oh well, if the same method always worked it would probably get boring." Riku admitted with a shrug and then realized something and looked at Michael. "From what you just said though…you're not taking sides, huh?"

"Neutrality does have its benefits, you know." Michael replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I see…well, that answers my questions." Thorn spoke as he let casually tossed aside the now unresponsive body of one of the man who was Kagami Mikage's father.

Thorn then looked around the room he had teleported into almost half an hour ago. The room was now a mess, strewn with the corpses of every single one of the higher ups of the Mikage family. Thorn had used his telepathic powers to rip all the information he needed in regards to C-Project from their minds before killing them. The only one left alive was Kagami's father, who was now reduced to a mindless vegetable after Thorn had gotten the information he needed from the man's mind.

"I certainly wasn't expecting the Mikage to be resourceful enough to find so much out about the Third Impact." Thorn commented to no one in particular. "And to make off with that much information right under SEELE's noses…truly a remarkable achievement." Thorn then fought the urge to laugh. "If NESTS knew what they were missing…"

Thorn then paused to glance at the body at his feet.

(Well, this one won't be able to function anymore, and I guess that's it for the Mikage…) He thought to himself. (Still, the Patriots ordered me to eliminate every one of the Mikage…and I haven't lived this long by leaving any loose ends…)

Almost as soon as that thought finished, the man's head exploded from a sudden surge of Thorn's power, now adding pieces of his victim's skull, brain, and flesh to the carnage already in the room.

"Well, that done, all that's left to do is get the data in this mansion's computer room and then…" Thorn then paused and glanced over at the double doors that led into the room he was in.

Immediately the doors burst open and in strode three dozen armed Mikage guards with their guns out and pointed at Thorn.

"Boy, you people are slow…" Thorn commented with a sigh. "As you can see, you're too late. It's really too bad…if you had only been a few minutes later then you wouldn't have to die now."

Thorn then called on another aspect of his power to teleport himself and the guards to the outside on the mansion grounds. He then used psychokinesis to hold them all firmly in place.

Immediately, the squad of soldiers the Patriots had sent to assist him burst out of concealment with their assault rifles pointed at the Mikage guards.

"Wait." Thorn ordered simply as he held up his hand to tell the soldiers to halt. He then glanced over at them and finally picked a soldier out of him as he immediately recognized him as the soldier he had spoken with over the radio previously. "You there, come here. The rest of you, go in and secure any in that mansion that are still alive…"

The soldier, fighting to hide his nervousness, walked up to Thorn while the rest of them headed into the mansion, all of them glad they weren't the ones who had to stay alone with Thorn as they had a feeling the psychic's plans would not have pleasant results.

"Tell me, soldier, what do you think I should do with this bunch?" Thorn asked the soldier. "I'm afraid these guards have seen too much, so I'd like your input as to what should be done with them."

"Well, I…I don't really know, sir…" The man replied hesitantly. "I suppose you could…use them to make more B.O.W.s?"

"Not a bad suggestion, but…" Thorn paused as he glanced at the guards. "These specimens don't have what it takes to be made into very powerful, or useful, B.O.W.s and even as chimeras they wouldn't be of much use even as samples."

Thorn then glanced around and then noticed a truck with a medium sized storage trailer attached to it. Thorn then smiled as he got an idea.

"I think I'll load them all into that trailer over there." He said, and with a light wave of his hand, the guards legs started to move, against their own will, and they all began to march, almost in unison towards the trailer.

Thorn then used psychokinesis to open a hatch on the roof of the trailer as the men approached it. As one by one the guards, under Thorn's control, climbed up the trailer and lowered themselves into the hatch, all the while screaming in protest, Thorn turned to the soldier.

"Do you think all of thirty six of those guards will fit into that?" The psychic asked him.

"I…I don't think so, sir." The soldier did not like where this was going. "I mean, considering the trailer's size…"

"Why don't we put that to the test then?" Thorn said with a smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I see…" Seishiro nodded after hearing Yuhi tell him about his life in the Aogiri family after his father had declared him to be his son and put him in the family register and how afterwards things had been hard for both him and his mother as his father's wife made life difficult for the both of them, but Yuhi had endured it for his mother's sake until she finally left the Aogiri house, leaving him behind in the Aogiri family's care.

"In a way, I guess she was trying to make things better for me and probably felt I would have a better future with the Aogiri family…" Yuhi paused as the painful memories of watching his mother leave came back, and then sighed and shook his head to push them back. "After that I did everything I could to please those people in the main house…I did well in academics and sports…I even became a better cook than my mother had been, but it wasn't enough. Everyone in the main family still treated me coldly…except for my older brother, Kazuma. After he got engaged to Suzumi, he invited me to come and live with them, and that's where I've been ever since, even after Kazuma died."

"Let me guess, you stayed to care for what was left of those you considered your family, right?" Seishiro said, with an almost knowing look on his face.

"Yeah, I guess you could say we both helped each other get through it." Yuhi nodded. "No matter how bad things got…" He then paused as he realized something and looked at Seishiro. "Have you…?"

"Gone through the same thing?" Seishiro asked in reply. "Well…sort of, but not exactly like yours." Seishiro sighed and his eye lowered slightly as he continued. "Years ago, a very dear friend of mine was killed in a bomb attack and to make matters worse, it was at his wedding which I was a guest at. The woman who was going to marry him was also a dear friend of mine and I did my best to comfort her and…like you said in the case of you and your sister in law, the both of us helped each other get through the pain of that loss…"

"I know what you mean, when you lose someone dear to you, you need all the support you can get." Yuhi said in agreement.

"You've got my vote there too." Chidori added in and then turned to Seishiro. "By the way, is that friend of yours alright now?"

"Yes, she's been doing well." Seishiro answered, and was silent for a moment before saying something in a low voice as he unintentionally spoke his own thoughts. "Though having to go through that loss a second time in an even worse way…"

"What was that?" Chidori asked as she and Yuhi had barely heard the last thing Seishiro had said.

"Wha…oh, it's nothing." Seishiro answered as he realized what he had said. "Just a bad memory that came up."

"I'm sorry if I brought anything bad up." Yuhi said quickly.

"You don't have to apologize, Aogiri-san." Seishiro replied. "It really didn't have much to do with our conversation. I guess you could say I spaced out for a moment."

"If you say so." Yuhi said. "Still, I do think maybe you should try to at least talk with that cousin of yours if he accepts it. I ended up patching things up with my father and other half brother, Tomonori. It's thanks to that that I found out that my old man actually cared about my mom and me. Not that I mean…"

"It's alright, Aogiri-san, I know you mean well." Seishiro smiled lightly in appreciation. "Maybe I will do that…someday, but you don't have to worry about me. I actually ended up becoming part of a family of my own a while back. One of them is actually a member of FOXHOUND as well."

"Is it anyone here right now?" Chidori asked, looking around at the other FOXHOUND members in the room.

"I'm afraid he and his partner are currently on a mission, right now." Seishiro answered her and then got up. "Well, I'm going to go and get a drink since all this talking has made me thirsty. Would you like me to bring anything back for you?"

"I guess I could go for a soda." Yuhi replied.

"I'll take juice." Chidori said.

As the two reached into their pockets to give him money for the drinks Seishiro spoke.

"You don't have to pay me, it's my treat." He said and then left the room.

After Seishiro had left, Chidori turned to Yuhi.

"You know, you never told me about that, about yourself." She said. "I'm not mad, I'm just wondering why you didn't mention it."

"Well, I guess it's not all that fair considering I already know about your past." Yuhi replied. "Well…I guess it's mainly because it's pretty awkward for me. Also I wasn't sure if you'd have wanted to know about my past."

"Oh well, I know now, so no harm done." Chidori said. "Besides, since we're boyfriend and girlfriend we should know about each other, right?" She then gave a sly smile. "And if anymore of those relatives of yours ever gives you a hard time, they'll have me to deal with."

"In that case, I'd almost feel sorry for them." Yuhi said to himself.

"Oh, and just what do you mean by that?" Chidori asked, having heard him, her right eyebrow arching slightly.

"Uh, well…" Yuhi said nervously and then spoke as he came up with what was basically a true answer. "Well…because I know that there's no way they'd be able to resist a cute face like yours, Chidori."

Chidori blushed as she heard this.

"Uh…flattery won't get you out of this, you know." She replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"And that's everything that happened, Michael." Riku finished as he, Nagi, and Tot finished relating what they had experienced on their end of the mission.

"Well, you three certainly have been through quite the mission." Michael commented.

"Why do I get the feeling that we're going to be hearing that for a while?" Riku asked jokingly.

"Because it's true, of course." Tot answered him.

"Maybe, but still…I'm just glad everyone made it out alive is all, to tell you the truth." Riku said and then paused to consider something and then sighed as realization dawned on him. "But man oh man, this is going to take some time to write down to make a report out of."

"Oh I don't think it will take too long for you, Riku." Nagi spoke and then indicated a laptop that he had been carrying with him. A closer look at the screen showed an open word processor program with many pages of text typed. "While we were talking I simply used my powers to type down most of our conversation on the mission, though there were parts that I simply needed to summarize, which I did. All you need to do is go over it before giving it to General Drake, that and go over it with Aya and the others just in case."

"Nagi, you're a Godsend." Riku said gratefully, and then thought of something. "Oh yeah…"

"Before you ask, no I won't do any assignments of yours from school for you, no matter how tough you say they are." Nagi said simply. "You'll have to do the make up assignments that have accumulated during this mission yourself just like the rest of us."

"How did you know?" Riku asked, hanging his head in disappointment.

"Instinct from knowing you; no precognition or telepathy necessary." Nagi answered. "Besides, I've had a look at your grade records, and it looks like you've done well enough academically for years, even before you joined FOXHOUND. Somehow I'm almost positive that you'll survive."

"Hey, you don't have to put it like that." Riku said. "But still, all joking aside, you sure are talented with combining your power and computers. Not to mention to be able to listen to and take part in our talk with Michael and be able to use your powers to type it all down all at the same time. That's just amazing."

"I'd have to agree with Riku there." Michael said in agreement. "Doing all of that must take quite a bit of concentration."

Nagi blushed a little from embarrassment at the compliments to his ability.

"It…it really isn't all that much, really." He replied. "All I did was pay attention to what we were saying, form it into words in my head, and my telekinesis types it that way. It's really no different from copying something down in writing."

"You even managed to type it in English." Riku noticed and then realized something. "Hold on…does that mean you can even think in English?"

"Well, sort of…" Nagi answered. "Crawford did teach me how to speak it fluently."

"I guess that explains why you score way higher than me on our English exams." Riku said and then smiled. "Oh well, this should be a good thing."

"Huh?" Nagi's eyes widened in surprise at what his friend just said. "You mean you're not jealous?"

"Nope, why should I be?" Riku asked in reply. "This means we have someone to fall back on just in case, plus there's no harm in my getting tips from you during studies for exams, right?"

"After hearing that, I think I'd almost prefer that you were jealous." Nagi said with a sweat drop going down the back of his head.

"But Nagi-kun, you help me with my homework, so you can do that for Riku too, right?" Tot spoke.

"What's this?" Riku asked, looking at Nagi with his right eyebrow arched up. "Didn't you say…?"

"I help Tot with it, I don't do it for her, Riku." Nagi corrected him.

"Then would you help me out too?" Riku asked.

"I'll think about it." Nagi answered simply, in mock disinterest.

"Why are you only mean to me, Nagi?" Riku asked, sighing in a mock dramatic way. "You're like a saint with Tot and everyone else. It's not fair."

"What, don't tell me you just figured it out?" Nagi asked in reply. "The world's unfair."

"…You really are mean only to me." Riku said as he drooped his head.

As Michael watched the three interact he almost fought the urge to smile. He knew Riku and Nagi were good friends and that this talk between them was a form of entertainment of theirs. However, Michael also remembered that there were still things that he needed to discuss with them, all of which were a serious matter.

"Ahem." Michael spoke, catching the attention of all three of them. "I hate to break this up, but there are still a couple more things that we need to go over."

"Sumimasen. Well, I guess first we should here about how you know Shade." Riku said, and then remembered something. "By the way, what else was it you wanted to tell us? Seishiro-san said you had something else to say, and it sounded important."

Michael was silent for a moment before speaking.

"Yes, I do have some news, though I think it's best I tell you later." He said. "I'm afraid you're not going to like it, though." Michael paused for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, let's start with Shade, and how we know each other…It was during a mission before I was part of FOXHOUND where the mercenary unit that I was in charge of was sent to investigate a chemical weapons facility in Siberia…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Robert Thorn and the soldier next to him were facing the small storage truck, with Thorn's demonstration having finished and it had ended with the psychic being right. The trailer for the truck had managed to hold all of those Mikage guards, though now parts of it were bulging at the large amount of men who had been crammed into it until they were all crushed to death within that tight space; blood was even leaking out from seams and even cracks that had formed on the trailer. Thorn gave a satisfied smirk, while the soldier next to him fought the urge to throw up as he remembered the gruesome spectacle he had watched moments ago along with the dying screams of the guards followed by the sickening crunches of their bones as they were crushed within.

"Human beings truly are amazing creatures, wouldn't you say?" Thorn asked as he glanced over at the soldier. "If they simply use the muscles that they normally don't, they can do anything." Thorn then gave a sigh. "The only problem with that is that they can still sense pain while doing so." Thorn's smirk then became a smile. "Yet in the case of that bunch, they couldn't stop even as they felt their bodies mashed into hamburger meat. Still, that was certainly a unique thing to behold, wasn't it soldier?"

Thorn then heard his radio buzz and answered it; after listening to the report for a while he turned it off once he was finished and looked over at the soldier.

"The men have nearly finished their assignment; go and help make sure they haven't left any stones unturned." Thorn ordered.

The soldier quickly saluted and ran off to join his fellow comrades, just glad that the spectacle was over, leaving Thorn alone with his thoughts.

(What I don't understand, though, is why I've been given order to leave those that the FOXHOUNDers rescued from the Mikage a few days ago.) Thorn thought to himself. (At the very least those Mikage twins would have made valuable specimens…could the Patriots have future plans for them? Also, if that is the case, what measures could they have taken to keep groups like NESTS or even that other organization, Addis, from getting their hands on them?)

After a few minutes of pondering on the subject, Thorn gave up.

(Oh well, this data we've just obtained and the C-Genome embryos are enough for now.) Thorn thought. (I'll just ask about that last part once I've returned to base.)

Suddenly a thought came to Thorn as he remembered something.

(While I'm here in Japan I should probably look into a couple of things.) He thought. (First, that project going on in that American base with that new weapon, ACUA and those two subjects chosen for the Neoteny, Numbers 16 and 104…that Ritual of Conjuration was a wasteful method, but still successful according to the results I was given, so I should look into it.) Thorn then remembered another thing and almost laughed as it came to mind. (A pity for you, though, Flemming, if you had simply been a bit more honest a brilliant mind such as yours wouldn't have had to be lost with your death and perhaps your daughter would not have been made a test subject. Oh well, she managed to be one of the survivors, so perhaps you would be proud…)

Thorn then shook of that thought as he then focused on the next thing on his mind.

(I should also pay a visit to that island to have a personal look at the progress Kakuzawa and his bunch are making on the research on the diclonius.) He thought. (Some of the things that old fool has given to us in his reports just don't seem right. I honestly don't trust that loathsome creature or his son and neither do the Patriots, so I don't understand why they tolerate his being in charge of such important research. In some ways Kakuzawa could end up becoming a real nuisance if he does decide to turn on us…) Thorn paused to calm down for a moment before continuing. (Oh well, perhaps on my visit I'll find out what I need, and I'm certain that in the long run Kakuzawa will be dealt with and someone more deserving will be put in charge of that operation…myself.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I see…" Mana said. "I was wondering how you were able to put it so well, about myself and Michael, back there and now I understand."

"Actually I was just saying what came to mind, that's all." Aya replied to her, with an almost embarrassed half smile.

After Mana had taken Aya aside to speak with her, the two of them had spoken and ended up telling one another of certain important events in their lives. Aya of the events that occurred from her and Aki's sixteenth birthday till the present, and Mana of her life just before she had met Michael Hansen. About how her parents had been killed in an arranged 'accident' by her uncle, Tomoyuki Kirishima, a treacherous spy and assassin who specialized in brainwashing certain people, mainly children, into becoming efficient yet disposable assassins for him to use for his own ends. Mana had ended up becoming one of those victims despite the fact that she was Tomoyuki's niece, yet the man had only seen her as an efficient tool and treated her as such. That came to an end when she was injured during an assignment from Kirishima and was later found and saved by Michael Hansen, who was on a mission at the time, which was actually connected with Kirishima. In the end Michael, with the aid of Garland Durev, Maggie Thompson, and even Trang Nguyen Hang were able to successfully complete the mission and Tomoyuki was killed at Michael's hand. Afterwards Mana decided to stay with Michael and he became her legal guardian as well as martial arts instructor and friend.

"It's pretty amazing, huh?" Mana asked. "How a lot of the friends we've made ended up becoming more of a family to us then some of our actual blood relatives."

"You've got that right." Aya replied in agreement, trying not to remember the many times people from the Mikage family had tried to either kill or capture her and her friends. "Though my Dad did…" Aya stopped then as the memory of how her father had died protecting her from the Mikage crept back into her mind.

"I'm sorry if I brought anything bad up." Mana said quickly.

"It's all right." Aya replied.

"Still, you're lucky that you still have both your brother and mother. I'm kind of jealous actually." Mana said with an almost regretful look on her face. She then noticed Aya's concerned look and then smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry. If there's something we both know it's this: Family isn't blood. Family is who loves you, who takes care of you."

"Yeah, you're right." Aya said as she remembered the time she had spent with Yuhi, Suzumi, Chidori, and Mrs. Q and also with Toya.

"Anyway…" Mana's tone brightened up a bit. "I should congratulate you since you and that Toya guy are going to be starting a family of your own soon."

"Thanks." Aya replied.

"You're welcome." Mana then stopped as she thought of something. "One thing though…if Riku suggests any potential names for the baby, I'll bet you two to one they'd be the names of famous ninjas."

"Well, whatever he suggests have got to be better than Tot's suggestions." Aya said with a sweat drop.

"What do you mean?" Mana asked. 'What did she suggest?"

"On our way out of the boat after Ceres almost killed that Shade guy, I asked her…" Aya began. "And her suggestions were…Pochi, P-chan, and Tama."

(I pity the children she and Nagi have.) Mana thought to herself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"ACHOO!" Riku, Nagi, and Tot sneezed in almost perfect unison, almost making Michael gape at the unusual spectacle.

"You know that's the first time I've seen three people sneeze at the same time." Michael commented.

"Well, I guess there's always a first time for everything, Michael." Riku said with a light smile, though it quickly reverted back to a somber expression. "Still, what happened to you from when you ran into Shade…that truly was an awful thing to have happened and I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, us too." Tot added and Nagi nodded in agreement.

All three of them had heard Michael's story about what had happened when he and the mercenary unit he had been in command of had encountered Shade and one by one the mercenary had slaughtered them all, except for Michael who had managed to survive and escape. Unfortunately, things got even worse from there when, a week later, Shade, not wanting to leave an assignment unfinished, showed up and attacked Michael at the house he shared with his fiancée Maria. Shade defeated Michael in a matter of seconds, seriously injuring him in the process. It was then that Maria arrived home and Michael yelled at her to stay back but it was too late as Shade mercilessly killed her right in front of him before setting the house on fire and leaving Michael to burn to death. Fortunately, for Michael, a neighbor was nearby and dragged Michael out of the burning house.

(No kidding.) Nagi thought to himself. (To lose his entire unit…a group of people who were obviously good friends of his and then the one he loved…it must have been awful just trying to get through it all.)

"It's all right, you three, but thank you." Michael said reassuringly.

"So…what happened after that?" Riku asked.

"Eventually I had to find work and I was hired as a mercenary by Russian general Bulgarin." Michael answered. "You know what happened after that…"

"Yeah, there's no way I could forget running into you and the Ikari team." Riku replied with a smile. "Which reminds me, I should talk with them some time soon. The last time was around Christmas when I called and checked to make sure the stuff I sent them arrived." Riku then remembered something. "Oh yeah, speaking of which, thank you for helping pick out things those guys would like."

"You're welcome, though you thanked me for that already." Michael replied with a light yet grateful smile, as he knew Riku was trying to lighten up the mood after what he had just told him, Nagi, and Tot.

"It never hurts to make sure of things, you know." Riku said with a shrug. "Still, I'm probably going to say this a lot, but this has been some mission."

"It's too bad we weren't able to rescue any of those other girls who were being held at the Mikage base, though." Nagi commented.

"Yeah, I feel sorry for them." Tot agreed. "Gladys-san too since she wanted to save them."

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, how…?" Riku stopped as he noticed the expression on Michael's face before suddenly getting up from his seat with an expression of shock on his face.

"AAH! I can't believe that I could forget something so important!" The ninja exclaimed and then turned to Nagi and Tot. "We need to tell Ran and the others about what's happened so far. Nagi, could you print that report out for me?"

"Uh…yeah sure." Nagi replied and after connecting his laptop to one of the library's printers, began setting it to print.

"Oh yeah, and since there's something you needed to tell us…" Riku turned to Michael for a moment before turning to Tot. "Tot, why don't you notify Ran and the others? I'll tell you what we talked about once you're done."

"Okay." Tot nodded and after the papers finished printing, took them out but then paused after counting them all. "Uh…do I really need to read all of this to them?"

"Why not bring at least Yuhi along with you to help run through it all?" Nagi suggested. "Besides, I'm sure Suzumi will want to hear from him that everyone's okay."

With that Tot took the papers and exited the library, leaving the two with Michael.

"Thank you, Riku." Nagi said gratefully.

"I'm not really sure you should be thanking me." Riku replied with a guilty look on his face. "Doing all that just to keep a secret from one of my nakama…it just doesn't feel like something I should be thanked for at all. Some team leader I am, huh?"

"Do you intend to tell her after this?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, though explaining it will be…" Riku started.

"Then you're not keeping a secret." Nagi said simply. "Besides, you don't have to worry, I'll be the one to explain it to Nanami."

"Hold on, as the team's leader it's my responsibility…" Riku began but Nagi shook his head.

"It's alright, Riku." Nagi said, with a grateful expression as he knew his friend was trying to help. "Besides, back at the base I made a promise to Nanami, and I intend to keep it. I wouldn't be much of a boyfriend or future husband if I did that, right?"

"So, you're serious about the two of you?" Michael asked Nagi.

The young psychic blushed some as he realized what he had just said but nodded.

"Yes I am." He replied. "I know I'm still fifteen and all, but…I love Nanami and I want her to be happy and…I want to be happy with her, so…"

"It's alright, I can tell that you're serious now." Michael said with an approving smile, not wanting to embarrass the young psychic any further. "I just wanted to be sure, since…a good friend of mine ended up being in a relationship that was almost completely one sided despite everything she did to keep it together. To be honest all she ended up getting out of it was pain and I'm just glad it finally ended."

"You don't have to worry about that." Nagi said firmly. "I'm not sure as to the circumstances of what you were talking about, but…I've spent a great deal of my life alone and so I know better than to take people for granted like that."

"Well said, man." Riku nodded and then turned to Michael. "So…about Gladys-san…is she…?"

"Physically, she's alright, but mentally…" Michael sighed. "You two had better take a seat…I know you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you…"

(Damn it…) Riku thought as he felt a feeling of apprehension at what he was about to hear. (Why did it turn out like this…? No, I know the reason…Damn you, Shade! Damn you, Kagami!)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Uruha Mansion:

Recca Hanabishi walked into the living room where his wife Yanagi, and his brother Kurei and his wife Neon were waiting.

"I just got a call from a FOXHOUND friend of Riku's named Seishiro Takeda and he says Riku and his friends are all doing fine and they'll be back soon, probably late tomorrow." Recca said.

"Excuse me, uncle, but if it's alright could I go and meet with Riku and these friends of his?" A man's voice spoke and from one of the other doors into the room came a young man in his early twenties with black hair with short bangs and wearing casual clothing. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard it when I was coming in."

"It's alright, in fact we were going to wait for you to tell you about this anyway, Kenshin." Kurei spoke. "Still, if you want to go and meet up with Riku, then I don't see why not since you were heading out anyway."

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll pick up Grandmother afterwards and I'm sure Riku will be tagging along too." Kenshin gave a smile. "Also, there's something important I need to discuss with him. It's about some of the events concerning Enfant's movements in Gazth-Sonika, and I think it's important that he knows of it…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And with that, this chapter has been finished! Sorry for the long wait and all, but I've been busy with a number of things such as college, anime, and most of all games.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even though I originally intended to make it longer, but time constraints tend to do that. On the plus side, I managed to include a great deal of character interactions that I hope you all liked; I even managed to include a crossover character interaction with Aya and Mana which I kind of put in at the last minute, hope it wasn't too short or anything.

Anyway time for Easter Eggs and references:

The beginning scenes with Nagi and also with him and Tot were based on some scenes from volumes 4 and 5 of the Chrono Crusade manga. For those of you who have seen the anime, go out and get the manga, it is hundreds of times better especially the ending.

Next the way Thorn killed the Mikage guards was based on a scene in volume 2 of the Trigun Maximum manga. Once again, for fans of the anime, check out this manga version, it goes in a completely different direction from the anime and has more characters and a cooler story.

Also one of the interactions between Riku and Nagi was based off an amusing conversation between Shiki Tohno and Arihiko Inui of Tsukihime and by that I mean the game and not the anime (the game is infinitely better just to let you know). If you have a chance, get and play this game ASAP now that a translation patch is out (THANK YOU MIRRORMOON!!), even if you haven't seen the anime or read the manga. The story is 'that' good, and for any of those 'sensitive' about the fact that it has adult content, the patch has the option of removing it (not my recommendation, but each to his own).

Actually, this is translation note, basically the names Tot gave to Aya are names one would usually give to pets in Japan. Pochi is for dogs, P-chan for pigs (fans of Ranma ½ should know this), and Tama for cats (I think). I got the idea from an episode of Gensoumaiden Saiyuki, an anime series I highly recommend.

Also I hope readers caught the references I made for Elfen Lied and Madlax, as well as a reference to a plot element from the first Metal Gear Acid game that I intend to use in the future. Now don't get too excited folks, the story arcs involving those are a ways off, but you'll see them soon hopefully. In the meantime read the revisions for ShardclawKusanagi's Soldier X as you're likelier to see the characters from those series show up sooner in that story.

One thing, for Flame of Recca manga fans I've also hinted at the arrival of another manga only character so that should please you. Hint: Kenshin was not referring to Kagero.

Also, to Weiss fans, sorry for them only being mentioned in this chapter, but I promise they'll show up again next time. I just had to focus on some other characters POVs during this chapter.

Hope fans enjoyed this chapter, and to GreyWolf4, I hope I got the characters right in their portrayals throughout this chapter.

Anyway, I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can, but please bear with me as not only am I still playing so many games such as FFXII, Tales of the Abyss, Tsukihime (not to mention Kagetsu Toya now that a (partial) patch for it is out), Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Gamecube version), Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, and others, as well as catching up on anime, but also because I'll be starting an on campus job at my university so I don't know how much time I'll have. Don't worry, this story will still continue, you have my word on that. That said, please read and review!


	36. Chapter 35: The Closing Curtain Part 2:

AN: Alright folks, here's the next chapter and I hope you all like it. Now let's get on with this.

Disclaimer: Same as before. I also don't own Kyoka Azai, Kenji Takayama, Yukari Takayama, Kanako Takayama, Kazumi Takayama, or Han Zu Kang who all belong to GreyWolf4, though all but the last one are only going to be mentioned for now. Also don't own a certain manga series or a few certain games that are also making surprise crossovers (though two of them are more of a reference(I'll explain later so just be patient please).

Chapter 35: The Closing Curtain: Part 2: Coming Home

Robert Thorn casually strolled outside the American base towards the car waiting for him. The scientist was carrying a large file along with several disks containing the details on the project going on inside the base that he had come to check on.

As the driver of the car opened the door for him, Thorn glanced over at the driver.

"I believe that you know the next place I need to get to." He said simply.

"Of course, sir, I'll get you straight to Kamakura." The driver replied quickly and then realized something. "Shall I arrange for…?"

"I have a chopper waiting for me there to take me to the island, just get me to the launch pad." Thorn said.

"Alright, sir." The driver said and then proceeded to get into the front and drive.

With that, Thorn sat back in his seat and began to go over the file in his hands. As he did so, his thoughts went back to what he had seen inside the base.

(No question that that project brought about some powerful telepaths…I actually had to work a little to conceal my presence from either of those two…) Thorn's eyes then narrowed as he remembered something. (Still…the specimen Number 104…I could have sworn for a second that she found me, but…) Thorn glanced through the files and shook his head. (There's no way she could be that aware with these results…besides, Number 16 was proven to be the strongest anyway…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The four members of the assassin team Weiss, Ran, Omi, Ken, and Youji, all wearing casual clothing, were sitting in the living room of Suzumi Aogiri's house. Ran was on the phone listening as both Tot and Yuhi told him about what had transpired at FOXHOUND HQ so far. The red haired assassin nodded as he spoke to them.

"So right now, all Riku needs to do is hand in the report on what happened on that boat and then you all will be back in Japan tomorrow?" Ran asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Yuhi answered from the other line. "And about those two guys, Lee and Asamu…"

"Ever since we brought them in, those mercenaries from the Aogiris have kept them very well confined and under twenty four hour watch, so I doubt they'll be going anywhere any time soon." Ran replied. "Still, all four of us are glad to hear that everyone is alright, and I'm sure Suzumi-san will be glad to hear that from you."

"Oh, uh…" Yuhi gulped in nervousness as he remembered that he hadn't called Suzumi to tell her what had happened and had a feeling that she was going to grill him for not calling sooner and making her worry.

"I'll hold the phone while you go and get Suzumi, Ran." Youji spoke as he took the phone from his partner and then grinned at him. "Besides, it doesn't take a genius to figure out who you'll be calling on that cell phone of yours now that the mission's pretty much over."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ran said simply as he handed Youji the phone, barely concealing a blush, before leaving the room.

After the team's leader left the room, Ken, Youji, and Omi fought to laugh at what they had just seen.

"I never thought I'd see Ran like that." Ken noted. "Still, I'm surprised you were able to figure out what Ran was going to do."

"Oh, it wasn't so hard to spot." Youji said with a grin. "Especially since Ran doesn't act so different from how you are with Yuriko. He's just trying to hide it, and doing a poor job at that."

The part time soccer coach blushed but said nothing. Meanwhile, Omi made a light sigh to himself.

(It looks like this is going to be routine now…) The young assassin thought to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I see…" Riku said simply, his voice a low and somber tone, after hearing what Michael had told both him and Nagi regarding the fate of Gladys Smithson. The young ninja's head was lowered and he almost seemed to be staring at the floor, yet the look in his eyes showed that he had paid attention to everything Michael had said. And as he heard them, Riku couldn't help but feel a wrenching feeling inside as he felt frustration at not being able to do anything more to have helped Gladys beforehand.

(Those manuals they have you read on how to deal with these sorts of things sound all official and effective, but right now they just sound like they're not worth crap!) Riku thought as he remembered before, during his training shortly after initiation into FOXHOUND on how to deal with civilians encountered during missions, in this case those who were the victims of rape by enemy, or just outside, forces. Though the ninja knew that was something he would have to come across sooner or later and have to deal with, this was something he knew he could never prepare for.

Meanwhile, Nagi had been silent the whole time except for a light sigh after he had heard the news. The psychic had been able to tell beforehand at the Mikage base without even having to sense Gladys' mental state, which he had, that the woman would not be in the best condition after the mission was over. Yet even though he thought he was prepared, Nagi still felt the same wrenching feeling that his friend was as he too wished he could have done more.

(This shouldn't be strange to me, I know these sorts of things happen…) Nagi thought and his eyes lowered. (It's ironic…that an assassin such as myself, who has killed many, is… by this…)

Michael regarded the expressions on the faces of the two young men sitting before him. Truth be told, it pained his heart to inform them of how Gladys, shortly after recovery from that explosion he had barely managed to save her from, had what could only be described as a mental breakdown at not just from the trauma of what Shade had done to her, but also at the loss of those C-Genome girls who she had cared for and the fact that Kagami Mikage, a man she had looked up to had simply left her behind in order to escape. Michael could do nothing but use his connections and position in FOXHOUND to make sure Gladys was taken to the best mental hospital he knew; Alexander O. Howell had even accompanied them. The two had only just gotten back the day before, and as a result Aya and co. knew what had happened.

"I know what the two of you are thinking." Michael spoke in a calming tone. "Just take my word for it and don't either of you beat yourselves up for not being able to do the impossible. If anything, it will only make things worse."

"I…" Riku glanced over at Nagi before continuing. "We know…we know what you're trying to say, but…I can't help but wish we could have done more to help her. I mean…you must have seen how she was at that time…"

"And sensing her emotions then…" Nagi suddenly spoke, his eyes almost having a distant look as he spoke. "I've told you I can sense strong emotions, and in Gladys-san's case it was almost like she was screaming…"

The two's thoughts and words were interrupted by a sudden sharp and loud rap from the desk Michael was sitting as he struck it. However, there was no anger or frustration in the FOXHOUNDer's face, he had simply done that to snap the two out of it and get their attention.

"I know…I know what you both are going through with this." Michael said. "It wasn't easy to deal with for me, and it never is for anyone, but…" Michael's eyes lowered. "At least you were able to save Gladys' life…I've seen far worse outcomes happen before. You were also able to save her from going through the same thing again, and you did everything you could to protect her and succeeded…" Michael then looked at the both of them sharply to make sure Riku and Nagi heard what he had to say next, which he said very firmly. "What I want to say is this…don't throw away what little you were able to do to help Gladys just because of what has happened and regard it as nothing. To do so would be an affront to her."

For a while, both Riku and Nagi said nothing until finally Riku broke the silence.

"So…there is a chance she can get better, right?" He asked, his tone a hopeful one. "It is possible for her to be able to live a normal life if she can…right?"

Michael was silent for a moment, not really because he wasn't sure how to answer that question, but in regarding both Riku and Nagi, who he saw had similar hopeful look in his eyes as Riku, and then considering Tot.

(It's no wonder that these three make such a good team…) He thought to himself. (All three are very experienced in their fields for their age, and their personalities and backgrounds are so different…yet they're still so alike in that they're still kids…)

"It is possible…" Michael said. "But…" Michael then stopped to consider something that he remembered talking about with Alec a short while ago. "You both said you wanted to do something more to help Miss Smithson, right?"

"Of course." Riku replied. "If there's anything that at least the three of us can do, we'll do it."

"And I can vouch for Tot, as well." Nagi added.

"Good…" Michael nodded. "Then later could you two come here with Tot? There's something I want to discuss with you three. Also bring Dr. Howell here as I know he would want to hear this."

"Alright." Riku nodded along with Nagi. "So…"

"I think that's enough for now, why don't you two go out and get some air." Michael said. "I can tell you'll need it."

As the two FOXHOUNDers left, Michael then lapsed into his own thoughts.

(People cannot overcome traumatic events in their lives alone…) He thought. (Maybe, just maybe…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're doing well, Kenji." Kenshin Mori spoke through a cell phone. He was sitting in the lobby of the Japanese HQ for FOXHOUND where he would be staying for the night in one of the guest's quarters, which he was allowed to do due to the Hokage clan's alliance with FOXHOUND. Currently, Kenshin was talking with one of the members of his team, Hokage Ryu, which helped to pass the time while he awaited the arrival of Riku Hanabishi, Nagi Naoe, and Tot/Nanami Hibino and those who he heard would be with them. "Speaking of which, how has your family been doing?"

"Oh, just great, thanks for asking." An older Japanese male's voice spoke from the other end. "Anyway, Kenshin, the reason I'm calling is about that info you brought back about Gazth-Sonika…is it really that bad over there?"

"Unfortunately, yes, and that's only based on what I saw outside the demilitarized zone along with some data I managed to obtain on operations carried out by both the Royalist forces and Galza."

"Yeah, I had a look at them myself." Kenji replied. The two of them were having this conversation because Kenji had not been able to participate in a recent mission that their team had recently carried out in the country they were talking about. "Still, it's hard to believe that some crime group is having some kind of influence on it all. Do you think that…?"

"Please hold on a moment…" Kenshin said and looked around to make sure no one was listening in. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm actually taking a break from getting set for a family outing later today." Kenji answered. "I figured I'd call just to confirm things since it looks like we're bound to have another mission in Gazth-Sonika sooner or later."

"Yes, it does seem that way." Kenshin admitted. "Anyway, I think we should discuss the major details at the Uruha mansion…considering how 'they' are rumored to operate in terms of keeping their secrets, discussing this by phone is way too risky."

"Yeah, you've got a good point." Kenji agreed. "Well, on a lighter note, how's that girl and those friends of hers you met in Nafrece?"

"Oh Margaret's been doing well last I heard, and the same goes for Elenore and Vanessa." Kenshin said. "You know, if you get the chance, you and your family should take a vacation in that area. I'd gladly point out some nice places to check out, also I think your wife and daughters would get along well with Margaret, Elenore, and Vanessa."

"I suppose so." Kenji then gave a light chuckle. "Still, I think it would be more interesting to see that cousin of yours meet with Margaret. From what I hear they have a similar habit of being able to sleep just about anywhere at any time."

"I wouldn't say that it's the same thing, but I do agree it would be an interesting meeting." Kenshin said with a smile.

"Well, I guess that's it for now." Kenji said. "I'll talk with you later, Kenshin, and it was good talking with you."

"The feeling is mutual." Kenshin replied. "And give my regards to Yukari-san, Kanako-chan, and Kazumi-chan."

"Will do, you take care now." Kenji replied. "Ja ne."

As Kenshin put his cell phone away, he then lapsed into his own thoughts.

(Now that I think about it…there's always been something about that book of Margaret's that's bothered me.) He thought to himself. (I've been meaning to inform at least Grandma, Yukimura-san, or Kyoka about it, but for some reason I keep forgetting. Just what sort of language is it written in? I've never seen anything similar to it before. And that missing page…just what does the complete book say?) Kenshin then felt an odd chill as he thought about it that he couldn't explain. (And why…even though I have no idea what that book could say…why does it feel like the words would mean something unsettling?)

Kenshin thought about this for a moment before pushing those thoughts aside.

(I guess there's no point in wondering about it for now.) He thought. (Especially since I remember Elenore mentioning over the phone that Margaret recently hired a detective who specializes in finding rare books to look into it, so it may turn out to be nothing.) His thoughts then drifted in a different direction. (Still, since Kenji mentioned Gazth-Sonika, I wonder what you're doing right now, Madlax? Probably eating pasta…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So we'll be heading back to Japan around noon tomorrow?" Nagi asked Riku as the two of them walked down the hallway of FOXHOUND HQ.

"Yeah, after I hand in the mission report to General Drake and we see Michael." Riku answered and then remembered something. "By the way, could you check with Aya and the others and make sure Naomi gave them a good checkup and all? Same goes for Toya."

"Leave it to me." Nagi nodded. "Still, are you sure you'll be alright doing the editing on that report? I mean…"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, but thanks." Riku said reassuringly. "If anything, I should be asking you that. You definitely didn't look really well when you talked about that bit with your telepathy, along with the fact that you're going to try to explain this to Nanami…"

"Thank you for the concern, but I'll be alright." Nagi replied gratefully and then reached into his pocket and took out a portable USB and handed it to Riku. "Here's a copy of the report I typed up."

"Thanks." Riku said as he put it in his pocket. As he did he remembered something. "Oh that's right, there is something I've been meaning to ask you, Nagi. It's about your powers…"

"Go on."

"When you killed one of those guards who attacked Gladys and when you used that big attack on Shade back on the boat…" Riku paused as he considered how to phrase what he had to say next before continuing. "I noticed that your eyes were glowing…they were glowing red... Do you…?"

"About that…I'm not really sure…" Nagi said as he paused to think about it. "I remember Crawford mentioning something about how it was easy to tell if I had any sort of hatred or dislike towards those I killed because he could see it in my eyes. Schuldich even joked about it…to be honest I didn't really think too much on it but…if that's what they meant then…" Nagi then paused. "Why are you asking me? If you don't mind."

"Garland's eyes become red when he enters Berserker Demon or True Dread state." Riku answered. "Just to let you know, the only reason I'm talking about all of this is curiosity. You see, shortly after I introduced you and Tot to Garland and you both trained under him, Garland thanked me for it. He said that thanks to your meeting, he managed to find a kindred spirit. So I was thinking that maybe the two of you were the same type…you know, in terms of how your abilities manifest."

"You may be right about that." Nagi agreed. "Garland had some very good and effective advice for me in terms of control of my ability. That and I could tell that he was speaking from experience. I don't know if you know this, but neither of us…"

"Had very good childhoods, yeah I know." Riku nodded. "Garland mentioned that to me when he gave me some advice at our being a team…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Almost a month before, Riku was sitting outside the training hall next to Garland drinking down a bottle of water as the two had finished an intense training as well as sparring session. As they had left, Riku had been talking to Garland about how to effectively be a team leader as he was new at this as Nagi and Tot were his first partners. Riku had gone to Michael Hansen for advice, but the ninja also wanted to talk with other experienced members as well.

"Well, thanks for the advice, I just hope I can do it all right." Riku said with a sigh.

"You won't be able to do everything correctly at the very start, Riku." Garland replied. "Becoming a good leader is, like so many other things, a process of trial and error. You will end up making mistakes, which you will need to learn from. The advice that you're getting from Michael and me will just help make sure that the mistakes you make won't be fatal ones. Also, make sure to trust greatly in your companions. They will be the ones who will help mold you into a good leader better than any advice. You'll see and understand soon enough."

"Alright, thank you so much, Garland." Riku gave a light bow of his head in gratitude.

"There is one more thing." Garland added. "This is about your teammate Nagi."

'What about him? Is something wrong?" Riku asked with concern.

"No it's nothing like that." Garland answered. "I just wanted to tell you something important. You probably know that your friend didn't have a very happy life as a child, right?

"Yeah, I know. Nagi doesn't talk much about it, but…" Riku paused. "Does this have something to do with that?"

"Yes…let's just say Nagi and I aren't so different in that aspect." Garland paused and lowered his eyes for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, what I want to say is this. Nagi is someone who likely has had difficulty trusting someone as he's probably experienced a great deal rejection and probably even betrayal as well. As such, a real friendship is something that means a great deal to him, don't forget that."

"I won't, I promise." Riku said sincerely. "Upon my honor as a Hokage shinobi, I will not take a friendship like that for granted."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"And that's about it…" Riku finished, his face flushing a bit in embarrassment before quickly turning to leave. "A-anyway, I should get that report finished so we can get home soon tomorrow. Everyone's probably worried…"

With that the young ninja quickly headed for the library to get to work on the report. Nagi smiled as he watched his friend leave.

(I guess I made a good choice in teaming up with this guy after all.) The young psychic thought to himself before heading for the commons area to find Tot and the others. (I just hope I can explain Gladys' condition to Nanami…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"As you can see everything is in order and the containment of all the diclonius in this facility is secure." A woman in her mid thirties with long black hair tied back and wearing glasses and a dark purple jacket over a dark colored dress explained to Robert Thorn as she walked with him into one of the meeting rooms. She then handed him a disc. "This contains a report that Chief Kakuzawa…"

"I did not come here for a report, Shirakawa, I came to make both a thorough inspection of this facility and to ask Chief Kakuzawa personally about the research and what results have been yielded from it all." Thorn said with an irritated tone. "I would like to speak with him now."

"I'm sorry, but the chief is currently-." Shirakawa was interrupted as the door to the room opened and a man in his mid thirties with short black hair, wearing a dark business suit and glasses.

"Excuse me, but I've been sent to meet with you in Chief Kakuzawa's place." The man spoke in a calm and formal tone. "The Chief sends his apologies that he could not meet with you today."

"Apologies, huh?" Thorn looked at the man and then recognized him. "Aren't you the Chief of Research for this facility, Director Kurama?"

"Yes, I am." Kurama answered simply. "As I am meeting you in the chief's place, whatever questions you have I will answer."

"Then perhaps you can answer these questions." Thorn replied, frustrated that Kakuzawa had not been at the facility to meet him. "First, I specifically requested this meeting and yet your chief is not here. Why? And second, why is it I am being restricted from certain parts of this facility?"

"To the first, I can only answer that Chief Kakuzawa had a sudden and important meeting and therefore sends his apologies for his absence." Kurama answered calmly. "As for your second question, I suppose it would depend on what areas that you wish to see."

"It's in seeing the certain test subjects, first the one given the name 'Lucy'." Thorn said. "I've noticed that Kakuzawa seems to have an interest in this particular specimen. I would like to know why and see for myself what it is about the specimen that interests him."

"I'm sorry to say that I cannot answer that question." Kurama replied. "The chief has kept both Shirakawa and myself in the dark on that subject."

(Why am I not surprised?) Thorn thought to himself as he used his telepathy to scan through both Kurama and Shirakawa's minds without their knowledge, but found no hint of deception behind their words or from their thoughts. (It seems that Kakuzawa has even kept even those with higher positions in his group on a tight leash…which makes his actions even more suspicious…)

"And I suppose that's the same reason why I am not allowed to see that "Third Generation" Silpelit, I forget its number…" Thorn then paused as he noticed a slight, barely noticeable, reaction from Kurama as he said this. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong, sir." Kurama replied, simply betraying no sign of what Thorn had noticed. "And regretfully I have to inform you that the reason for the restriction is because she is considered too dangerous by the Chief and only he has authorization to allow anyone inside the area she is confined in. I…" Kurama paused for a moment. "I'm afraid I am not allowed access to that area…"

"I see…" Thorn had to fight to hide his frustration, which was so much that he was greatly wishing he could do to Kakuzawa what he had just recently done to those members of the Mikage family and their guards.

"Very well, I suppose I just came at a bad time." Thorn said with a forced sigh. "And what of that other project that Kakuzawa was having worked on as per the Patriots' request? I know that I am at least allowed to have a look at that and see what results it has yielded."

"Yes, I'll have Dr. Takiyama notified, if you'll please follow Shirakawa." Kurama looked over at Shirakawa, who nodded in reply before turning to Thorn.

"If you will please follow me, sir." Shirakawa said, gesturing towards the door.

(At least this won't be a total waste…) Thorn thought to himself as he followed Shirakawa out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Man, this certainly took longer than I thought." Riku said to himself with a sigh of relief as he clicked on the 'save' icon. It had taken him over two hours to edit the mission report. "Now all that's left to do is have Aya and the others have a look to make sure that I haven't left anything out, and then give this to General Drake."

Just as Riku was about to click on the 'print' icon, he felt a strange, almost nagging, feeling come over him. The young ninja sighed and shook his head.

(Why is it every time I go over this it feels like I'm leaving something very important out?) He wondered to himself. (Maybe I still need some more sleep…)

(You do know that too much sleep isn't healthy, right Riku?) Yuki's voice spoke to him suddenly, startling Riku and almost causing him to fall out his chair.

(Yuki…) Riku then gave a light chuckle as he regained his balance before giving a sheepish smile. (Well, it looks like you managed to fix the tiredness problem for me, thanks.)

(I'm sorry if I startled you…) Yuki apologized.

(It's no bother, really.) Riku replied. (Besides, I wanted to speak with you anyway. I haven't heard you in a while, so I was starting to get a little worried…)

(Worried…you were worried about me?) Yuki asked.

(Well, uh, yeah…) Riku answered, something in the spirit's voice causing him to blush for a reason he couldn't say. (I mean, you hadn't said anything since back at the Mikage boat and I was worried that maybe that thing Shade did to me may have affected you somehow…I mean, well…)

(It's all right, I'm fine.) Yuki said. (Though I have to tell you that both the dragons and myself were worried when you were suddenly cut off from us like that. Especially since you were…)

"Hey Riku, what's up?" A female voice spoke out to Riku from behind, also surprising the young ninja, though this time he did not almost fall out of the chair he was sitting in. Riku turned and saw that the speaker was Mana Kirishima.

"Well, not very much aside from I just finished my mission's report." Riku answered.

"Talk about perfect timing." Mana said. "I was going to come get you since Naomi wanted to speak with you about something." Mana then remembered something. "Wait a minute, didn't General Drake order you to take a break today?"

"Yeah, but Nagi already had the report ready and all I needed to do was edit it. Not to mention I'm not entirely sure if I'm in the mood for a break right now." Riku answered with a sigh.

For a moment, Mana looked at Riku and then spoke.

"After hearing that come from you, it's obvious something is up, so what's wrong?" She asked.

"Well, to be honest…" Riku paused for a moment before continuing. "There's a part of the mission that I wish had turned out differently, but considering the circumstances, I realize that was impossible."

"Is it about that woman Michael was protecting during your mission?" Mana asked. "Sorry…I saw Michael and that blond doctor go with her to that hospital, and Michael told me a little about what happened when they got back here…"

"I see…" Riku said, not saying anything for a moment before continuing. "Just to let you know, I'm not blaming myself for what's happened, it's just that…somehow it just doesn't seem fair. The mission was successful and everyone we were protecting survived somehow, but…" Riku sighed. "To be honest I can't really explain this in words…"

"Maybe, but I know what you're trying to say." Mana replied, and paused for a few seconds before continuing. "I know there isn't much I can say to help, but I'll still at least listen to whatever you need to say so you can get it off your chest. That's what friends do, right?"

For a moment Riku said nothing, but then smiled gratefully and nodded.

"Thank you, Mana." He said and then reached over to start the report's printing before standing up. "Well, I guess I'll head over to talk with Naomi and see what she needs to talk with me about while waiting for this to finish printing."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Mana asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Riku answered. "And Michael did tell me that there was something Nagi, Tot, and I could do to help that he'll talk with us about later. Anyway, I'll be going now."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shade stood leaning against the entrance to a cavern that went deep into the earth. He was in the countryside of Japan, close to Nagasaki, and patiently awaiting the one who had called him here.

Suddenly he felt something familiar and in the nick of time, whirled around to face the one approaching him from behind. The immortal mercenary's expression was annoyed as he looked at the man behind him.

"You're late." Shade said simply.

The man he was addressing was a man of Japanese descent who appeared to be in his mid twenties with dark brown hair and brown eyes. The man waved his hand in apology with a light smile.

"Do forgive me, Shingen, but I was… delayed." The man answered. "I hope that I haven't in any way inconvenienced you."

"That will depend on what this is about, old man." Shade replied. Not dropping his annoyed look. "So, what do you want, Kurando? Or should I call you Darkness?"

"Now, now, neither of us are working so please consider this a casual meeting." Kurando's expression or tone of voice did not change from the friendly one he was using. "In other words you may call me by name."

"Fine, Kurando then." Shade said. "Now, don't make me repeat myself."

"You'll see for yourself soon enough, my friend." Kurando replied. "I'll show you as soon as Tenzen arrives with the last one."

"Last one?" Shade asked. "Just what tasks have you given that mongrel lately?"

"Something far more significant than anything you've been doing lately, Koga trash." A man's voice spoke harshly from the side, causing Shade to glance over to see the speaker, Tenzen Yakushiji, walking out from the woods towards them. He was wearing the same outfit he had been wearing on the night when he had encountered Shade a few days earlier, and was carrying the beaten body of what appeared to be an old man over his shoulder.

Shade studied the person Tenzen was carrying and noticed that the man's features were European, while Kurando looked at Tenzen sharply.

"I thought I told you that we needed these things alive, Tenzen. This man looks like he's been beaten half to death." Kurando's tone of voice had lowered and now had irritation in it.

"My apologies master, but this man was stronger than most of the other Maram users." Tenzen said swiftly in apology. "I wasn't expecting to fight an actual Maram master, considering…"

"I suppose you have a point, I can feel quite a bit of strength in this one." Kurando agreed after looking closer at the man his servant was carrying. "Oh well, it shouldn't affect the ceremony; in fact it should help insure things go more smoothly."

"Alright, old man what's going on?" Shade asked. "What are you bothering with Maram masters and their like for? They're nothing but a bunch of weakling fanatics who answer only to their master. And from what I understand, some bunch from that Lotsuan organization defeated him about a year ago. Any Maram wielders now would be pretty weak as a result."

"Yes, yes, I know all about that." Kurando said offhandedly. "After all, I was personally observing the whole thing as those Lotus Masters defeated Darva. I was almost worried I would have step in, but somehow that bunch of children won."

"So what's the point of dealing with these Maram wielders, if you know that?" Shade continued. "Don't tell me you're trying to help that Lotsuan order? I don't think they'd be so quick to accept favors from people like us."

"Of course not, in fact have you read the latest newspapers?" Kurando asked simply.

Shade was silent for a moment and then his eyes narrowed as he realized what Kurando was telling him.

"Wait a minute, were all of those…?" Shade began but stopped as he could figure out the answer from Kurando's face. "You know that's quite the gamble on your part. Whatever we may think of that bunch of do-gooders, they are sort of necessary. Without them we'd have a large number of annoying pests to deal with."

"Don't worry, I only had Tenzen kill about half of each branch that he visited and also made sure that he did not go after any of those who assisted those two Neo-Masters." Kurando then paused as he glanced over at Tenzen with a smirk. "Though I had to do quite a bit of persuading so that he would not go after that Chinese girl master, though I can't blame him for wanting a go at that one. I myself would have found it a bit hard to resist…"

"Would you just get on with this?" Shade asked with irritation. "I did not come here for idle chatter, old man. Just answer my questions. Also you haven't given a proper explanation for why you gave Tenzen that task you just mentioned. Killing half of each branch of the Lotsuan Orders still doesn't seem like such a good idea. Even the Patriots have ordered them to be left alone, especially since they keep those infected by mara, and the mara itself, under control. Maram users aren't a threat to us, but they could become quite the nuisance if they became too widespread."

"You're in quite the bad mood today, my friend." Kurando noted. "Are you still sore about not being able to gain the power of the tennyo?"

Shade gritted his teeth as he heard that. To him, it was bad enough that such a great power had slipped from his grasp, but now that this man also knew about it made things even more aggravating.

"Oh don't worry, I have just the solution for that, so you can rest easy." Kurando said reassuringly. "Anyway, to answer your question, the mara problem should not be anything to worry about. I only had Tenzen carry out the killings because I did not want any of that bunch from the Lotsuan Order get a hint of what's about to happen. While they're busy recovering from this, we can do this ceremony without any worry of interference."

"That's assuming I'm interested in helping you with it. That is what you called me here for, right?" Shade asked in reply. "First tell me what you intend to do?"

Kurando then gave confident smile, and his expression suddenly seemed to change from the warm and friendly look it originally had to a sinister, and predatory look.

"It's simple really, my dear Shingen." He answered. "I intend to summon Darva and make him, and his power, a part of me…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku was sitting on a chair inside FOXHOUND's medical exam room along with Nagi, Tot, Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec. They were all listening to Naomi's diagnosis.

"So basically Aya, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro will need to be taking a regular dosage of nanomachines for a while, right?" Riku asked after Naomi had finished.

"Yes, mainly to make sure any strain or damage caused to the body from their transformations is healed properly." Naomi answered. "It shouldn't take longer than a year, and afterwards you shouldn't need to take the dosage anymore." Naomi paused as if considering something before continuing. "Still, I'd like a blood sample from each of you later on for comparisons to the ones I've taken just now so I can be certain that there have been improvements. We can't be too careful in this, considering that this is a largely unknown field."

"And what about Toya and Aki?" Nagi asked. "From what you told us, the process for them would be a little different, am I correct?"

"Yes, though the nanomachines distributed to each of them will differ and there are some differences that I need to point out." Naomi answered. "In your friend Aki's case, he will have to take a specially designed colony for quite a while in order to heal his body from the affects of taking in the hagoromo." She noticed Aya was about to ask a question and answered it for her. "I know that your brother looks alright now, but after taking a few X-rays after I noticed something odd in the blood sample he gave me. It turns out that the hagoromo apparently caused some extensive internal damage to his body and if not treated the effects would be fatal."

"So just how long will I have to be using these things?" Aki asked.

"I would say at least a year, but it could be a little while longer." Naomi replied. "It depends on how quickly the nanomachines are able to heal you." She then looked reassuringly at the group. "Don't worry, as long as the nanomachines are applied, Aki should fully recover."

"And Toya?" Aya asked.

"That's where things become a bit more complicated." Naomi said. "What has to be done in Toya's case would be creating a nanocolony that can act as a substitute for the hagoromo."

"You can do that right?" Yuhi asked her, and Naomi nodded.

"For the most part, yes." She replied. "I can make a colony that can keep Toya alive and he should be able to live normally. Though he will need both a checkup and replacement of each colony once every year." Naomi paused for a moment before continuing. "However, the colony cannot imitate the hagoromo in other ways. Mainly in the area of power for fighting."

"Would he be able to fight at all?" Riku asked.

"As long as it doesn't involve trying to use any of the more powerful abilities, he should be able to." Naomi answered. "To be more specific, I believe he should be able to call out and wield that knife from his body." She then turned to Toya. "As for anything beyond that, I can't really say, though for the moment I wouldn't take any chances if I were you."

"I understand, so don't worry." Toya replied. "I do not intend to enter combat any time soon if I can avoid it."

"Yeah, you'll be getting started in the 'family man' area, so good luck with that, man." Riku commented with a grin.

"Thank you." Toya replied and then turned to Naomi. "And thank you very much for doing all of this. I truly am grateful."

"We all are." Aya added. "You're doing so much so we can all live normally…"

"Well, you're all quite welcome, but it's not that much really." Naomi replied, almost bashfully. She then stopped as she remembered. "Oh yes, hold on just a minute."

Naomi then got up and came back later carrying a set of five large metal cases. She then handed one to Aya, Yuhi, Chidori, Shuro, and Maya respectfully.

"Inside of these are the right amount of nanomachines you should each be taking, according to my calculations." Naomi explained. "Each dose is to be taken every three months for the next year in order to replace the nanocolonies as they die out. After that, you should be fine." She then turned to Yuhi. "This one is for your sister just in case. I know she hasn't transformed into a celestial maiden, but I would rather not take any chances."

"Yeah, you have a good point, thanks." Yuhi said as he took the case.

"And what about the ones for Toya and Aki?" Aya asked, and then she remembered something. "And about these nanomachines…"

"Don't worry, while I was working on yours, I made sure that it would work without being any danger to your child." Naomi said reassuringly. "As for your first question, they should be ready tomorrow morning."

"Well, it looks like we've got everything in order then so we can go back home tomorrow." Riku said and then remembered something. "Oh by the way, you guys there's something I need to show you just to make sure of a few things…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shade looked at Kurando for a moment as he fully registered hearing what the man had just told him before breaking out into laughter.

"You can't be serious, you're actually going to try to summon 'the' Darva?" Shade asked. "A man who, several thousand years ago, betrayed his teacher Lotsuan, the creator of the Lotis, to create the Maram, the darkness words. In doing so, he became the next closest thing to a god."

"Yes, I know all of that, Shingen." Kurando answered simply. "And all of that is how this will work, yet I need your help in order to pull this off."

"Really?" Shade asked in reply, his voice skeptical but his eyes could not hide the fact that he was interested in what Kurando had to tell him. He then realized something and his eyes narrowed. "Hold on, though. Before you explain to me this 'plan' of yours, I'd like to know what's in it for me." Shade then gave a smirk. "Do you honestly think I'd help you get a power up like that for free? I can be generous if I feel like it, but I'm not stupid."

"And what makes you think you have the right to refuse what Kurando-sama wishes?" Tenzen asked.

"Simple, mongrel, because your 'beloved' master has made it clear that he needs me for this." Shade answered giving a mocking sneer at Tenzen, knowing full well how much the term 'mongrel' angered the man as it referred to the man being of both Koga and Iga parentage. He then turned back to Kurando. "So, what's your offer?"

Kurando simply smiled, his expression returning to the friendly one of before, except his eyes had a knowing look to them, as he knew what he had for Shade was something that the man could not refuse.

"You know those seals that were put on you so many years ago?" Kurando asked simply. "They gave you quite the loss of power if I remember correctly…"

"Are you saying you found one of them?" Shade said quickly and forcefully, though he already knew the answer. He then studied Kurando's face to make sure he was not lying and finally answered. "Fine. You have yourself a deal. Now tell me what you intend to do, how you plan to summon Darva, and how I fit into all of this?" Shade then noticed the unconscious body of the man Tenzen was carrying. "Also what do you need that man for?"

"All in good time, my dear Shingen, all in good time." Kurando replied with a smile and gestured at the entrance. "For now, follow me into this cavern, and I'll explain things as we go along…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, what do you guys think?" Riku asked after showing Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Aki, Shuro, and Alec the finished report on the mission. After they had left the medical area and Aya, Chidori, Maya, and Shuro had taken their shots of nanomachines, Riku had run over to the library to pick up the printed copy and had returned with it so that they all could read it. Nagi and Tot were also there to have a look at the report as well. "Is everything about it alright?"

"Yeah, it looks that way." Aya answered.

"Still, are you sure that this information is going into the right hands?" Toya asked. "Aya and everyone else told me about what was going on with the Patriots and all, along with Michael Hansen."

"He's got a point, you know." Yuhi said in agreement. "Are you sure this stuff won't fall into enemy hands?"

"I understand what you mean, so don't worry." Riku replied reassuringly. "But there's no need for concern. I'm putting this report directly into the hands of General Carter Drake himself, and trust me they couldn't be in safer hands."

"You're sure this man can be trusted?" Shuro asked. "I don't offense, I just need too be sure that you're sure."

"None taken, I understand." Riku answered. "I know the good General, as do most of us here at FOXHOUND. He's a good person, and I'd trust him with my life. He even helps us FOXHOUNDers with all that crap Reese puts up, and just a while ago he even promised me himself that the report will only be for the eyes of those he feels can be trusted with such information."

"Yeah, there's no need to worry since Drake-san is a good guy." Tot nodded in agreement.

"Though Tot and I are newcomers, I did not once sense anything troubling about the General, so I think Riku's right about this." Nagi added.

"Well, if you put it that way…" Alec spoke and then reached into a bag he was carrying and handed Riku a folder. "I think you should include this…"

"Hey, isn't this…?" Riku asked as he looked into the folder.

"Yes, those are the files containing the incriminating information on the Mikage family that I was given." Alec answered. "I figured that you would probably be able to make better use of it than I could…"

"Wait a second…" Riku spoke suddenly and then handed the folder back to Alec. "Instead, could you make a copy of all of this and you keep the original?"

"Well, yes, but why?" Alec asked in reply.

"Probably as a precaution just in case something should go wrong." Nagi answered, looking over at Riku, who nodded to confirm his guess. "I'd also recommend scanning all those documents and keeping a few copies saved in something portable like a USB, external hard drive, or disk."

"But I thought you said you trusted this General Drake?" Chidori asked.

"We do, but that isn't the reason we're concerned about this." Riku replied.

"It's because there's a good chance some bad guys could get these papers instead of the report, right?" Tot asked and Riku nodded.

"It stands to reason that the Patriots, and any other organizations who may be interested in C-Project, know at least something of what happened a few days ago by now." Nagi explained. "It won't be long until they'll make attempts to find out exactly what happened."

"You don't think they'll send anyone after us, do you?" Yuhi asked.

"For the moment, the possibility of that is slim." Riku said. "That's one of the good things about this mission's outcome."

"I see…so you mean that because of all that's happened recently, enemy groups might want to wait till the attention drawn to all of this has died down before making any bold moves." Aya surmised.

"That's probably true, Maya and I had a look at the news today and that explosion at the Mikage base is one of the headlines." Aki added.

"Also, early this morning they found the Mikage boat, sunk." Maya said. "They say that both are under intense investigation, but apparently both the island and the sunken ship are being cordoned off so all that's been shown are some distant pictures of both sites taken by air."

"That's probably to keep things hushed up so that this will die down quicker, and also so they can clean up whatever evidence is on that ship and possibly even the whole entire ship itself without incident." Nagi said. "Since it's likeliest that the Patriots are doing the covering up, this is also probably to make sure no other groups who may be against them could try to get anything out of this."

"Like that group called NESTS?" Chidori asked.

"Yeah, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were others…" Riku replied, drifting into his own thoughts.

(That reminds me, Kenshin has talked about that crime organization, Enfant, a few times after he came back.) He thought to himself. (In fact, just before Nagi, Tot, and I were given this mission, Kenshin said he wanted to discuss something about that group with the three of us…) Riku then began to consider a possibility. (Enfant…a crime organization infamous to those who have to deal with international crime, yet despite that infamy there is little known about the organization. Nothing on its leaders, the infrastructure of the group, possible members…nothing at all. Could they also be interested in the goings on of C-Project, or am I just being paranoid?)

"Riku, hey Riku!" Aya's voice brought Riku back to reality.

"Wha…oh, sorry about that." Riku apologized, rubbing his head slightly. "I must have let my mind wander a little bit."

"You looked pretty serious for that just now." Aki noted. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not really." Riku replied. "It's something, but…I'll tell you guys after I've confirmed something when we get back to Japan."

"Alright then." Tot spoke and turned to Nagi. "So Nagi-kun why don't you continue? You looked like you had more to say."

"Well, what my point is, is that since whatever enemy groups there are cannot make any direct moves until all this dies down, they'll probably try to find more subtle ways of finding what they need." Nagi continued. "The report on the mission itself will be kept safe here, and the Patriots likely have most of the data by the Mikage on C-Project. However, this information Alec is providing may need to be more widespread in order for General Drake to give at least a summary of things. And since groups such as NESTS may want to find any sort of information related to C-Project, that may be what they'll find. Also…" Nagi paused and glanced over at Riku. "I'm sure you've considered the possibility that a spy or double agent could infiltrate this group…"

"Yeah, though I hope that isn't the case, I trust everyone here, minus Reese of course." Riku said and then stopped as he remembered something. "Though there was one case…"

"What do you mean, Riku?" Chidori asked.

"Well, there was only one recruit I could never get to liking or trusting. His name was Han Zu Kang. If there ever was a recruit I would have suspected of betraying FOXHOUND, it would have been him." Riku answered, and looked over at Nagi and Tot. "This guy was in the group before you guys joined."

"And I can assume since no one here talks about him, that this Han was not very popular, right?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, not even some of our more patient operatives could stand the guy." Riku replied. "To say the least he had a big ego and always acted all high and mighty around practically everyone. I can't remember a single conversation where he wasn't being condescending towards whoever he was speaking with, me included. Not surprisingly, the guy was also Reese's favorite recruit."

"I guess that means you two didn't get along very well, did you?" Yuhi assumed.

"Too true, I'm afraid." Riku nodded in answer. "That guy always seemed to have a high opinion of himself, and always prattled on and on about individualism. Both of which got on practically everyone's nerves. It didn't help that he also didn't care anything about the safety of his comrades or anyone else." Riku sighed. "To be honest, at first I did everything I could to avoid that guy since I could tell he was bad news from the day he joined. I figured he'd do something that would get him kicked out of FOXHOUND sooner or later…"

"No such luck, huh?" Tot guessed.

"I'm afraid so." Riku then gave a light smile. "I guess we FOXHOUNDers cash in too much of our luck during missions." He paused before continuing. "Anyway, back to what I was talking about. Eventually, I kind of had to do something that sort of set things off with our disliking each other."

"What happened?" Aya asked.

"Remember how I said that Han was the condescending type? Well, one way he showed it was by walking into training sessions for the rookie recruits, the ones who were still training before being allowed to do more serious field missions." Riku explained. "Han basically used that as a way to demonstrate his skills to show off and to humiliate the recruits who were trying to get some training done. He even ended up beating some of them up just to prove a point, and those beatings went too far even for some of the more intense training sessions."

"Wouldn't some of the veterans who were training these recruits have had anything to say about that?" Nagi asked.

"Yes, but unfortunately, the instructors can't be there all the time, especially since there are times when there are so many missions that even the instructors themselves have to go out into the field. Which means that only a few instructors are handy and they can't watch over every single recruit during training." Riku answered. "Han took advantage of those times and tended to slip away when an instructor was coming. And when the instructors themselves tried making objections, Reese dismissed everything and Han got off the hook."

"That doesn't sound very fair." Chidori commented.

"Yeah, that Han guy sounds like a real bully!" Tot added. " I bet if Ryoko-san, Aoi-san, Megumi-san, Asuka-san, and Xiaoxing-san met him they'd have set him straight really good!"

"True, and I admit that would be something I'd definitely like to see." Riku agreed, giving a light chuckle at the thought.

(Almost enough to wish the little bastard was still in this world so I could see that happen.) He mentally added to himself, trying hard not to fantasize about seeing the recruit he had hated getting a beat down from the Shinsengumi. There would be time for that later.

"So what did you do about it, Riku?" Shuro asked.

"Well, to tell you the truth, it wasn't entirely something I did…" Riku admitted, rubbing his head with sheepish grin. "But, it did sort of start with me. I had heard about what happened and thought maybe I could talk the guy out of it…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

September 2011…

"Are you actually serious, Hanabishi?" Han asked Riku. "Are you actually telling me what to do?"

"I'm only saying you should take it easier with the newer recruits." Riku answered.

The two of them were standing outside the training area in the locker area. No one else was around to hear their conversation.

"I don't see what's wrong with what I'm doing." Han said simply. "I'm just helping to toughen them up a little and give them some extra training. This way they can see what a REAL soldier is supposed to be."

(Damn, I've forgotten how difficult this guy can be.) Riku thought to himself. (No wonder he's Reese's favorite…)

"Maybe so, but if that's your intention you shouldn't do it the way that you're doing so now." He said. "The way you're doing it makes it look like you're just showing off and flaunting your skills in their faces. I mean…these guys are going to be our teammates sooner or later, so we should make a good impression on them. The way you're doing it will…"

"Like I need a sorry bunch like that for teammates." Han said with distaste in his voice and then looked at Riku with disgust. "So what, are you saying I should act all nice and give this bunch a nice little coddling? Ha! What a joke! Though I wouldn't mind doing that with some of those female recruits…"

"No, that's not what I'm saying!" Riku replied, trying to hide his growing irritation. "I know training is supposed to be hard, but…"

"Oh please, like you're one to talk." Han cut him off. "The only reason you accomplish your mission is probably because you're always hiding behind guys like Hansen and Durev. You're probably just saying all this so you'll have more people to hide behind during the rest of your missions." Han snickered. " 'Dragon', heh, maybe you should've picked 'dragon-**fly**' as your codename instead." Han greatly accentuated the word 'fly' as he said that.

(And maybe you should have picked 'cockroach' or 'dung beetle' for your codename!) Riku thought. Despite this, he managed to keep from showing anything less than irritation at Han.

"I don't hide behind anyone, I fight alongside my comrades." Riku told the recruit simply. "We call that 'teamwork', you should try it sometime."

"Whatever, now are you going to keep talking nonsense, or can I leave now? I have a busy schedule to keep." Han then paused and sneered at Riku. "Of course if you want to discuss this further with Reese, then by all means let's. I'm sure he can work things out."

Riku looked at Han for a second and then sighed.

"No, no, that's fine, do whatever you want." The ninja said simply, causing Han to grin in satisfaction.

"Good, I'm glad you see things the right way." Han said before turning and leaving the room.

Riku then gave a shrug.

(Well, I guess I should have known this wouldn't work…) He thought. (I guess I'd better go with the other option…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So he did the same thing as before and hid behind this Lieutenant Reese just to avoid trouble?" Aki asked, not believing what he was hearing. "I can't believe someone like that was in your group. So what did you do about it?"

"Well, I went to Michael, Garland, and Seishiro-san and told them what was happening and asked if they knew any way to solve this." Riku answered and smiled, almost fighting the urge to chuckle as he remembered. "And they took care of things."

"What did they do?" Tot asked.

"Well, all three of them along with Marcus Blackthorne suddenly showed up during one of Han's 'training sessions' a few days later and then and began a session of their own." Riku then smiled. "I didn't do much except arrive a little earlier than they did, so I could stall Han until they arrived so the guy couldn't slip away from this. After, that I just sat back and watched."

"Couldn't you be just a bit more specific on this, Riku?" Nagi asked his friend with a sigh. "Everyone here seems pretty curious about what exactly you watched, you know."

"Including you, it seems." Riku noted with grin. "Otherwise, why would you have asked me to continue?"

"Well, that's…" Nagi stammered, not able to think of an excuse.

"Nagi-kun, you should be a bit more honest about these things." Tot spoke.

"It's not that I'm not being honest, Tot." Nagi said, trying to find some way to explain.

"Now, now, you two." Shuro spoke.

"Uh, is it okay if I continue now?" Riku asked hopefully, and then stopped to consider something. "Though I'm not that good a storyteller, and I think Michael, Garland, Seishiro-san, or Marcus could tell it better…"

"Don't worry about that, Riku, besides you've done a good job telling things already." Maya said.

"Well, thank you." Riku replied, blushing a little at the compliment. "Anyway, what happened next was more like a lecture than anything else. Basically, Michael, Garland, Seishiro-san, and Marcus did demonstrations on how to deal with certain situations one could encounter on a mission, how to deal with certain types of enemies one is likely to encounter, and other such things that the recruits should know for when they do field operations." Riku then grinned. "And Han was basically the one used as an example for every single demonstration. Unfortunately for him, he was actually pretty inept when it came to almost all of the demonstrations that were performed and had to do it over and over again until he got it right."

"Oh my…" Shuro commented as she could imagine the results.

"Good, the guy got a taste of his own medicine." Aya nodded in satisfaction.

It was obvious that everyone else in the room had similar feelings on this.

"It gets better." Riku said, sounding almost gleeful. "Since some of the rookies missed the first session, they had a second one for the ones who had missed the first. I'm afraid Han didn't do much better in that session either. But I'm afraid he wasn't a complete idiot; he was able to figure out who had brought this about…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

September 2011…

"You! You conniving Japanese bastard, you set this up!" Han shouted at Riku.

Once again, the two members of FOXHOUND were standing in the locker room. Han had just gotten out of the showers after the 'session' he had gone through. The look he was giving Riku was one of intense hatred as he knew the ninja was responsible for the humiliation he had suffered along with the aches and pains all over his body, which was sore from all the training.

"Now, now, Han, there's no need to be angry, I was only trying to help you." Riku said in a friendly, and innocent seeming (in other words obviously feigned), tone.

"Help me?" Han asked.

"Why yes. I remembered from our conversation a few days ago about how 'dedicated' you were to seeing our rookie recruits properly trained." Riku answered. "But then I realized that that was far too great a task for one person so I asked Michael and the others to help in this 'great endeavor' of yours."

"Help?!?! All they did was humiliate me in front of the rookie recruits! Twice!" Han shouted.

"Careful now, if you shout so much; your voice may crack." Riku said calmly. "Anyway, about that, don't take it so hard. I'm sure we were all surprised. I don't think there was anyone in the room that realized that you needed to have some training too. A good thing you were selected to be the example guy, this way you kill two birds with one stone. Everyone got the training that they needed."

Han could tell from Riku's tone of voice that the ninja was mocking him. He badly wanted to slug his enemy right where he was and then tackle and beat him until his face was unrecognizable. Unfortunately, the aches and pains all over his body from the double session made him unable to do this. It was really a miracle he had been able to get dressed.

"Quit your bullshitting!" Han snarled. "How could this possibly be considered training?!?! I ache all over thanks to you!"

"I don't see what's wrong in what we did." Riku said innocently, fighting the urge to laugh as he continued what he was going to say to Han. "We were just helping to toughen you up a little, and give you some extra training. This way you could see what a REAL soldier is supposed to be."

That statement did it for Han. To him it was bad enough that he had been humiliated in front of the rookie recruits twice, but now Riku was making him eat his own words.

Han then flung himself at Riku, which the young ninja was expecting and simply jumped back a little to dodge. As a result, the enraged Chinese recruit crashed face first into the floor.

"Uh, are you alright?" Riku asked, and was greeted by a flurry of Chinese swearing directed at him and all his relations all the way back to his ancestors. "I guess not, but really now, Han, do you even know what some of those words mean?"

Whether this was a response to his question or not, Riku had no idea as more curses were shouted at him. Some of these were hard even for Riku to interpret, despite the fact that he could speak and understand standard Mandarin dialect and a little bit of the Wu and Cantonese dialects.

"I guess I'll take that as a yes." Riku said to no one in particular and looked down at Han. "Don't worry, I'll call someone and have you brought to the infirmary as soon as possible. Please don't…well, actually… can you move at all?"

Another string of unintelligible curses answered his question.

"Alright, I'll go." Riku said quickly. "Remember what I said about your voice cracking, now…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"And as you can guess, we didn't get along at all after that." Riku finished. "In fact, I consider what I just told you the best conversation I ever had with the guy."

"Was he that bad?" Nagi asked.

"Bad enough that he let another FOXHOUNDer, a late friend of mine named Carlos Santiago, die just to make sure things went according to Reese's orders." Riku answered. "That guy didn't even show any semblance of remorse at all, and just said that 'he should have followed orders'. Even when it was brought up that the guy had a family, a wife and two daughters, it didn't change his opinion."

"You can't be serious, that guy didn't have anything to say at all?" Yuhi asked in disbelief. "Wasn't he even punished for this?"

"As usual, Han hid behind Reese and got off the hook without even a slap on the wrist." Riku answered, and his eyes lowered, something about them seeming to darken. "As for what he had to say…his only reply in regards to his family was 'then he should have known better than to disobey orders'. Then he began talking about how family men make the worst soldiers, but he didn't get very far."

"I'm hoping that means you did something about that." Aya said, not liking where this was going. Having lost her own father, she could sympathize with how Santiago's family must have felt, and to hear that someone had the nerve to bad mouth the man at all angered her greatly.

"Would punching him in the face count?" Riku asked in reply.

"Did you hit him more than once?" Chidori asked hopefully, as she had similar thoughts as Aya on this.

"Quite a few times, and in various places, Han wasn't as good a fighter as he thought he was." Riku answered. "Even though I had to spend over a week in solitary confinement afterwards."

"Sounds like it was worth it though." Aki said.

"I guess so…" Riku replied.

Sensing that his friend seemed a little uncomfortable with this particular subject, Nagi decided to change it.

"So this Han Zu Kang, what happened to him afterwards?" He asked. "I haven't seen or even heard about him, so I can assume he's not in this group now."

"Thankfully, yes." Riku answered. "Anyway to answer your question…one of the most memorable things that happened to Han before he left us rather suddenly was a bit later when Reese assigned him to do a mission with my friends and fellow FOXHOUNDers Gregory Kinezono, Linn Aramaki, and James Masterson. Han decided to follow Reese's orders to the letter no matter how ridiculous they were and took it upon himself to make sure everyone else followed them."

"Let me guess, he even decided to use that as an opportunity to throw his weight around, right?" Yuhi asked, which got a nod from Riku.

"He didn't even stop to consider the safety of his teammates?" Toya asked.

"From what Linn told me of what happened, the thought did not even cross his mind." Riku answered. "Well, as you can imagine, that didn't sit too well with Greg, Linn, or James, and in the end Greg had the guy handcuffed and left in a warehouse while the three of them completed the mission. Suffice to say, Han ended up with a pretty nasty cold as a result."

"You said that this was before he 'left rather suddenly', what did you mean?" Tot asked.

"Not too long after, Han was assigned to do a mission with Maggie, James, and Garland, also at the last minute as per Reese's request." Riku replied. "From what I understand, things became complicated during the operation thanks to Han, and then Reese gave another set of bad orders that really set things off."

"What happened?" Nagi asked.

"Maggie disagreed with those orders, but Han was completely adamant about making sure they were followed. This time he took things a step too far." Riku's expression for a second seemed to darken as he continued. "That backstabber, without a moment's hesitation, shot at and injured Maggie for not following Reese's orders."

"He shot one of his own teammates?!" Yuhi exclaimed. "Just for that?!?!"

"Unfortunately yes." Riku then smiled bitterly. "Fortunately, Garland and Michael showed up just in time and they both shot Han, who fell into the gears of some machines below, which proceeded to grind him into hamburger meat. Definite proof of karma if you ask me."

"Was that recruit, Maggie, alright afterwards?" Aya asked.

"Yeah, she recovered as the wound wasn't serious." Riku smiled in appreciation of his friend's concern. "Fortunately, Han wasn't as good a shot as he thought he was either." He then stopped as he remembered something. "It's too bad she's on a mission right now, I would have loved to introduce you guys to her. Maggie's a good and interesting person to know, I'm sure you'd all like her."

"So what do we do now?" Yuhi asked. "If you have the report ready and all, then there's not much more to do right?"

"Hmm, you've got a point there." Riku agreed, and then looked over at Aya. "Have you, Toya, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec gotten a tour of this place."

"Yeah, your friend Michael showed us around while you guys were out a couple of days ago." Aya answered.

"Well then, how about this." Riku suggested. "How about the three of us show you around Washington D.C.? There are some pretty interesting sites around here, and besides, it's not every day you get a free trip to America you know."

"Are you sure that's alright?" Shuro asked. "We weren't sure if we were allowed to leave, so…"

"I don't think it should be a problem as long as you stick with us." Nagi said and then turned to Riku. "You should probably ask, though."

"I'll take care of that then, and if they say it's alright I'll exchange some of the yen I have for some American money." Riku replied and then glanced at his watch. "Actually, we may have enough time to take a train to Philadelphia…" Riku then smiled. "There's this tasty American sandwich you guys need to try, it's called a 'cheese steak', and it's made from actual steak. It's amazing how much cheaper beef is over here. Anyway, I'll be back in few minutes."

"He's right that it's good, but it's not very healthy." Tot said with an almost regretful look on her face.

"Oh well, I think we'll somehow survive." Chidori said and glanced over at Aya. "And a certain someone doesn't have to worry about 'that' for a while."

"Hey, that may be true, but after the baby's born I'm going to have to exercise to get back into shape." Aya replied.

"Somehow I doubt that's going to cause much of a change." Aki commented jokingly.

"And just what does that mean?" Aya demanded of her twin with a slightly miffed expression.

"I guess things are starting to get back to normal for everyone, huh Nagi-kin?" Tot asked, turning to Nagi.

"It certainly is, Tot." Nagi nodded in agreement.

(And let's hope that it stays that way for as long as possible.) The young psychic thought to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"How far down does this passage go, old man?" Shade asked as he followed Kurando through the underground tunnel, with Tenzen right behind him. "What was this place anyway? I can see some signs that there have been people here a long time ago."

"This leads into what used to be a gathering place for Christians a couple of centuries ago." Kurando answered casually. "Eventually they found some other hiding place, so this place hasn't had any occupants for quite some time."

"So you're going to use what used to be a makeshift pulpit to summon an incarnation of darkness, how ironic." Shade commented half jokingly and half sarcastically. "Anyway, explain this whole thing to me again. What exactly do you need the guy Tenzen is carrying for?"

"It isn't really 'that' that we need, but rather the great amount of mara he has within him and wields." Kurando replied. "You see, I've been having Tenzen for the past few months seek out and capture Maram masters or wielders and bringing them to me for the success of the ceremony to summon Darva. It's because all Maram wielders have a connection to their master. In other words Maram wielders call Darva, and Darva calls Maram wielders."

"So a whole entire mass of them is guaranteed to summon him?" Shade asked, skepticism in his voice. "Somehow I don't think it's that simple. Otherwise why would Maram masters go through so much trouble each time Darva tries to incarnate himself into this world to insure that the process can be successful, which as far as I know has never been?"

"That's what the ceremony is for." Kurando answered. "It takes a great amount of negative emotion and feeling to create a sort of 'doorway' and 'platform' for Darva to show up, and even more for when he actually is supposed to begin incarnating. Also, the 'host' has to be present and willing for Darva to assimilate with him or her, at least initially. After all, that host's very being is devoured by him."

"You've left out the fact that the host is 'chosen' by Darva as well." Shade added. "What makes you think you'd even be on the list?"

"As usual you underestimate the Mas-." Tenzen began.

"Shut up! I wasn't talking to you." Shade growled.

"Now, now…" Kurando said. "Anyway, to answer your question, this ceremony is meant to act as a sort of 'forced' acceptance."

"And how exactly…?" Shade began but stopped as the three of them entered the cavern. What the mercenary saw answered his question.

The cavern opened up into a massive, and roughly oval shaped, room. From the center outward were a series of glowing red circles with symbols etched into them, many of which Shade recognized. And throughout this series of circles were the bodies of at least two hundred people, each on of them laid out to be a part of their respective circles, and each one had some sort of blade driven into their chest or stomach and through to the ground below.

"Impressive that you were able to take so many without anyone noticing." Shade commented as observed all of this. "But I don't see how…" Shade then paused as he took a closer look and noticed that all of the bodies were faintly stirring. "They're still alive?"

"Yes, and it took quite a complicated spell to keep this lot on the brink of expiring." Kurando replied. "When ones such as these are on the brink of death, despair at their ending lives is one of the strongest feelings they have, and since the mara within them feeds on negative feelings and emotions it will strengthen things greatly."

"Obviously." Shade said and then noticed that a number of the ones that were women, ranging from teens to middle age, were wearing the tattered remains of whatever clothing they had originally been wearing, if any at all. Shade could also tell from the obvious signs of abuse on their bodies what had happened to them beforehand. "It looks like you and Tenzen have been having quite a bit of fun."

"Yes, that happens to be one of the perks of this. Quite a few of them were very good after the first five or six goes." Kurando gave smirk as he looked over at Shade. "If you want I could heal and let you have as many as you want for a while. That would be pretty helpful. We have as much mara coming from this lot now, but a little more wouldn't hurt."

"As Kurando-sama told you, because negative emotions increase the potency of mara, this is actually one of the best, not to mention enjoyable, ways to do so." Tenzen commented in agreement.

"Thanks but no thanks." Shade replied. "I prefer fresh women; I'm not interested in your leftovers. Especially knowing that they were shared between the two of you."

"Suit yourself." Kurando shrugged.

"Anyway, tell me, what exactly is it that you need for me to do?" Shade asked.

"We need your powers of the Orochi mainly." Kurando answered. "Tenzen will be busy maintaining the field while the two of us work on the actual summoning. Since most of my energy afterwards will be spent on integrating with Darva and at the same time ensuring he won't absorb me, your task will be to restrain and subdue Darva with your Orochi power and whatever other power you wish to use."

"Alright, that shouldn't be a problem." Shade then noticed something in the centermost circle. A closer inspection showed four metal skewers with the head of a monster stuck to each one.

"These are…" Shade studied each head, recognizing each monster, before turning to Kurando. "Seraphim, Hinogakutsuchi, Takemikazuchi, and Baal; quite a selection, especially considering that monsters like these have become very hard to find these days, at least in this world. So what exactly are their heads supposed to do?"

"As you know, monsters are more…durable than humans, meaning they can survive quite a few things that humans cannot, beheading being one of them." Kurando then gestured at the heads, causing Shade to look at them again and notice that they were practically struggling on the skewers they were stuck on. "These particular monsters are capable of seeing beyond this world and can pull things out from them, in a way."

"And that's how you intend to net Darva and pull him into this world, huh?" Shade surmised. "Hmm, this should be interesting, though…" Shade then stopped as he realized something. "Hold on, there's more to this than just that, isn't there? You'd only need two monsters, but…" Shade's eyes narrowed. "What else are you trying to get out of this, old man?"

"Perceptive as always, that's what I've always liked about you, Shingen." Kurando smiled. "Anyway, remember how I said that I intended to make Darva's power a part of me? By that I meant everything. I will not leave any external remains of his power in a world where he resides. With those extra monster heads I will also be calling out and absorbing those various types of demons and death gods that reside within the 'inner heart'. Everything that is Darva's will become mine in that aspect."

"Any reason why you picked these monsters in particular?" Shade asked.

"The Baal type monsters are connected to negative emotions and so it is to act as a catalyst for the mara." Kurando explained. "The other three are there for their ability to devour souls. Those creatures from the 'inner heart' will be devoured by them, which will cause them to gain immense power…"

"Which you'll absorb from them into yourself, huh?" Shade surmised. "You've certainly put quite a bit of work into this…"

"Indeed." Kurando paused for a moment before continuing. "Well then, shall we get things started now?"

"Why not?" Shade shrugged. "So how long will this take?"

"About twenty four hours…by tomorrow things are going to get very interesting indeed…" Kurando smiled. "So, my friend, let's take our positions. Be ready to call upon the Orochi at my signal."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So do you have everything?" Nagi asked Riku as he and Tot watched him finish up with making a final check on the report for General Drake. They were in the quarters area for the FOXHOUND recruits, having woken up and had breakfast a couple of hours ago, and had just gotten back from meeting with Michael and Alec.

"Yeah, pretty much." Riku answered.

"So we'll go and get Aya and the others, pick up the nanomachines for Toya-san and Aki-san, and then wait outside General Drake's office, right?" Tot asked.

"Yeah, since he'll have a few questions for everyone." Riku nodded. "After that it's back to Japan we go."

"It's too bad Michael can't come back with us, though." Tot said with some regret.

"Well, it can't really be helped, Tot." Nagi said. "Michael was given an urgent assignment while we were out yesterday with everyone and he's scheduled to leave for it tomorrow."

"No rest for the weary." Riku quoted the old adage. "Well, at least everyone had a good time yesterday with all the places we showed them."

"True enough." Nagi agreed. "Well, let's get going then."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

General Carter Drake's Office…

It had taken Riku a little over an hour to give the details of the mission that he, Nagi, Tot, and Michael had completed with the help Ran, Ken, Youji, and Omi of Weiss and of course Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec. General Carter Drake had sat at his desk and listened to what the ninja had to say and had occasionally asked questions. Drake had also read through the report that Riku had handed to him

"…And after that mercenary, Shade, retreated we were picked up by the FOXHOUND chopper." Riku finished before pausing to take a drink from a glass of water. "And that's basically what happened, sir."

"I see…" Drake paused as he considered all that he had just heard from Riku and what was written in the report. "Well, Drakken, I have to say…"

"This is inexcusable!" Reese's voice shouted from behind, causing Riku to turn to see Lieutenant Reese walk into the office carrying a few folders. "I'm sorry, General, but I could not help but overhear what Hanabishi has just told you." After unceremoniously dropping the folders onto Drake's desk, the lieutenant turned to Riku. "So let me get this straight, not only did you manage to let a valuable prisoner be killed by the enemy, you endangered everyone on your team and under your protection by engaging an enemy who had bombs strapped to him and letting him set them off before you could take him prisoner. To top that off, you ended up giving vital information to the enemy without even putting up a fight!"

"Lieutenant, the first couldn't be avoided as Kagami Mikage wanted to talk to me about something important alone." Riku said. "I will admit that it was a bad decision on my part, but something told me at the time that the information he had was valuable enough for me to make that decision."

"Well, thanks to you that information was lost since according to you, just when that man was about to speak this killer named Viper did him in." Reese replied smugly.

"Like I said I…" Riku paused for a moment.

(Again…why does something not feel right about this…) Riku wondered as he thought back on how he had said and written down that Kagami had asked to speak with only him about some important information, but before the man could say anything Black Arts Viper had arrived and killed him. (Why…?)

"Hey, Hanabishi, are you even listening to me?!" Reese half shouted, getting Riku's attention.

"Sorry, you were speaking too fast for me to understand you, sir." Riku replied, making it sound like he simply hadn't understood the lieutenant's English, something he knew annoyed Reese to no end.

"As I was saying…why did you engage an enemy with a bomb strapped to him and endanger your team unnecessarily?" Reese asked with irritation in his voice.

"That could not be avoided either as we were in an enclosed space." Riku answered. "Also, we did not know the enemy had a bomb on him, as the bomb was implanted inside his body."

"Do you honestly expect us to believe such a ridiculous story?" Reese asked mockingly. " Really, a bomb implanted inside an enemy soldier? How ludicrous, almost as ludicrous as that obviously made up story about fighting some 'immortal' mercenary…I think you've been watching too many movies or too many of those ridiculous cartoons that you people are somehow able to make money off of." Reese then sneered. "Anyway, we'll get to the truth of the matter later, now what about your just giving a disc containing valuable information to the enemy?"

"There was no choice, the enemy would have killed the people we were protecting if…" Riku began.

"Need I remind you of the policy of not negotiating with terrorists?" Reese asked.

"Doesn't that just apply to governments?" Riku asked in reply. "Besides, those guys were assassins, not terrorists."

"Like there's any difference." Reese snorted. "Now why did you not put up a fight?"

"Because they would have killed the people we were protecting if we had." Riku's answer was simple.

"A group of eleven people was intimidated by only three?" Reese asked scornfully. "I'm sure you should have been able to do something…"

"Of those eleven people, only four were capable of fighting at that point and none of those four were in the best of physical conditions at that point. The rest were either not in any condition to fight or were not trained to fight such people. Also we had been caught completely off guard, meaning those guys were fully prepared to attack if we tried anything." Riku answered.

"Hmph, and I was expecting a better excuse, what an incompetent team you've formed, Hanabishi." Reese scoffed. "In any case…"

"Oh neither of my nakama are to blame, Lieutenant, they were prepared to fight those guys if necessary." Riku interrupted him, and then smiled. "I guess you didn't hear my report to General Drake well enough so I'll repeat myself. The disc was given to those three assassins under my orders as the team leader."

There was dead silence for a moment as Riku's words registered in Reese's mind.

"You did…WHAT?!?!" Reese exploded.

"Once again, Lieutenant, I was the one who gave the order for the disc containing the Metal Gear data to be handed over to the assassin group Schwarz." Riku stated simply, and then tilted his head slightly and made an obviously fake expression of concern. "Pardon my saying this, but has your hearing been alright as of late? I hope those wouldn't happen to be side effects from that injury that you suffered back in Russia when you came to survey how that mission with WOTAN turned out."

"You…" Reese gritted his teeth, and a couple of veins could be seen practically popping out of his forehead in his anger at Riku not just at the obvious insult behind the mock concern, but also at the ninja's having brought up how he had been humiliated after Michael Hansen had struck him in the aftermath of that mission for his incompetence. "I've had it with you! General Drake, I want this man arrested and…"

"I think you've said enough, Lieutenant Reese." Carter Drake spoke, his tone of voice a cold and harsh one. "The only reason I haven't interrupted you so far is because I could not believe that even you would go this far…"

Reese stiffened up in nervousness as he realized Drake's tone of voice was directed at him.

"B-but sir, you've been listening haven't you?" Reese asked. "The one who should be punished is…"

"Lieutenant Reese, I have been going over this whole mission with Drakken so I know what happened during its course." Drake replied. "I find absolutely no wrongdoing in any of his actions or any actions taken by his teammates during the course of the mission."

"But sir, you can't just write off Hanabishi's giving that disc over to the enemy, that's…" Reese began.

"Because the Mikage metal gear, ARK, was not designed to be a weapon then the data would not have been very useful anyway, that is one reason." Drake said. "Also, I agree with Drakken that the protection of the people they were assigned to protect was a higher priority." Drake then paused before continuing. "Now tell me, Reese, just how much of Drakken's report did you hear?"

"When I arrived to give you the last documents I had concerning this operation I heard Drakken talking about how he allowed…I mean how the prisoner Kagami Mikage was killed by the enemy." Reese answered. "Now surely, sir…"

"Did I not tell you that you were no longer to have any part with this mission, Reese?" Drake asked. "Think very carefully about your next answer, Lieutenant, because you may very well be facing charges of disobeying orders along with conduct unbecoming of an officer."

"I, I only heard this by accident, sir, I…" Reese was now sweating with nervousness. "Look, what does it matter? Drakken and his bunch…"

"Completed the mission successfully without any losses on their side, and that is the end of it." Drake finished firmly. "It seems to me that the only problems they experienced over the course of the mission came from two sources. The enemy, as can be expected, and the other from a source that should not be the source of any problems during a mission, that team's very headquarters. Now tell me, Reese, why is that?"

"W-well…" Reese stammered as he could not think of a good excuse.

"Perhaps you should have come earlier so we could have conveniently reviewed a few certain points of events during Drakken's mission, but seeing as you're here now, we can do so." Drake then turned through the pages of the report Riku gave him. "First, in the case of shortly after Drakken's team began their mission. During the rescue of Chidori and Shota Kuruma, Chidori Kurma was shot and seriously injured. Drakken called requesting permission for a chopper to take her to the Japanese HQ of FOXHOUND for emergency medical treatment, but you denied it. Why?"

"Th-this mission was deemed a classified operation, sir, so I only assumed…" Reese began.

"Then apparently you forgot that the mission's current objective at the time was the rescue and safe return of both Kuruma siblings, which took priority over any form of secrecy." Drake said.

"But that girl was Drakken and his team's responsibility, so any injury was their fault because of their own carelessness." Reese argued.

"Even if that were true, you were still the one who denied the request for medical assistance, Reese, and for no justifiable reason." Drake reminded him. "If Drakken had not had back up plan, there is a good chance Miss Kuruma may have died. If that had occurred, Reese, I would have made sure that you would face, at the very least, a court martial and also face charges of negligent homicide."

"G-general, I assure you that was not my intention!" Reese said quickly.

"Yes, I realize that." Drake replied with some sarcasm. "But while we're on the subject concerning your actions during this mission, I believe that we should also go over how close you are to being charged with conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman. Disregarding your past actions in this group, your actions over the course of this past mission could suffice. Aside from your negligence that you so obviously displayed at the start of the mission, you have also proven to have displayed disorderly conduct while on duty as you were in the medical ward yesterday, not to mention your conduct just now with your barging in unannounced and beginning your ranting at Drakken, and then there is the subject of your behavior while Drakken brought Chidori Kuruma and Yuhi Aogiri to this base."

Reese looked like he wanted to say something in his defense, but Drake cut him off.

"Are you aware, Reese, why conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman is considered to be a serious offense?" He asked. "It is because of how badly it affects the overall moral of soldiers as those who abuse their positions of authority cannot expect to be respected by their men, who could very well become badly influenced by such action which would lead to complete disorder."

Riku tried to hide the fact that he was enjoying this, but decided it would probably be best to leave the room as he did not want to bother Drake.

"Excuse me, General." Riku spoke up. "But, would it be alright if I waited outside until you are ready to speak with everyone else? Since it appears you're dealing with a very significant 'problem'," Riku emphasized on the word 'problem' while glancing briefly at Reese, "I think it would be best for me to wait until you've cleared this up. I wouldn't want my presence to trouble you, after all."

"I thank you for your concern, Mr. Hanabishi." Drake nodded at Riku with a grateful smile. "Yes, it probably would be a good idea that you wait outside then."

Riku saluted Drake and then left the room, leaving Reese to be chewed out once again by Drake.

"As you can probably tell, things are going pretty well." Riku said as he walked into the waiting room where Nagi, Tot, Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec were waiting.

"Would that be in how the General received the report or how Reese managed to get himself into even more trouble?" Nagi asked even though he knew the answer.

"Both at the same time." Riku answered.

"So I guess this means we're going to have to wait for a little bit until we need to speak with this General Drake?" Maya guessed.

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Yuhi said, as he obviously wasn't going to mind hearing Drake chewing out Reese.

"You've got my vote there." Chidori said in agreement.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" Shuro asked, looking over at Nagi.

"You mean our waiting, or General Drake's interviewing you all?" Nagi asked in reply.

"Both of them."

"Well, the General strikes me as a sensible man and leader so I don't think the bit with Reese will take too long." Nagi paused as he heard a little bit more if what Drake had to say in his berating Reese. "As you can hear, he's getting straight to the point on things. As for the latter, well, I doubt it should be too long if the report has been read. The General probably just wants to confirm a few things…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It had taken a little less than half an hour for General Drake to finish dealing with Reese, after which the latter had abruptly left the office in a hurry. Reese had shot the group a look of great contempt as he had left.

"Now if only the smell of those cheap cigars he smokes could leave that fast." Riku commented with a look of revulsion. It had been obvious ever since the lieutenant had entered General Drake's office that the man had smoked quite a few just before coming in.

"Maybe the lung cancer will get him." Tot suggested.

"We can only hope." Nagi agreed and turned to Riku. "Do you actually think he'll write those things?"

"I'm not so sure I want to accept an apology from someone like that." Chidori said.

While berating Reese for his actions during the recently passed mission, General Carter Drake had also ordered Reese to give a formal apology not just to Chidori, but to the Aogiri family as well for his behavior. Drake obviously didn't want to risk Reese's actions causing problems between FOXHOUND and the Aogiri family.

"I think you'll get something in the mail; General Drake did give Reese the orders and I doubt that guy will want to get into anymore trouble by disobeying them." Riku answered Nagi's question. "Still, I doubt it will be Reese who writes it. He's probably going to hand the job over to a secretary and leave it at that."

"Yes, I'm afraid that would be like him, I'm sorry to say." General Drake's voice spoke, causing everyone to turn to see the General walk into the room. He smiled a little and shook his head as Riku, Nagi, and Tot were about to get up. "At ease, you three, there's no need for that right now." Drake then turned to Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec.

"Well, I must say that it's a pleasure to meet all of you." Drake then paused and then gave a polite smile. "Oh, do excuse my manners, I should introduce myself first. I am General Carter Drake. I've heard quite a bit about all of you from both Drakken and Venom, both of which have had some pretty good things to say about you all."

As introductions were exchanged, Tot glanced over at Nagi and Riku.

"It sure is nice to see that Aya and the others are meeting and getting along so well with our friends in FOXHOUND, right guys?" She asked cheerfully.

"It certainly is, Nanami." Nagi said as he nodded in agreement, while Riku smiled and did the same.

(It's also nice to have friends to meet each other…) The young psychic thought to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It had taken a little over an hour for Drake to finish speaking with Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec. After that the group had proceeded to grab their things and then head for the plane that would be departing soon from FOXHOUND HQ so it could take them back to Japan.

As they got on the plane, the group then began talking to one another.

"Well, that General Drake sure was a pleasant fellow." Shuro commented as everyone was taking their seats.

"He certainly does display fine qualities as a leader so I can see why he's so highly regarded in your group." Toya commented in agreement.

"Yeah, your friends Michael and Seishiro-san had some pretty good things to say about him too." Aya said.

"Well, that's the kind of leader he is, you guys." Riku grinned as he said this. "General Drake is a bit strict when it comes to military discipline, but he's a leader we FOXHOUNDers can count on."

"He has given that impression, I must admit." Nagi agreed. "And like you said, he does also come across as a leader whose subordinates can see him as 'one of them' and not the distant kind."

"Well, that in itself helps to show effective leadership." Shuro commented. "From my understanding, aren't soldiers likelier to respect a leader who is a definite part of the group than a leader who commands from a safe distance?"

"True enough, Shuro, in fact I…" Riku suddenly stopped for s second as he seemed to suddenly realize something but then shook his head a little. "Well, anyway, did you guys want to know anything else about General Drake?"

"Actually, I think there's something very important that we're overlooking." Chidori spoke and looked over at Aya and Toya. "Isn't it about time you two finally tied the knot?"

"W-well…" Aya blushed some as she thought of how to answer.

"I think you've brought up a good point there, Chidori." Shuro noted. "Considering that everything with the Mikage has been resolved, I think now's as good a time as any."

"Can I be a flower girl?" Tot asked eagerly.

"Now hold on a second…!" Aya started.

"Hey, Aya, let me ask you something." Aki spoke. "You and Toya do want to get married, right?"

"Of course we do, it's just…" Aya paused for a second before continuing. "It's just that it's not like we can do this overnight. I mean the money Toya and I have saved up could barely cover a small ceremony."

"Aya does have a point, and I also need to get my old job as Dr. Kurozuka's assistant back." Toya added, and then remembered and looked over at Aya. "Also…"

"Yeah, we also need to save up money for when the baby's born and after." Aya nodded.

"Hey if money is the only problem then…" Yuhi began, but Aya stopped him.

"Yuhi, I know what you're about to suggest, and I have to say no thank you." She said firmly. "I can't just let you and Suzumi pay that much. You two have done so much for me and Toya already…"

"Well, in that case…" Riku spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Riku, but I'd have to say the same to you too." Aya said. "It's not that I don't appreciate either of you guys wanting to help us, but…"

"Aya, my family wouldn't mind you know." Riku said and turned to Toya. "Since you're not saying anything, I assume you have the same opinion."

"Yes, I do." Toya nodded. "Also I can understand what Aya means. I believe I would have a similar feeling if Dr. Kurozuka had made a similar offer."

"Man, it looks like Aya really has had her affect on you." Yuhi said, half mumbling.

"Well, I guess I see your point…" Riku said to Aya and Toya in agreement. "Also I guess I was being a bit hasty, I was offering what really wasn't mine to offer. So how about this? I've got quite a bit saved up from my FOXHOUND salary so…"

"Riku, before you finish that…you do realize that's going to be even harder to accept than the last ones." Nagi commented.

"Huh?" Riku stopped to try to think on how that would be.

"Well, it's money that you've obviously worked hard to get so I wouldn't blame someone for feeling guilty taking it." Shuro explained.

"That and if you consider that you risked your life in getting it…" Maya began but stopped as everyone noticed Riku's head seemed to hang as he seemed to sink slightly into his chair.

"Now for some reason I feel guilty for making the offer." Riku said in a now gloomy tone of voice.

"Look you guys it's alright, I've got some money saved up." Aya said quickly. "Toya and I just need to save up some more and that should do it."

Meanwhile, Aki was looking at Aya and was obviously trying not to make it obvious he was smiling.

(She really has grown up from all of this…) Aki thought to himself, feeling proud of his twin for what she was saying. (I just hope she accepts this…)

"Aya would you have any problems if you knew if there was family money set aside for you to use?" Aki asked.

"Well, I guess not but Mom's still in the hospital and I don't think anyone in the family who has a lot of money would be willing to…" Aya then stopped as she realized something and then looked at her brother. "Wait a minute…are you…?"

"The last time I checked, I am still the head of the Mikage family." Aki smiled confidently. "With Kagami gone, I should be able to have access to more than enough money for to pay for a wedding."

There was a silence in the plane cabin as realization dawned on everyone else, with the exceptions of Toya, who had figured this out a while ago but had just forgotten to mention this to anyone, and Nagi as he assumed everyone else had been aware of that beforehand.

"Then…" Alec began.

"…that means…" Tot said.

"…WE'RE IN THE PRESENCE OF A BILLIONAIRE!!" The chorused voices of Riku, Tot, Yuhi, Chidori, Maya, Shuro, and Alec echoed throughout the cabin. In Riku's mind, Yuki's voice echoed the same thing as even she was amazed at this revelation.

"N-no wait a minute." Chidori realized something and looked at Yuhi quickly. "Yuhi, the Mikage is a big conglomerate, right?"

"Well yeah, but I don't think it has very big prospects now." Yuhi replied.

"Then that could mean…" Chidori turned to look back at Riku and co., obviously only hearing Yuhi's 'yes' answer.

"Aki could very well be a trillionaire." Riku said in an amazed tone of voice as he looked over at Aki.

"That's amazing…" Tot said.

Nagi glanced over at Riku before speaking.

"I'm curious, Riku, why are you so amazed at this?" The young psychic asked his friend. "Doesn't your uncle Kurei have about that much money?"

"Yeah, but this makes Aki the second billionaire that I know." Riku answered. "That doesn't happen too often you know…"

Nagi sweatdropped at his friend's answer and sighed.

"You amaze me sometimes, you know that…" The young psychic said.

"But it certainly must be daunting to suddenly have so much money like that." Alec spoke up. "I know that's how it would be for me if I were in your shoes, Aki…"

"Thanks Alec." Aki said to his friend as he appreciated Alec's concern.

(Well, it's good that everyone's reacting pretty much normally…) He thought to himself and was about to say something, but Alec spoke first and what he said pretty much canceled out Aki's thought.

"…I mean…ALL THE ANIME YOU COULD OWN!" Alec's voice seemed to shake the plane as he seemed to be gazing off into the distance at something only he could see.

"You could get the special edition versions and DVD collections for the greatest anime series ever released, no for EVERY anime ever released." The Scottish otaku continued. "And then the manga versions for every single one of them, the ones that have manga versions anyway. And let's not forget all the games too, every fighting game, every action game, every RPG, every bishoujo game…" Alec's eyes seemed to shine in a dreamy manner. "And when you go to a Con, you can get all the doujinshi you want, all the artbooks too, and the posters, the models, and the cosplay accessories…"

Everyone sweatdropped at the sight of Alec's spectacle, but could only watch as Alec continued on. They knew they had no chance of being able to stop him.

(I wonder if Otacon would act like this if he were in this situation…) Riku thought to himself.

It took about an hour then for Alec to snap out of it and by then the plane had taken off.

"Sorry about that." Alec said sheepishly in apology.

"Hey, it's alright." Aki said.

"Yeah, in fact I'm sure quite a few of us understand, me included." Riku added, and paused to consider something. "Now that I think about it, the prospect of having so many anime and games does sound pretty appealing. Especially…"

"Riku, please don't you start too." Nagi said in an almost pleading tone, as the mental image of his partner going on a tirade similar to Alec's was not something he wanted to see in reality.

"Anyway, just to let you all know, I'm planning on having most of the Mikage family money to be used to help the families of all those people who were affected by C-Project and lost family members as a result." Aki said and then turned to Aya. "I will have some money set aside for Mom to help her, and of course the money set aside to pay for you and Toya getting married."

"What about you, Aki?" Toya asked.

"I know what you're thinking Toya, and yes I'll set aside a little bit of money for myself but just enough to get by on for a while and pay for school." Aki answered. "I never wanted to be the head of the family, that's just something the old man decided on. I want to find my own path in life."

For a moment no one said anything as they couldn't find a good response to what Aki had just said. Finally, Aya broke the silence.

"Aki…" She began, her expression unreadable, before suddenly throwing her arms around her twin brother and hugging him. "Doing all of those things Toya and me, and for everyone…you really are a great brother! Thank you so much onii-chan!!"

Normally, if Aki had heard Aya say this to him, his first assumption would be that his sister was teasing him. Two things, however, made it that this was not such a case. First, in the fact that a river of tears of joy seemed to be pouring out of Aya's eyes as she said this, and second, and perhaps most obvious, was that the hug that his twin was giving him was almost crushing him.

"Aya…can't…breathe…" Aki's voice croaked out, causing Aya to quickly let go of him.

"Whoops…sorry about that." Aya said with a slightly embarrassed smile, her expression now returned to normal.

(SHE JUST SUDDENLY COMPLETELY CHANGED EXPRESSIONS!!) Riku, Nagi, and Tot thought the exact same thing as they looked in a mixture of amazement and shock.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to this." Yuhi said with sympathy in his voice as he patted Riku and Nagi on the shoulder.

"It may take a while though." Chidori admitted.

"Or maybe not." Shuro spoke. "It didn't take that long with me."

"I think that's just because you're you, Shuro-san." Maya commented with a sweatdrop.

"Hey, just to let you know I can hear everything you guys are saying." Aya spoke, turning to her friends.

(On second thought, I completely take back what I was thinking.) Aki thought to himself as he finished catching his breath. (She hasn't changed at all…)

"Still, what's with the 'onii-chan' all of a sudden?" Aki asked. "You haven't called me that since we were little. It's always been 'aniki' since then."

"I guess it must have just slipped out, sorry about that aniki." Aya admitted.

"Oh don't worry, I understand." Aki said with a smile. "It is a little early, but I understand…"

"A little early? What do you mean?" Aya asked, now suspicious because she could she something behind Aki's expression.

"Don't worry, Aya, we'll still love you no matter how weird your mood swings get." Aki answered her in a sympathetic tone of voice.

"Mood swings?" Aya's right eyebrow started to twitch at that.

"Oh yeah, Toya, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to put Aya in charge of what food will be served at the wedding." Aki pretended to ignore his twin's expression. "She'll probably order some pretty weird stuff, since the cravings will probably be setting in by then."

"Is it really that serious?" Toya asked, not realizing that this was a joke. "I have read about these symptoms in medical journals and textbooks, but they don't dwell too much on them. Isn't it just a natural thing?"

"Yeah, but let's just say Aya's a 'special' case." Aki replied. It was then that Toya noticed the looming figure of Aya behind Aki and he knew his future wife well enough to know what was about to happen next.

"Oh dear…" Shuro said as she, as well as everyone in the cabin, could tell what was going to happen as well.

"I think I'll get some rest now." Riku spoke suddenly as he lay back into his chair.

"Do you actually think you'll be able to sleep through…you know." Yuhi gestured back at Aya.

"Yuhi, if I can sleep through the sound of bombs and/or guns going off I should be able to sleep through this." Riku replied and looked at Aya once again as she was about to descend on her brother. "I think…maybe…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shade gritted his teeth in an effort to remain calm. It wasn't because of fear at what was going on the chamber that he, Kurando, and Tenzen were in, but something completely different. It was to control the growing excitement that was coming as a result of what he could feel was about to happen.

Everything was going just as Kurando had predicted. The impaled bodies of those with mara in them had long since stopped struggling and had gone limp as their mara simply began to flow out of them and gather into a large dark mist.

(It doesn't look like there will be much left of them once this is through.) Shade thought to himself as he saw that every single one of the maram wielders had long since gone limp with their eyes staring sightlessly out as the mara leaked out of their mouths, ears, and even from the pores of their skin. As a result a few of the bodies looked as if they were starting to decompose or fall apart.

Shade's attention then turned to the monster heads that Kurando had stuck in the middle of the chamber. The Baal's head was emanating a strong red aura that seemed to flow up into the black cloud of mara above it. Meanwhile, the heads of the Seraphim, Hinogakutsuchi, and Takemikazuchi were also glowing with a red aura, but in this case, the aura was not connecting with the black cloud.

(It looks like the malice within each monster has activated…) Shade thought and then noticed that something seemed to be flowing into the mouths of each monster's head. A closer look showed a variety of black white shapes compressed together being pulled into the monsters' mouths and as this was happening flesh seemed to growing out from beneath the monsters' necks. Shade then noticed something else and smirked at what he saw. (That old fool…he's thought of everything. Because mara and malice both are connected to negative feelings and emotions, he was counting on the mara to help activate and strengthen the malice within the monsters so they would have the strength to devour as many of those creatures of 'inner heart' as there are. He of course knew the monsters would start to regenerate from that and so he had seals prepared to keep the monsters in place. Not bad at all…)

"Shingen, prepare yourself!" Kurando's voice called out to Shade, interrupting the mercenary's thoughts. "He is coming!!"

Shade grinned in anticipation as he could feel the approaching power. It felt overwhelming to him, but Shade almost felt like laughing with delight. For the first time in centuries, he would finally be able to do battle using his Orochi power against something that could actually compete with it. Shade then proceeded to take the trenchcoat he was wearing off and tossing it aside as he knew it would just get in the way in the battle.

Shade watched as the black cloud suddenly seemed to solidify and then something within it seemed to open and out through it emerged a tall black robed figure. The cowl of the robe was arranged so that it hid its wearer's face. Still, long braided white hair came out from the cowl and it was arranged so that it went over the figure's shoulders and down its back where the hair was tied together.

Shade was about to call on the power of the Orochi, when he suddenly noticed something was wrong.

"Hey old man, that's…" Shade began.

"Yes I know what came out is simply a projection." Kurando shouted back quickly. "That's all I need to pull Darva in, as soon as you see him, Shingen…that is when you must begin."

Shade gazed into the black cloud which now, through Kurando's planning, had become a gate through which their prey was emerging. For a moment, the mercenary saw nothing, but then suddenly he felt something move within the gate, and gazed deeper into it. Shade's eyes widened at what he saw.

The creature that was Darva was enormous; almost as tall as a skyscraper. A gigantic winged and fanged creature that seemed to match many stories' descriptions of what a devil would look like. Obviously, Darva had long since lost his original human form, as Shade could tell this was the real body as he could feel the immense power coming from it. There could be no other source.

Shade glanced over at Kurando, who nodded at him to signal it was time. The mercenary needed no second bidding and leapt forward at the gateway, grinning as he began to call upon the power of the Orochi.

It was then that time seemed to slow down around Shade as he immediately realized something was wrong.

(The…the Orochi's power, it's…it's coming too fast!) Shade thought, sudden alarm creeping towards up in the back of his mind. The Orochi's power was suddenly coming to him and rising at a rate too fast for him to control, and none of his attempts to slow it down were working.

(This is impossible! How can I be losing control?!) Shade wondered. (I've long since mastered the power of the Orochi, so why is it…?!)

Shade then looked forward at the monstrous form of Darva and then realized what was going on. It was then that he could hear the sound of a word being spoken over and over within that gate.

(I…I underestimated the Maram Words, damn it!) Shade cursed himself for this mistake. Darva was a lot stronger than he had anticipated and was using his power to make Shade's go out of control. (I've gotten too used to the idea of Maram masters being weaklings, that I didn't take into account the possibility that the creator of it all, someone older than the old fool himself, would be a threat!)

And now another thought came to Shade's mind, a possibility he had never considered before as he was certain it no longer applied to him, came to mind.

(If this keeps up I'll either end up going into a Blood Riot like those other Orochi clan weaklings, or something close enough, or…) An even more troubling possibility came to Shade's mind. (…if I lose control, the Orochi itself may take over me completely, and if that happens, then…)

Almost as soon as the thought registered in Shade's mind, the mercenary felt anger build up at the thought and mentally smashed it aside.

(NO! I will not accept this! I will not accept another humiliation!!) Shade mentally cursed himself for that brief moment of weakness. (I will not be defeated so easily!!)

Shade then gave a snarl and simply stopped every attempt to impede the Orchi power's progress.

(If you're so eager to come out, then come out as fast as you want!) Shade thought, no longer caring if the power was moving too fast for him to control. (I claimed this power for myself centuries ago, I can do it again!)

As soon as that thought passed through Shade's mind, he suddenly felt the Orochi power overwhelm him, almost like a large wave of water in the ocean had washed over him.

At that exact moment, time suddenly seemed to stop for Shade. Everything seemed to hang in suspended animation in front of him.

(Who are you?) A woman's voice spoke in Shade's mind, causing the mercenary's eyes to widen in recognition, as it was a voice he recognized and knew well.

(You, but…!) He thought.

(Are you Shingen Koga?) The woman's voice asked, as if she hadn't heard Shade's reaction. (Or are you Shade? Are you a ninja or a mercenary? Are you one who would protect or one who would destroy? Are you the master of your power or is your power the master of you?)

"I…I am…" Shade said, half in answer, half to himself. Suddenly, as it looked like he was considering the answer, Shade gritted his teeth, and, closing his eyes, shouted. "Why are you asking me this when you already know me for who I am?!?!"

Suddenly there was a sound almost like shattering glass, and Shade's eyes snapped open. He then felt the Orochi power inside of him had settled down and was now completely under his control once again.

"Now…" Shade muttered to himself.

Immediately, the immense power seemed to burst out from Shade's body as it was released. The mercenary uttered a harsh cry that was almost a howl as the Orochi power raced throughout his entire body, causing it to change. Shade's hair lengthened slightly as it turned from black to white and the circular symbol of the Orochi appeared on his chest, as the muscles throughout his body began to expand until he was a foot taller than his original height.

Shade had just completed the transformation when he reached Darva and the impact created by the clash of their powers blew straight through the walls of the chamber surrounding them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, at a high school several miles away, two girls were in the school's archery club building. Classes had just ended and they were working on cleaning the building along with a few other students.

The first girl had short brown hair and was about a year younger than the second girl, who had long wavy blonde hair, and were both wearing the uniforms required for archery practice. The two of them also happened to be sisters, and currently they were checking the conditions of the bows to make sure that none of them were on the verge of breaking or if the bowstring was loose or about break before returning them to the supply room.

"Are you sure you want to be doing this, sis?" The first girl asked. "I mean, clean up duty is usually handled by the underclassmen."

"It's not a problem, Alice." The second girl, Mayura Seno, answered her younger sister, Alice Seno. "Someone had to sub for that member who's out sick, and besides this gives us some time to talk."

"Okay, so…what should we talk about?" Alice asked.

"Well, for starters how about how things have been going for you here in the archery club." Mayura suggested. "I mean besides the obvious, since you've been doing pretty well in the area of archery; you showed that during the tournaments we had a few months ago with the archery clubs from other schools."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that, I didn't even make it close to the top ten." Alice replied with a half embarrassed smile. "Besides, you, Kyo, and a lot of the other senior members placed way better than I did."

"Maybe, but that's just because of experience; a little more practice and you'll definitely start catching up to us." Mayura said encouragingly and then gave a sly smile. "Anyway, speaking of Kyo, how about telling your older sister how you two have been doing?"

"Sis!" Alice blushed a little. "I thought we were talking about the archery club!"

"We're still on the subject, we're just focusing on two specific members." Mayura replied, her smile not fading in the least.

While Alice did have an embarrassed expression as she thought of what to say in reply, inwardly she was glad of the conversation they were having. Ever since Mayura had recovered and been able to go back to school, she had made it perfectly clear that she was fine with Alice and Kyo's relationship and had even been supportive to them. However, unfortunately for Alice this meant that quite a bit of teasing from her older sister came with the support.

('It's the duty of the older sister to make sure that the younger sister is on the right track in the area of romance.') Mayura's reason for doing this, sounding just as matter of fact-ly as it had when she had said this before, echoed in Alice's mind.

"Well…" Alice began, and then discovered a way out. "Oh yeah that's right! I need to go and help with collecting the arrows from the field! Well, I'll go and take care of those and come right back!"

(And maybe I can come up with something by then…) Alice thought to herself.

"That's okay." Mayura said simply, and as Alice took a step out of the door to the room she called after her. "There's always time for us to talk about this when you get back from your date with Kyo tonight."

Alice froze in her tracks and her head drooped slightly.

"That isn't fair, Sis…" Alice replied in a gloomy tone before heading over to the practice range.

Mayura laughed to herself as her sister left, inwardly feeling relief as well. Though she was hiding it as she didn't want Alice to worry about her, Mayura couldn't help but feel a great sense of remorse over what had happened a year ago when she had literally been manipulated into being Darva's minion and eventually that dark being's host. Though she couldn't remember in detail all the things she had done during that time, there were still a few she could remember, like a series of nightmares she could not forget. Yet despite the fact that she had done those things, despite the fact that she had done so much to hurt Alice, Kyo, and even their family and friends, the both of them had still forgiven her for what happened.

Mayura could still remember how she had burst into tears and wept in a mixture of regret and at the same time happiness when Alice and Kyo had told her that, that they forgave her and that they both cared about her. Alice's support, along with the support of their parents, as ironically their familial ties had been strengthened by those events, had helped her in the process of getting over those memories, even though it would still be a while until she completely got past it.

(That's when I promised myself that no matter what, I'd help Alice like she helped me.) Mayura thought to herself. (Though it's not much, I'll at least help her in the area of romance for now. Now if there were only a way to get Kyo to be a bit more forward with her…)

Deciding to put that aside and focus on checking the bows while Alice was helping with clearing the archery range, Mayura proceeded to do so.

After about twelve minutes, Mayura had managed to find a couple of bows on the verge of breaking and had set them aside. She had found more cases in which the bowstrings were starting to wear and had set those aside in a different pile. It was then that it happened.

Out of nowhere, a sudden and overpowering feeling of pain came to Mayura's head, causing her to cry out and she almost fell over, but was able to stop by leaning against one of the lockers. The pain was an intense one, almost as if something were pounding a hot piece of metal into her head, and it wasn't subsiding. If anything it seemed to intensify and was starting to spread from her head down to the rest of her body. As this was happening, Mayura suddenly realized what was happening as she recognized the force behind the pain.

And suddenly, without warning, the pain just vanished as suddenly as it had come. That was the last thing Mayura felt before she collapsed onto the floor, not feeling the impact at all, and then lapsing into unconsciousness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Riku's eyes snapped open as something woke him up. He looked around the plane's cabin and saw that everyone except for Nagi was asleep. The psychic noticed Riku was awake and turned to him.

"Did you just feel anything…strange just now?" Riku asked.

"What do you mean?" Nagi asked in reply.

"Did you feel anything like a poke or prod against you or anything like that, and did it wake you up?" Riku's expression seemed a little bothered. "Only it wasn't any of those things, it just felt like it…"

"Now that you mention, I think I did feel something brush against me and woke up, but…" Nagi was interrupted as Tot, who had her head resting on Nagi's shoulder fast asleep, stirred a little in her sleep but didn't wake up. The young psychic blushed as that pretty much explained what he was going to say.

"I guess it must have been my imagination then." Riku shrugged and then lay back to try to fall asleep again.

As he did, Nagi remembered something and turned to Riku.

"While we were talking a while back about General Drake, you stopped and then changed the subject, why?" Nagi asked.

"Oh that?" Riku paused before continuing. "Well, for a second I was wondering to myself if things in FOXHOUND would be better if General Drake was in charge. I know even Campbell answers to him, but…you know what I mean…"

"You mean, if he was in charge completely?" Nagi asked in reply. "What brought this up?"

"I guess I just don't like how Reese seems to be having too much freedom in FOXHOUND, and it would be nice if he didn't." Riku answered. "Of course, I wouldn't mind if Michael, Garland, or Seishiro-san were in charge either," Riku then smiled as he considered something. "Though if Garland were in charge I'm sure every recruit would be required to have a very rigorous training schedule."

"You do have a point there." Nagi agreed.

Unbeknownst to either Riku or Nagi, they had actually felt something, though it would be a while until they and others would learn what it is that they had felt occur.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mayura Seno awoke to find herself lying in one of the beds of the school clinic. For a moment, she wondered how she had gotten there, but the memory of why came to her after a few seconds. It was then that she heard two people speaking not too far from her, and sat up and turned to see that it was her younger sister, Alice and the school nurse who were speaking to each other.

"Oh, Sis, you're awake!" Alice exclaimed as she noticed Mayura had gotten up and she quickly ran to her sister's side. "What happened? Why did…?"

Alice stopped as Mayura suddenly grabbed her hand and held on to it firmly.

"Sis, what…?" Alice stopped as she realized something, though Mayura's hands were holding onto hers firmly, Alice could feel them trembling, and as she looked into her older sister's eyes, she could see signs of fear in them.

"Mayura, what's wrong?" Alice asked, keeping her voice low since she had a feeling that the answer to this was not something Mayura wanted the nurse to hear.

"I need to talk to you and Kyo, now." Mayura's voice had a tone of urgency in it.

"Alright." Alice nodded, and then turned to the nurse. "Uh, I know this may sound a little strange but Mayura and I need to talk about something privately…you know, girl talk and all that."

It took a little bit more talking but the nurse agreed to leave for a few minutes and be waiting outside. When she closed the door behind her, Alice took out her cell phone and selected Kyo's number, only to receive a busy signal.

"I guess he's talking to someone right now." Alice said and turned back to Mayura. "Is it alright if you just tell me for now?"

"Yeah, as long as you both know about this before it may be too late." Mayura answered.

"What do you mean by, 'too late'?" Alice was starting to feel nervous now as she hadn't seen her sister like this, not since she had recovered.

"Back at the archery club, when I collapsed like that…" Mayura paused as she shuddered at the memory. "The reason was because I felt, no…more like I sensed 'him'. That thing you and your friends fought a year ago. He's come back somehow!"

Alice's eyes widened in shock as she heard this, and for a moment neither of the two spoke as Mayura's revelation sunk in.

"Then…if that's true…if Darva really is back…" Alice then shook her head. "Then it's alright, we'll be ready for him this time. And if he or any Maram Masters come after you, then Kyo and I will keep you safe, so…"

"For get about me, that's not what I'm worried about!" Mayura half shouted, and then noticed her sister's expression and both her gaze and tone softened. "I'm sorry…it's just…I'm just worried about what will happen next. Not to me…but to you and everyone else. You, Kyo, Mom, Dad, Kyo's family…I don't want you or any of them to go through all of that anguish again. I almost destroyed our family and Kyo's too, and one of Kyo's friends ended up…because of me…I…"

Mayura suddenly stopped as Alice suddenly put her arms around her and hugged her.

"Sis, I know you're worried, I'm worried too." Alice said in a reassuring manner to try to calm Mayura. "Still, that doesn't mean you should say what I think you're about to say just because of what happened last year. We all managed to get past it and if anything, it's made us, and our bonds as a family, stronger. And as for what happened to Kazuki…you know Kyo didn't and hasn't ever blamed you for his death."

"That doesn't mean I wasn't responsible, even if he was killed by someone else." Mayura said, her eyes lowering.

"Even if what you're saying is true…don't think for one second that you don't deserve to be protected or helped by any of us just because of what happened in the past." Alice said firmly. "You're my sister and I love you, that's more than reason enough for me to do this for you."

"Alice…" Mayura then slowly returned her sister's embrace. After a while they broke apart.

"Well, I guess I'll try reaching Kyo again so we can all talk about this." Alice said. "We'll probably have to call Frey, and then…"

"I assure you, this is important. I need to speak with both Alice and Mayura right away!" A young man's voice, which both girls recognized, spoke outside the door, apparently to the school nurse.

"That's Kyo…" Alice said and then opened the door to the room and spoke to the nurse outside. "It's alright, he can come in."

The nurse was more reluctant to do this, but after some convincing allowed the three to talk privately but only for five minutes then she'd have to come in.

The one who walked in was a tall and athletic looking young man who was the same age as Mayura. He had short black hair and was wearing an archery club uniform as he had just come from there. This was Alice's boyfriend and partner as they were both Lotus Masters, Kyo Wakamiya.

"I heard about what happened and came as soon as I could." Kyo said and turned to Mayura. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, for now, at least." Mayura answered.

"I tried calling you on your cell phone, but it was busy." Alice said.

"About that…I was talking to Frey as he called me when I was about to come and check on you two." Kyo's expression became a serious one. "I'm afraid something's happened with the Lotsuan Order and Frey, Chris, Pai, and Billy will be taking the next flights they can to Japan as representatives of their respective branches."

"Could it have something to do with…?" Alice and Mayura looked at each other as they considered the possibility.

"Whatever has happened has happened to close to this to be a coincidence." Mayura said.

"What do you mean?" Kyo asked. "Did something happen when Mayura collapsed?"

"It looks like we both have stuff to tell each other." Alice said. "Well, I guess we should get started, maybe we'll find some answers…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I'm still saying you two should." Chidori said to Aya as she, Yuhi, Aya, Toya, Aki, Maya, Shuro, Alec, Riku, Nagi, and Tot got out of the plane and into the Japanese HQ for FOXHOUND as the plane had finally arrived in Japan. "It's a tradition for a husband and wife to go on a honeymoon of some kind after they're married."

"I didn't say we weren't going on one, Chidori, I was just saying we'd have to wait until we found someplace we could afford to go to." Aya said.

"Hey, don't mean to butt in, but if you're looking for any reasonably priced places I might be able to suggest a couple." Riku spoke.

"Really?" Aya asked, hopefully. "What kind of places?"

"Just two, really." Riku answered. "The first would be this hot springs inn out in the country. The owner Takayuki-san and his wife, Ayumi-san, are very good hosts, plus their cook, Makoto-san, is a good cook to boot. Also the hot springs there are some of the best my family and I have been to."

"A hot springs inn, huh…sounds nice." Aya was definitely considering that, but was curious about the second place Riku was going to suggest. "What about the other place?"

"If you're willing to wait until winter, then I'd recommend this one ski resort." Riku said. "There are a few people there who help with the lodges and stuff. There's this lady, Kasumi-san, who's quite the storyteller, and this couple who help her out, Minoru-san and Shizuka-san, very nice people as I remember. From what I've heard, those two managed to add a very pretty addition to the area just before they were married, at least that's what Dad, Mom, and I heard from some people who knew them when we first visited the place."

"What is it?" Aya asked.

"This huge field of some kind of white flowers that go as far as the eye can see, it's really an amazing and rather pretty site if I do say so myself." Riku commented.

"Can we go there sometime?" Tot asked eagerly. "I don't know how to ski, but I'll learn." She then turned to Nagi. "Could you teach me, Nagi-kun?"

"Well, to be honest Tot…I don't know how to ski either." Nagi replied, his expression slightly embarrassed.

"Then I guess we can learn together then." Tot said brightly, having seen a good chance to spend time with her boyfriend either way.

"I don't know how to ski either." Aya admitted.

"Neither do I for that matter." Toya spoke, not entirely sure if this was something was supposed to have learned beforehand as the old man who raised him had never mentioned anything to him about skiing.

"Don't worry, beginner courses are available so you can learn the basics and such." Riku said. "I should know, I took those courses the first couple of times my family visited."

"First couple of times?" Chidori asked. "You mean you had to go through two trips to learn how to ski?"

"Hey, I could ski after the first trip." Riku said defensively. "I just needed a little more help in the area of steering so I wouldn't crash into things…and people."

Everyone sweatdropped at Riku's answer.

"You can ski without crashing into people now…right?" Nagi asked, wondering whether or not it would be a good, or for that matter safe, idea to ski on the same slope that Riku was skiing on.

"Of course, I can, Nagi." Riku nodded. "I haven't crashed into anyone or anything since I finished those lessons."

"I'm a little curious, but why did those two plant so many flowers?" Shuro asked.

"Well, to be honest I don't really know exactly since I didn't ask too much about it at the time and it's been a while since I last went there with anyone." Riku answered. "The only thing I do know is that that flower apparently has some kind of special meaning between the two of them, that and apparently Minoru-san was the one who started planting the flowers."

"I think I know what happened, this flower must have been this Shizuka-san's favorite flower and this Minoru-san, who was in love with Shizuka-san, planted those flowers all over in order to show his love for her…and then they got together and lived happily ever after." Tot stated her theory on the subject.

(What shoujo manga or romance novel provided by Michael did she get that idea from?) Riku wondered as he and the rest of the group sweatdropped at this. Then a thought came to him. (Come to think of it, I got a weird feeling from Shizuka-san the first time we visited…ah, must have been my imagination. And why am I thinking about something like that now?)

"Swapping stories, huh Riku?" A male voice spoke, causing Riku and the rest of the group to turn to see a tall man in his early twenties standing by the area leading into the lobby. The man had short black hair with bangs, blue eyes, and was wearing casual clothing. He smiled warmly at Riku, who immediately recognized him, as did Nagi, and Tot, and was glad to see him.

"Well, I was expecting someone from our clan to be here to pick us up, but I wasn't expecting it to be you." Riku was grinning now. "Talk about your pleasant surprises, right Aniki?"

(A-aniki!?!?!) Aya and co. were surprised at this new revelation as Riku greeted the newcomer, who they had at first thought was another member of FOXHOUND.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well, that concludes our business then." Kurando spoke as he, Tenzen, and Shade stepped out from the cavern. "I am truly grateful for your help, Shingen, we couldn't have done this without you."

"Yes, I know that." Shade replied and looked at the folder Kurando had handed him on their way out. "So this has the location of that seal as you promised, correct?"

"Indeed it does, and I can assure you that it's genuine." Kurando said.

"It had better be, and I'm going to go make sure of that myself." Shade turned to leave, but stopped as Kurando called out to him.

"You seem a little…out of sorts ever since you defeated Darva with your Orochi power." He noted. "Why?"

Shade's expression was unreadable as he simply looked back at Kurando, and then he simply grinned as he answered.

"No real reason, I'm just feeling a little elated after having defeated something close to a god, and finally being able to go all out using one hundred percent of the Orochi's power." Shade answered. "I almost feel like thanking you as I haven't done that for a long time. A pity that there isn't more than one Darva…"

With that Shade walked off, leaving Kurando and Tenzen alone. After he was sure Shade had left, Kurando turned to Tenzen.

"I thought you said you'd hunted down and captured every Maram master." Kurando said, irritation in his voice.

"I did that, Master, just as you ordered." Tenzen said quickly.

"Then why is the power from Darva incomplete?" Kurando asked. "I have almost everything from him, but I can feel a little bit is missing."

"Master, I know I did not miss a single Maram master as I was able to hunt down even the ones that tried their hardest to evade me." Tenzen said. "Could it be possible that the missing power is the mara that only just recently began manifesting in some normal people who attracted it?"

"I suppose…" Kurando stopped to consider that. "In that case, I have a task that you are to perform on the side while doing the other tasks I give to you. Wherever you go, you are to keep an eye out for any such people and if you find them bring them to me."

"Of course, Master." Tenzen nodded, however he was thinking something quite different.

(Though don't expect me to bring you very many, 'Master'.) Tenzen's thoughts at Kurando were filled with contempt. (When you absorbed an incomplete power, you created a chink in that impenetrable armor of yours. I'll bide my time until I can obtain the power and a way to use that chink to my advantage so I can pay you back for all those years I've been your slave.)

Meanwhile, Shade had stopped at a small peninsula and was looking out into the ocean as he thought to himself.

(Was that a fair trade, though? Will the power I gain from this unsealing be equal to the power I let that old man gain through absorbing that creature?) Shade wondered to himself and shook his head as the answer did not matter to him for now. Then another thing came to mind, it was the voice that had spoken to him as he had struggled within himself for control of the Orochi's power. Though he knew that it was impossible for that speaker to have actually asked him that question, Shade felt compelled to answer her.

"I am myself, Kicho…" Shade said out loud as he looked out upon the ocean, his voice sounding strangely weary, before turning around and continuing towards his next destination. "For now, that is the only answer I can give you…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So you're Riku's cousin?" Chidori asked the man that Riku had introduced as Kenshin Mori.

"Yes, I am." Kenshin nodded and then gave a light bow. "A pleasure to meet all of you."

"So why did Riku call you 'aniki'?" Yuhi asked.

"Well, we grew up together and I always did consider Kenshin as an older brother so that pretty much stuck." Riku answered with a smile.

"How come we didn't see him at the Uruha Mansion when we were there?" Aya asked.

"I was away on a bit of a mission for our clan at the time." Kenshin answered.

"Speaking of which, how did it go?" Nagi asked Kenshin.

"My team and I managed to complete the mission successfully." Kenshin answered. "And I'm glad to hear the same went with your mission."

"Thanks, Aniki." Riku replied and then remembered something. "You know I was a little worried since you'd…well you know, only recently returned and all that, but you said that since you'd be working with someone you knew very well there wouldn't be too many problems. But anyway, that mission of yours, it was in Gazth-Sonika right?"

"Yes, and actually that's something you three and I will need to talk about soon, Riku." Kenshin said. "Anyway, I came to pick you guys up and take you directly to the Uruha Mansion."

Noticing how serious Kenshin's tone was, Riku knew his cousin well enough to know that something was up.

"Has something happened, Kenshin?" Riku asked, now dropping 'aniki' as a sign that he understood that something was up.

"I'll explain to you once we arrive, for now let's get going." Kenshin answered.

"But what about my sister Suzumi and our friends from Weiss?" Yuhi asked.

"Don't worry, they're on their way to the mansion as we speak." Kenshin reassured him and then turned to Riku and co.. "In case you're wondering, I had Reiji, Elen, and Cal go and get them."

"It looks like I'm right then." Riku said, half to himself, half to the rest of the group.

"Who are those three that Kenshin-san just mentioned?" Toya asked.

"Reiji Azuma codename 'Zwei', Elen Azuma codename 'Ein', and Cal Devens codename 'Drei'." Riku answered. "Those three are Kenshin's nakama, and three of the best gun wielders that I know. Suzumi shouldn't have anything to worry about with those three and Ran and the others watching her back." Riku then gave a light smile. "You guys will like them too, I can assure you."

"Yeah, and I bet they're making friends with Ran and the others right now." Tot said optimistically.

"Anyway, Riku, on a lighter note, I also picked someone up for a visit just before you arrived today." Kenshin spoke, the seriousness from before not as apparent. As they exited the building and headed to the van Kenshin was driving, someone called out to him.

"You sure have grown since I last saw you, Riku." A woman spoke. She had long brown hair tied back in a bun, and was wearing a plain but well kept kimono. She looked like she was in her early to middle forties but was actually in her fifties. Riku, Nagi, and Tot recognized her, while the rest of the group did not as they hadn't met her before.

Riku walked over and hugged the woman and she hugged back.

"It's good to see you again, Grandmother." Riku said and then turned to the rest of the group. "Everyone, this is my grandmother, and my uncle Kurei's mother, Tsukino Mori."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Tsukino bowed to Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, Aki, Maya, Shuro, and Alec, all except for Toya could only look in shock as Riku had introduced them to another grandmother of his who also looked surprisingly young.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's no good, I can't find him." Kagero shook her head as she put away her madogu which she had been using.

"Well, it was a long shot anyway, that man always has been good at concealing himself." Yukimura Sanada said in agreement.

The two of them had arrived at the Uruha Mansion a few days ago and were discussing something with two other people who were in a room with them. The first was a man with long black hair tied back in a single ponytail and bangs of his hair to the sides of his face, while wearing his traditional clothing of a white and black samurai's casual clothing and the second was a lovely looking woman with long dark blue hair who was of slightly shorter height than the man she was with and wearing a traditional purple kimono, both of them appeared to be in their twenties.

"So what we felt occur earlier has something to do with this man that you've told us about, Darkness, am I correct Yumikura-dono, Kagero-dono?" The man asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Gennosuke-dono." Yukimura replied. "I don't know what exactly he was doing, but during that time his power suddenly flared up, before a an extremely large and dark feeling power suddenly appeared, and then another more familiar one flared up, and quite suddenly the second one vanished."

"And that third one belonged to another that you've told us of, Shade." The woman now spoke.

"Yes, Oboro-dono, and that's what makes things even more serious now." Kagero nodded. "We were originally going to meet because Shade was somewhere in Japan, but now that Darkness is apparently with him, this makes things more serious considering that when those two work together it involves something important for the both of them."

"Which is what we need to determine." Yukimura added. "Especially what that second power was as neither Kagero or I have sensed it before."

"I…I think Gennosuke-sama and I have sensed it before." Oboro spoke. "It was about a year ago."

"That same dark power appeared for a moment before just vanishing as suddenly as it had come." Gennosuke began describing it and then paused and turned to Kagero. "You were away from the mansion at the time, Kagero-dono, and Oboro-dono and I meant to tell you about it, but by the time you got back other things had happened and we ended up forgetting."

"This is strange though, how come you two were able to sense this but neither Yukimura or I were able to?" Kagero asked. "I think we'll have to go and ask 'him' and see if he knows anything."

"Very well, I'll contact Roger and arrange for us to meet him." Yukimura nodded. "And after we've met with your grandson and his friends, we'd best go and investigate where we felt that power coming from. We might find some answers there."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AN: And that's the end of chapter 35! I hope you all enjoyed it, especially the number of crossover references and such that I made.

I'm sure I've managed to surprise quite a few of you who are fans of the manga series Alice 19th, another series by Yuu Watase. A note to fans though, it will be a few chapters until the cast of Alice 19th meets with the Hokage clan so I hope you'll all be patient.

In case anyone is wondering, the games that I mentioned being more of a reference are the following; Tokimeki Check In and Snow Drop. Now to those wondering, no, neither game will be playing a major role in this story, so don't expect anything above cameo appearances for the characters in the future for now. I mainly did it to give a few locations, give a nod to two of my favorite bishoujo games, and also just in case I decide to do a bonus chapter with either a hot springs chapter or ski trip chapter, but that won't be for a while. If you want, you're welcome to send suggestions. Just to let you know though, the endings for the games that are being followed are Ayumi's for Tokimeki Check In and Shizuka's of Snow Drop since those are my favorites of those two games. One last thing, don't expect the stories for those games to be explained in this fic since as I said, their role in this story is very minor. I encourage you all to buy and enjoy the games yourself (to some please don't be turned off by the ero content, and play the game first before making any hasty judgments as they're really good ones (though I highly recommend Crescendo, Private Nurse, Figures of Happiness, and Yume Miru Kusuri for anyone who wants a game with an exceptionally amazing story with romance and such in it).

Anyway, the other games I've referenced in case you haven't spotted them are Phantom of Inferno another great bishoujo game (US release was the non adult version) that I highly recommend and the Shadow Hearts series. For the latter, it was mainly the monsters that Kurando/Darkness used as those are monsters from the first two games, and the mentioning of a recurring character of the series (the only one to appear in all three games).

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please excuse long waits as my schedule is pretty hectic with my going back to work and college, along with the fact that I spent a great deal of this summer break catching up on anime and games, and of course reading the final Harry Potter book (talk about a SATISFYING ENDING (note: disregard a past omake as Half Blood Prince has been completely forgiven, the poor soul ;;). Anyway, see you all next update!


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